Part 4

Experienced mariners gazed with apprehension at their depth in water as they left the shore. It was, however, such glorious weather as to cause some anxiety lest there should be no wind, and that the stock of coals might be exhausted before their mission was accomplished. Before midnight, however, a gradually increasing gale gathered to a storm, while the barometer marked 29°. For seven consecutive days the tempest, so eloquently described by Mr. Woods in the _Times_, continued, the Agamemnon under close-reefed topsails striving to reach the rendezvous, Lat. 52° 2´, Long. 33° 18´, rolling 45 degrees, and labouring fearfully.

On the 19th and 20th the gale reached its height. The position of the ship, carrying 2,840 tons of dead-weight, badly stowed, had become most critical, from her violent lurching as she sunk into the troughs of the sea, and struggled violently to right herself--the coal bunkers gave way, and caused alarm and confusion. Were the masts to yield, the ship would rock still more violently, the Cable would shift, and carry every one with it to destruction. Captain Preedy had but two courses open in order to save the ship without sacrificing the Cable--either was fraught with peril--to wear the ship, or to run before the gale and risk the chances of being pooped by the monster seas in pursuit.

On the 21st the Agamemnon was enabled to bear up for the rendezvous in mid-ocean, which she reached on the 25th, after sixteen days of danger and apprehension, her companion, the Niagara, having passed through the dreadful ordeal with less danger and difficulty.

At half-past two o’clock on the 26th, the Agamemnon and Niagara first spliced the Cable; it however became foul of the scraper on the latter ship, and broke. A second splice was immediately made, and the vessels started. The Agamemnon had paid out 37½ miles, when suddenly the continuity of the electric current ceased, and the electricians declared that the Cable had broken at the bottom. As the Niagara was hauling in the Cable, of which she had payed out 43 miles, it snapped close to the ship.

On the 28th, the third and final splice was effected. The Niagara started N.W. ¾ N. At 4 p.m. on the 29th, when 111 miles had been paid out, the electricians on board reported that continuity had ceased. The cause was soon known. The Agamemnon had run 118 miles, and paid out 146 miles of Cable, when the upper deck coil became exhausted. Speed was slackened, in order to shift the Cable to the lower deck, when suddenly it snapped, without any perceptible cause, under a strain of only 2200 pounds. The weather was calm; the speed moderate--about five knots; the strain one-third less than breaking strain; everything favourable; and yet the Cable parted, silently and suddenly. The Niagara had to cut the Cable, as she had no means of recovering the portion payed out, and lost 144 miles of it.

On the 12th July, the Agamemnon, after an eventful cruise of thirty-three days, reached Queenstown, having left the rendezvous on the 6th, whither she had gone in the hope of meeting the Niagara. A special meeting of the Company was called, and the expedition was ordered to go to sea. There was still quite sufficient Cable remaining, and it was determined to make another attempt immediately. The way in which the Cable parted on the third occasion was the only thing calculated to create doubt and apprehension. The two other breakages might be accounted for, and guarded against for the future, but there was something in the latter not so easy of explanation, and which seemed to point to some mysterious agency existing in the depths of the ocean, beyond the perception of science or man’s control.

At midnight on the 28th of July, 1858, the Agamemnon and Niagara once more met in mid-ocean, and on the following morning spliced the Cable, which was this time destined to tend so much towards solving the great problem. On the 30th, 265 miles had been paid out. On the 31st, 540 miles. On the 1st August, 884 miles. On the 2nd, 1256 miles. On the 4th, 1854 miles; and on the 5th, 2022 miles. The Agamemnon now anchored in Dowlas Bay, Valentia, and preparations were made to join the ocean and shore ends. On the same day, at 1·45 a.m., the Niagara anchored in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, and in an hour after she received a signal across the Atlantic that the Cable had been landed from the Agamemnon.

Mr. Field at once telegraphed the news to the New York press, and the intelligence flew all over the Union, where it was received with the most extraordinary manifestations of delight. The information was received more equably in England.

On the 7th of August, many an anxious heart was lightened by reading in the _Times_ the following telegram:--

“VALENTIA, _August 6th._

“End of Cable safely landed, close by pier, at Knightstown, being carried on the paddle-boxes of the Valorous--expect to be open to public in three weeks.”

Mr. Field’s dispatch to the Associated Press of New York was followed by two to the President, to which Mr. Buchanan sent a suitable reply. A message was sent to the Mayor of New York also, to which an answer was returned next day.

On August the 9th the telegraphic wires reported that “Newfoundland still answered, but only voltaic currents.”

On the 10th it was stated “Coil currents had been received--40 per minute easily”--followed by the modest words, “Please send slower for the present.”

On the 14th a message of 14 words was transmitted, and on the 18th the Directors in England thus spoke to their brethren in the other hemisphere: “Europe and America are united by telegraphic communication. ‘Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill towards men.’” This message occupied 35 minutes in transmission. It was rapidly followed by a message from the Queen of England to the President of America, which occupied 67 minutes in transmission, and was repeated. The text was as follows:--

“TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, WASHINGTON:

“The Queen desires to congratulate the President upon the successful completion of this great international work, in which the Queen has taken the deepest interest.

“The Queen is convinced that the President will join with her in fervently hoping that the Electric Cable which now connects Great Britain with the United States will prove an additional link between the nations whose friendship is founded upon their common interest and reciprocal esteem.

“The Queen has much pleasure in communicating with the President, and renewing to him her wishes for the prosperity of the United States.”

THE REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

_“Washington City, August 16, 1856._

“TO HER MAJESTY VICTORIA, QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN:

“The President cordially reciprocates the congratulations of Her Majesty the Queen on the success of the great international enterprise accomplished by the science, skill, and indomitable energy of the two countries. It is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror on the field of battle.

“May the Atlantic Telegraph, under the blessing of Heaven, prove to be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship between the kindred nations, and an instrument destined by Divine Providence to diffuse religion, civilisation, liberty, and law throughout the world. In this view will not all nations of Christendom spontaneously unite in the declaration that it shall be for ever neutral, and that its communications shall be held sacred in passing to their places of destination, even in the midst of hostilities?

(Signed) “JAMES BUCHANAN.”

On the same day a message was received from Mr. C. Field, consisting of 38 words, which occupied 22 minutes in transmission.

The mighty agency which had been made subservient to the dictates of man, had touched the hearts of two nations by expressing mutual esteem and respect, but had not yet exercised its higher prerogatives. On the 21st of August it flashed tidings of great joy, and brought relief to those who, but for it, would have languished in very weariness and pining. The Europa and Arabia, each thickly freighted with human lives, had come into collision in mid-ocean. So much was known, but there was nothing to appease the anxiety of those whose friends and relatives were on board. Fourteen days must elapse before the arrival of the next steamer. Within fourteen hours, however, the Atlantic telegraph wires allayed intense dread and anxious fears: “Newfoundland.--Europa and Arabia have been in collision--one has put into St. John’s--no lives are lost--all well.”

On the 25th of August it was announced that “the Cable works splendidly,” and shortly after the New York journals recorded how the entire continent had gone mad for very joy, how feasting was the order of the day, and how American intellect had achieved the greatest scientific triumph of the age.

On the 7th of September, 1858, the following letter appeared in the _Times_, addressed to the editor:--

“_September 6th_, 1858.

“SIR,--I am instructed by the Directors to inform you that, owing to some cause not at present ascertained, but believed to arise from a fault existing in the Cable at a point hitherto undiscovered, there have been no intelligible signals from Newfoundland since one o’clock on Friday the 3rd inst. The Directors are now in Valentia, and, aided by various scientific and practical electricians, are investigating the cause of the stoppage, with a view to remedying the existing difficulty. Under these circumstances no time can be named at present for opening the wire to the public.

“GEO. SAWARD.”

Such was the foreshadowing of the great calamity that was so soon to follow. Public excitement became intense. The market value of the Atlantic Telegraph Stock assumed a downward tendency, and fell rapidly. But the projectors had not been idle. A rigid inquiry had been immediately instituted by Professor Thomson, Mr. Varley, and Sir Charles Bright, which enabled them to arrive at a conclusion that the fault must lie on the Irish coast. Consequently the Cable was underrun for three miles, cut and tested; but no defect being found, it was again spliced. During all this period its electrical condition had become so much deteriorated that such messages as passed required to be constantly repeated.

So matters went, hope and fear alternating, until the insulation of the wire became suddenly worse, and at last the signals ceased to be intelligible at Newfoundland altogether. Scientific inquiry tended to show that the fault lay about 270 miles from Valentia, at the mountain range which divides the depths of the Atlantic from the shallow water on the Irish shore. This steep range, or sloping bank, which, on being sounded, showed a difference of 7,200 feet in elevation in a distance of eight miles, had been crossed by the Agamemnon an hour before the expected time, and it was said a sufficient quantity of slack had not been thrown out, so that the Cable was suffered to hang suspended in the water. But this was of course mere conjecture, and the failure most probably was precipitated by injudicious attempts to overcome defective insulation by increased battery power.

The conclusions finally arrived at by the Scientific Committee appointed to report as to the causes of the failure of the Cable were, first, that it had been manufactured too hastily; secondly, that a great and unequal strain was brought on it by the machinery; and thirdly, that the repeated coilings and uncoilings it underwent served to injure it. To such causes was the failure to be attributed, not to any original defect in the gutta percha.

Mr. Varley stated his opinion that there must have been a fault in the Cable while on board the Agamemnon, and before it was submerged; but none of the theories accounted for the destruction of a Cable on which half a million of money had been expended, and which (if successful) two governments had contracted to subsidise to the gross amount of 28,000_l_. yearly. Thus were annihilated, silently and mysteriously, all those hopes which had survived so many disappointments, and which for a moment had been so abundantly realised.

But in England, as no ebullitions of joy had been indulged in when success seemed certain, neither was there now any yielding to despair.

In the month of April, 1860, the Directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Company sent out Captain Kell and Mr. Varley to Newfoundland to endeavour to recover some portion of the Cable; their efforts showed that the survey which had been taken must have been very insufficient, and the ground was much worse than was expected. They recovered five miles of the Cable, and ascertained two facts, namely, that the gutta percha was in no degree deteriorated, and that the electrical condition of the core had been improved by three years’ submersion. In 1862 several attempts were also made to recover some of the Cable from the Irish side, but with no practical advantage; and in consequence of violent storms the attempt was abandoned.

The great Civil War in America stimulated capitalists to renew the attempt; the public mind became alive to the importance of the project, and to the increased facilities which promised a successful issue. Mr. Field, who compassed land and sea incessantly, pressed his friends on both sides of the Atlantic for aid, and agitated the question in London and New York.

On the 20th of December, 1862, the Atlantic Company issued its prospectus, setting forth the valuable privileges it had acquired--amongst others, the exclusive right to land telegraph wires on the Atlantic coast of Labrador, Newfoundland, Prince Edward’s Island, and the State of Maine--and invited public subscriptions. The firm of Glass, Elliot, & Co., sent in tenders to provide a Cable at a cost of £700,000; a sum of £137,000, being 20 per cent. upon the capital of the Company, to be paid to them in old unguaranteed shares of the Company, provided they were successful.

On the 4th of March, 1863, a large number of the leading merchants in New York assembled in the Chamber of Commerce in that city, for the purpose of hearing some new and interesting facts relative to the Atlantic Telegraph enterprise. The many advantages which would arise to America were apparent, and, among others, was the improvement of the agricultural position of the country by extending to it the facilities, already enjoyed by England and France, of commanding the foreign grain markets; as well as the avoidance of misunderstandings between America and other countries.[2]

Since 1858, what was a mere experiment had become a practical reality. The Gutta Percha Company had prepared no less than forty-four submarine Cables, enclosing 9000 miles of conducting wire, which were in daily use, and not one of which had required to be repaired, except at the shore end, where they were exposed to ships’ anchors. At the meeting in New York, Mr. Field read a letter from Glass, Elliot, & Co., in which they offered to undertake to lay the Cable between Ireland and Newfoundland on the most liberal conditions. The terms which they proposed were,--First, that all actual disbursements for work and material should be recouped each week: secondly, that when the Cable was in full working order, 20 per cent. on the actual profits of the Company should be paid in shares to be delivered monthly, while at the same time they offered to subscribe £25,000 towards the ordinary capital of the Company. The English Government also agreed to guarantee interest on the capital at 8 per cent., during the operation and working of the Cable, and to grant a yearly subsidy of £14,000. Mr. Field further directed the attention of the meeting to the line to San Francisco (a single State), as evidence of what business might be expected. The estimated power of the Cable was a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 18 words per minute. If it were to be worked for sixteen hours per day for 300 days in each year, at a charge of 2_s._ 6_d._ per word, the income would amount to £413,000 a year, which would be a return of 40 per cent. upon a single Cable. After the failure of the last Cable a Commission of Inquiry, consisting of nine members, had sat for two years, and, by their report, afforded valuable information. The British Government had also dispatched surveying expeditions, which reported most favourably as to Newfoundland. In reference to the objection, that in case of war the Cable would be under the sole control of the English Government, it was to be remembered that it would be laid under treaty stipulations.

After a lengthened discussion on various matters connected with the project, it was proposed by Mr. A. Low, and unanimously resolved, “That, in the opinion of this meeting, a Cable can, in the present state of telegraphic science, be laid between Newfoundland and Ireland with almost absolute certainty of success, and will when laid prove the greatest benefit to the people of the two hemispheres, and also profitable to the shareholders. It is, therefore, recommended to the public to aid the undertaking.”

Messrs. Glass, Elliot, & Co. had long successfully manufactured Cables in accordance with all the improvements that had taken place in machinery, as well as in the manufacture of gutta percha, since the laying of the Cable of 1858. Their experience as contractors in laying lines might be estimated by the report of the Jurors of the Exhibition of 1862. They had been identified with the history of submarine telegraphy from its earliest existence, and now, having previously incorporated the Gutta Percha Company, they accepted the offer made by capitalists of influence and became absorbed in “The Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company,” of which Mr. Pender, M.P., was chairman, and Mr. Glass managing director.

The British Government were willing to assist by subsidy and guarantee, and there lay the Great Eastern, the only vessel in the world suited for the undertaking, seeking for a purchaser. The huge ship, which cost £640,000, was chartered by the Directors of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, who seemed bent upon solving the problem of its existence, and on showing what great things it was destined to accomplish. Captain James Anderson, an accomplished officer of the Cunard line, was asked to take the command, and received leave to do so, and it was with satisfaction the Directors learned his willingness to undertake the task.

In May, 1864, a contract previously entered into was ratified, providing that all profit should be contingent on success, and that all payments were to be made in unissued shares of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. A resolution was also passed, authorising the raising of additional capital by the issue of 8 per cent. guaranteed shares, of which Glass, Elliot, & Co., were to receive 250,000_l._, and also 100,000_l._ in debentures. The form of the Cable selected was similar in its component parts to that of 1858, but widely different in the construction and quality of the materials. It had been reported on most favourably by the Committee of Selection, and was at once accepted by the contractors; the Directors of the Company recognising the assiduity and skill of Mr. Glass in the investigations as to the best description of Cable.

The following official account[3] states so minutely every particular connected with the Cable during the process of formation, down to its shipment on board the Great Eastern, that no better description can be given:--

It differed from the Cable of 1857-8, as to its size, as to the weight and method of application of the materials of which it was composed, as to its specific gravity, and as to the mode adopted for its external protection.

For the same reason as before, the copper conductor employed in the Cable was not a solid rod, but a strand, composed of seven wires, each of which gauged ·048 parts of an inch. It was found practically that this form of conductor, in which six of the wires were laid in a spiral direction around the seventh, was a most effectual protection against the sudden or complete severance of the copper wire.

The severance, or “breach of continuity,” as it is usually called, is one of the most serious accidents that can happen to a submerged Cable, when unaccompanied by loss of insulation--owing to the great difficulty in discovering the locality of such a fault. Even the best description of copper wire can seldom be relied upon for equality of strength throughout, and in some instances an inch or even a less portion of the wire will prove to be slightly crystallised, and consequently incapable of resisting the effects of coiling or paying out if brought to bear upon the part, though no external difference be at all apparent between the weak portion and the remainder of the sample. By proceeding, however, as in the present case, the conductor was divided into seven sections, and the risk of seven weak places occurring in the same spot being exceedingly remote, the probability of a breach of continuity in a strand conductor was almost _nil_.

The weight of the new conductor was nearly three times that of the former one--being 300 pounds to the nautical mile against 107 pounds per knot to the conductor of 1857. The adoption of this increased weight had reference to the increase of commercial speed in the working of the new Cable expected to accrue therefrom, and was founded upon the principles of conduction and induction, now well understood, which consist in the law that the conductivity of the conductor is as its sectional area, while its inductive capacity (whereby speed of transmission is retarded) is as its circumference only; and, as the maximum speed at which the original Cable was ever worked did not exceed two and a-half words per minute, it would follow by calculation, taking into account the thickness of the dielectric surrounding the present conductor, that, using the same instruments as in 1858, a speed of three and a-half to four words per minute might be expected from the new Cable; but it was stated by the electricians that owing to the improved modes of working long Cables that have been discovered since 1858, an increase of speed up to six or even more words per minute might be secured by the adoption of suitable apparatus.

The purity of the copper employed, a very important item, affecting the rate of transmission, had been carefully provided for. Every portion of the conductor was submitted to a searching test, and all copper of a lower conductivity than 85 per cent. of that of pure copper was carefully rejected.