CHAPTER V

THE FIRST CABLE

(1853-1857)

The last sentence of the last chapter is a true indication of character. Mr. Field had doubtless expected, when he retired from business, to retire permanently, and to spend in ease not only the evening and the afternoon but the meridian of his life. But it was not to be, and one may well imagine that his previous experiences had been a providential preparation for the great work of his life, the great work of his time. It matters little who first conceived as a dream the notion of electric communication across the Atlantic. To realize that dream there was needed precisely the qualities and the circumstances of Cyrus W. Field. Here was a man whose restless energy had not yet begun to be impaired by time, but who was already a successful man. In virtue of his success he was able not only to devote himself to a work which he was convinced was as practical as it was beneficent--he was able also to enlist the co-operation of wealthy men, whom the project of an Atlantic cable would have left quite cold if it had been propounded to them by a mere electrician. They could not have helped regarding the scheme as chimerical and fantastic if a purely scientific man had approached them with it, even with the most plausible figures to prove its practicability and profitableness. To give it a chance of success with them, it must be presented and believed in by one whose previous life and whose personal success forbade them to regard him as a visionary, and who by force of his position as well as of his qualities was able to infect them with some part of his own confidence and enthusiasm. Mr. Field was that unique man, and hence it is that he must be regarded as the one indispensable factor in the execution of a transatlantic system of telegraphic communication, inevitably soon to become a world-wide system, and far to outrun in actual fact the poet's daring dream of putting "a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes."

It was on Mr. Field's return from Washington late in the month of January, 1854, that his brother Matthew asked him to have a talk with Mr. Frederick N. Gisborne, who was stopping at the Astor House. Mr. Gisborne was an engineer and telegraph operator, and his desire had been to connect St. John's, Newfoundland, with the telegraphic system of the United States.

In the spring of 1852 the Legislature of Newfoundland had passed an act incorporating the Newfoundland Electric Telegraph Company, and had given to Mr. Gisborne the exclusive right to erect telegraphs in Newfoundland for thirty years, with certain concessions of land by way of encouragement to be granted upon the completion of the telegraph from St. John's to Cape Ray, and on his return to New York he formed a company, and in the spring of 1853 set vigorously to work to build the line. He had successfully completed some thirty or forty miles when his work was suddenly brought to a standstill by the failure of the company to furnish the means to carry it on.

"He returned to New York from his difficult and unaccomplished task utterly disappointed and beggared, and at this time was waiting for something to turn up." Mr. Field saw Mr. Gisborne, heard what he had done and what he had failed to do, and became at once interested in the work. This meeting was followed by many others, and after they had parted late one evening, as Mr. Field stood studying intently the large globe that was in his library, it flashed across his mind that, if it were possible to connect Newfoundland with the United States, why not Ireland with Newfoundland?

The idea once conceived, he lost no time in putting it into execution, and the next morning's mail took letters to Professor Maury at Washington and Professor Morse at Poughkeepsie. He also consulted his brother, Mr. David Dudley Field, and his neighbor, Mr. Peter Cooper.

More than twenty-five years after Mr. Cooper told of the meeting:

"It fell to my lot to be one of the first, if not the first, to whom Mr. Field applied to join him in the enterprise which has so much interested us this evening. It was an enterprise which struck me very forcibly the moment he mentioned it. I thought I saw in it, if it was possible, a means by which we could communicate between the two continents, and send knowledge broadcast over all parts of the world. It seemed to strike me as though it were the consummation of that great prophecy, that "knowledge shall cover the earth, as waters cover the deep," and with that feeling I joined him and my esteemed friends, Wilson G. Hunt, Moses Taylor, and Marshall O. Roberts, in what then appeared to most men a wild and visionary scheme; a scheme that many people thought fitted those who engaged in it for an asylum where they might be taken care of as little short of lunatics. But believing, as I did, that it offered the possibility of a mighty power for the good of the world, I embarked in it."

As soon as he obtained the co-operation of the men mentioned by Mr. Cooper, Mr. Field asked them to meet in the dining-room of his house, and for four nights they sat around the table examining the records of the old company, studying maps, and making estimates. On the 10th of March, 1854, the Electric Telegraph Company formally surrendered its charter, and it was decided that if the government of Newfoundland would give the new company a liberal charter they would carry forward the work, and, if possible, extend it. On the 14th of March Mr. Cyrus Field and Mr. Chandler White, and Mr. David Dudley Field as legal adviser, left for Newfoundland; they took the steamer at Boston for Halifax, and on the 18th left Halifax in the steamer _Merlin_ for St. John's. In his speech at the Cable Celebration in the Crystal Palace on September 1, 1858, Mr. David Dudley Field said:

"Three more disagreeable days voyagers scarcely ever passed than we spent in that smallest of steamers. It seemed as if all the storms of winter had been reserved for the first month of spring. A frost-bound coast, an icy sea, rain, hail, snow, and tempest were the greetings of the telegraph adventurers in their first movement towards Europe. In the darkest night, through which no man could see the ship's length, with snow filling the air and flying into the eyes of the sailors, with ice in the water, and a heavy sea rolling and moaning about us, the captain felt his way around Cape Race with his lead, as a blind man feels his way with his staff, but as confidently and safely as if the sky had been clear and the sea calm. And the light of the morning dawned upon deck and mast and spar coated with glittering ice, but floating securely between the mountains which formed the gates of the harbor of St. John's."

The little party was welcomed warmly by Mr. Edward M. Archibald, then attorney-general of the colony, and for many years afterwards British consul-general in New York, and by the governor, Ker Barley Hamilton; Bishop Field, of Newfoundland, and the Roman Catholic bishop, John Mullock, were among their entertainers, and became their warm friends.

On November 8, 1850, Bishop Mullock had written to the editor of the St. John's _Courier_:

_"Sir,_--I regret to find that in every plan for transatlantic communication Halifax is always mentioned and the natural capabilities of Newfoundland entirely overlooked.

"This has been deeply impressed on my mind by the communication I read in your paper of Saturday last, regarding telegraphic communication between England and America, in which it is said that the nearest telegraphic station on the American side is Halifax, 2155 miles from the coast of Ireland. Now, would it not be well to call the attention of Europe and America to St. John's as the nearest telegraphic point?

"It is an Atlantic port, lying, I may say, in the track of the ocean steamers, and by establishing it as the American telegraph station, news could be communicated to the whole American continent forty-eight hours sooner than by any other route. But how will this be accomplished? Just look at the map of Newfoundland and Cape Breton. From St. John's to Cape Ray there is no difficulty in establishing a line, passing near Holy Rood, along the neck of land connecting Trinity and Placentia bays, and thence in a direction due west to the cape. You have then about 41 to 45 miles of sea to St. Paul's Island, with deep soundings of 100 fathoms, so that the electric cable will be perfectly secure from icebergs; thence to Cape North in Cape Breton is little more than 12 miles. Thus it is not only practicable to bring America two days nearer to Europe by this route, but should the telegraphic communication between England and Ireland, 62 miles, be realized, it presents not the slightest difficulty. Of course we in Newfoundland will have nothing to do with the erection, working, and maintenance of the telegraph, but I suppose our government will give every facility to the company, either English or American, who will undertake it, as it will be of incalculable advantage to this country. I hope the day is not far distant when St. John's will be the first link in the electric chain which will unite the Old World to the New.

"I remain, etc., "J. I. M."

_November_ 8, 1850.

Shortly after the arrival of the gentlemen from New York the Legislature of Newfoundland repealed the charter of the Electric Telegraph Company, in which it had been expressly stated that the line of this company is designed to be strictly an "inter-continental telegraph," and a charter was given to the "New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company." Not only was the title of the new company suggestive, but the first sentence expressly stated, "It is deemed advisable to establish a line of telegraphic communication between New York and London by the way of Newfoundland." And at the same time there was granted to the company an exclusive monopoly for fifty years to lay submarine cables across the Atlantic from the shores of Newfoundland.

When this work was begun the longest submarine cable in the world was that between England and Holland, and one had never been laid in water one hundred fathoms deep.

The party of three returned to New York early in May, and on Saturday evening, the 6th, the charter was accepted, and the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company was organized; at six o'clock in the morning, on May the 8th, the papers were signed and fifteen hundred thousand dollars subscribed. This meeting lasted just fifteen minutes.

Late in the spring of 1854 Mr. Field was obliged to take his old place at the head of the firm of Cyrus W. Field & Co., his brother-in-law and partner, Joseph F. Stone, having died on the 17th of May. The following August his only son died, and it was with a heavy heart that he began this double work.

On January 25, 1855, he sailed for England to order the cable to connect Cape Ray and Cape Breton. And while he was away his children received this letter:

"MORLEY'S HOTEL, "LONDON, _February 25, 1855_.

"_My dear, dear Children,_--Many thanks for your affectionate letters, which I received last week in Paris.

"I wish that you would tell your good uncle Henry that I am much obliged for his letter of January 30th, and give my warmest love to your dear grandfather and Aunt Mary, and thank them for writing to me, and tell them that if I do not get time to answer their letters I think a great deal about them, and hope that we shall soon all meet in health, and that then I shall have much to tell them of what I have seen and heard in the few weeks that I have been in Europe.

"I hope at some future day to visit Europe again with your dear mother, and then, perhaps, we shall take all of our children with us.

"I am sure that you would be very happy to see the many beautiful things that can be daily seen in London, Paris, and other parts of Europe.

"When do you think it would be best for us to sail?

"I am sure that you will be very kind to your mother and affectionate to each other, and do all in your power to make each person in our house very happy.

"I hope that you will go very often to see your dear grandfather, grandmother, Aunt Mary, and Cousin Emilia; and whenever you see dear little Freddy kiss him many times for me.

"It is one month to-day since I left home, and on the 24th of March I hope to leave Liverpool for New York.

"In Paris I purchased some things for you, and the one that has been the best child during my absence shall have the first choice.

"Good-bye, and may God bless you all, is the constant prayer of

"Your affectionate father, "CYRUS W. FIELD.

"The Misses Field, New York."

On the 7th of August, 1855, a party sailed from New York on the steamer _James Adger_ to assist at the laying of the cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence. To quote again from Mr. Cooper's speech:

"We went along very pleasantly until we came to Port au Basque, and there we waited several days for the arrival of the ship that contained the cable, and when she came we directed the captain to take her in tow. Unfortunately he had taken umbrage at the action of Mr. Lowber, who, acting as a master of ceremonies, had placed Rev. Dr. Spring at the head of the table instead of the captain. So offended was he that he became as stubborn as a mule thereafter.

"Four several attempts were made to get hold of the ship having the cable; and the darkness of night coming on, we had to go into Cape Ray. There we got the end of the cable to the telegraph-house after much labor; and when we had it fastened to the shore and properly connected we gave the captain orders to tow the ship across the gulf. In starting he managed to run into the ship, carrying away her shrouds and quarter-rail and almost making a wreck, so that we had to lay up, for in dragging the cable the connection was destroyed. We joined it again, and after some delay departed, directing the captain to take the ship in tow. We had taken the precaution to bring two very long and thick cables to tow her across the gulf. He started, and again had the misfortune to get the larger line entangled with the wheel of his vessel. In the confusion that followed the ship that had the cable by his orders parted her anchor; the line was cut, and she drifted towards a reef of rocks. We entreated the captain to get hold of her as quickly as possible, but before he did so she was almost on the reef. It was then found necessary to go back and have the machinery fixed, which took several days before we were ready to start again. At length, one beautiful day we got off. Before starting our engineer, who had charge of laying the cable, gave the captain instructions to keep constantly in view a flag placed upon the telegraph-house and bring it in range with a white rock upon the mountain, which would give him the exact lines upon which to steer. As soon, however, as we got off, I saw the captain was going out of the way, and, as president of the board, I told him so. The answer was, 'I know how to steer my ship; I steer by my compass.' I said, 'Your instructions were to steer for the flag and the rock on the mountain.' 'I steer by my compass,' was all I could get out of him. He went on steering in that manner until I found he was going so far out of the way that I told him I would hold him responsible for all loss. This had no effect. I then got a lawyer who was on board to draw up a paper warning the captain that if he did not change his course we should hold him responsible for the loss of the cable. He then turned his course, and went as far out of the way in the other direction. We soon after encountered a gale, and had to discontinue; and when we came to measure the cable, we found we had laid twenty-four miles of cable, and had got only nine miles from shore. That is only a sample of the trials we had to encounter in this enterprise, and I mention it to say that it was in great measure due to the indomitable courage and zeal of Mr. Field inspiring us that we went on and on until we got another cable across the gulf."

In July, 1856, a cable eighty-five miles in length was successfully laid across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting Newfoundland with Cape Breton, and also one of eleven miles from Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick. The lines, one hundred and forty miles in length, had also been built across Cape Breton. The telegraph system of the United States had thus been connected with the most eastern port of Newfoundland.

How this work was done was told by Mr. Field on November 15, 1866.

"It was a very pretty plan on paper. There was New York and there was St. John's, only about twelve hundred miles apart. It was easy to draw a line from one point to the other, making no account of the forests and mountains and swamps and rivers and gulfs that lay in our way. Not one of us had ever seen the country or had any idea of the obstacles to be overcome. We thought we could build the line in a few months. It took two years and a half, yet we never asked for help outside our own little circle. Indeed I fear we should not have got it if we had, for few had any faith in our scheme. Every dollar came out of our own pockets. Yet I am proud to say no man drew back. No man proved a deserter; those who came first into the work stood by it to the end....

"It was begun and for two years and a half was carried on solely by American capital. Our brethren across the sea did not even know what we were doing away in the forests of Newfoundland. Our little company raised and expended over a quarter million pounds sterling before an Englishman paid a single pound. Our only support outside was in the liberal charter and steady friendship of the government of Newfoundland."

But it was now thought wise to enlist English co-operation. For this purpose Mr. Field left New York by the steamship _Baltic_ on Saturday, July 19, 1856. His work in London was begun at once, and John Brett, Michael Faraday, George Parker Bidder, Mr. Statham, of the London Gutta-percha Works; Mr. Brunel; Mr. Glass, of Glass, Elliott & Co.; Charles T. Bright, and Dr. Edward O. W. Whitehouse were soon among his friends and strongly impressed with the idea that a cable could be successfully laid across the Atlantic. It was at this time that in response to a note from his wife, Mr. Glass wrote, "Mr. Field is in London," and that showed that no longer was his time his own.

Once when with Faraday, Mr. Field asked him how long a time he thought would be required for the electric current to pass between London and New York. His answer was brief and to the point: "Possibly one second."

Brunel was also as clear-sighted; he pointed to the _Great Eastern_ that he was then building, and said, "Mr. Field, there is the ship to lay the cable." Eight years later it was used for that purpose.

Before a company was formed he addressed a letter to Lord Clarendon, then Foreign Secretary, and the answer to it was a request for a personal interview. Professor Morse was in London, and he went with Mr. Field to the Foreign Office, where they remained for over an hour.

Lord Clarendon seemed to be at once interested, and among the questions asked was, "But suppose you do not succeed, that you make the attempt and fail, your cable lost at the bottom of the ocean, then what will you do?" "Charge it to profit and loss and go to work to lay another," was the answer. Lord Clarendon on parting desired that the requests made should be put in writing, and spoke words of encouragement.

The Atlantic Telegraph Company was organized December 9, 1856. It was decided that for this work $1,750,000 must be raised. Mr. Field put his name down for $500,000 (100 shares). He counted upon aid from America, and did not intend to hold this large amount of stock individually. As more money was subscribed than had been called for, but eighty-eight shares were allotted to him. This was fortunate, for on his return to New York he was able to dispose of but twenty-one shares.

Mr. George Saward wrote to _The Electrician_ on the 28th of March, 1862: "Mr. Field in starting the Atlantic Telegraph Company took upon his own account eighty-eight shares of £1000 each. Upon all of these he paid into the coffers of the company in cash the first deposit of £17,600, and upon sixty-seven of them he paid the entire amount of calls, amounting to £67,000. This I am in a position to verify. A great number of these have been sold at a loss; but Mr. Field is still the largest holder of shares in the company paid up in cash." Among the original subscribers in England were Lady Byron and Thackeray, and in America Archbishop Hughes.

Mr. Field sailed for America on December 10th, and arrived in New York on Christmas Day.

On December 23d the Senate had requested President Pierce, "if not incompatible with the public interest, to communicate such information as he may have concerning the present condition and prospects of a proposed plan for connecting by submarine wires the magnetic telegraph lines on this continent and Europe," and on December 29th Mr. Pierce sent to the Senate the letter that had been addressed to him on December 15th by the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company. The substance of this letter was that "The contracts have been made for the manufacture of a submarine telegraphic cable to connect the continents of Europe and America." ... That "it is the desire of the directors to secure to the government of the United States equal privileges with those stipulated for by the British government." ... That "the British government shall have priority in the conveyance of their messages over all others, subject to the exception only of the government of the United States, in the event of their entering into an arrangement with the telegraph company similar in principle to that of the British government, in which case the messages of the two governments shall have priority in the order in which they arrive at the station." ...

"Her Majesty's government engages to furnish the aid of ships to make what soundings may still be considered needful, or to verify those already taken, and favorably to consider any request that may be made to furnish aid by their vessels in laying down the cable." ... "To avoid failure in laying the cable, it is desirable to use every precaution, and we therefore have the honor to request that you will make such recommendation to Congress as will secure authority to detail a steamship for this purpose, so that the glory of accomplishing what has been justly styled 'the crowning enterprise of the age' may be divided between the greatest and freest governments on the face of the globe."

The bill was drawn by Mr. Seward, and was "An act to expedite telegraphic communication for the uses of the government in its foreign intercourse." The great contest over its passage was not until early in the next year, 1857.

The suggestion made to the St. John's _Courier_ in 1850 by Bishop Mullock, and which Mr. Gisborne had tried to carry out, had not been lost sight of, as the following letter shows:

"TREASURY CHAMBERS, _19th November, 1856_.

"_Sir,_--With reference to your letter of the 6th instant requesting that directions should be given for permitting British mail packets between Liverpool and the United Stales to receive and throw overboard off Cape Race and off Queenstown cases containing telegraphic dispatches, to be picked up by the telegraph company's own vessels, I am commanded by the Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury to acquaint you that their lordships have stated to the Lords of the Admiralty that after communicating with Mr. Cunard as to the feasibility of the plan, and receiving from him an assurance that it might be carried into effect without in any way retarding the regular mail service, they are of the opinion that the necessary directions may be given for this purpose, subject to the following conditions:

"1. That the mail steamers shall not be delayed.

"2. That they shall not be required to alter the course they would otherwise have taken.

"3. That no responsibility shall attach to their ship or to the government.

"4. That the companies shall make such arrangements in reference to the receipt and dispatch of messages as shall be satisfactory to the Treasury, in order to secure equal advantages to all persons using the telegraph.

"I am, sir, "Your obedient servant, "C. L. TREVELYAN."

In a New York paper of July 12, 1857, is this telegram:

"From the steamship _Persia_, "OFF CAPE RACE, NEWFOUNDLAND, "_Saturday_, July 11th, P.M.

"We have thus far had a very pleasant passage and expect to reach Liverpool next Friday. All well and all in good spirits.

"CYRUS W. FIELD."

And below the telegram this was added:

"This feat would seem to demonstrate the entire practicability of obtaining news from the Atlantic steamers as they pass Cape Race, and should the Atlantic telegraph cable fail from any cause, we understand that the telegraph company will make effective arrangements to carry something of this kind into operation."