TELEGRAPH***


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THE STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH

by

HENRY M. FIELD

       *       *       *       *       *

DR. FIELD'S BOOKS OF TRAVEL.


     FROM THE LAKES OF KILLARNEY TO THE GOLDEN HORN. Crown 8vo,
     $2.00.

     FROM EGYPT TO JAPAN. Crown 8vo, $2.00.

     ON THE DESERT. Crown 8vo, $2.00.

     AMONG THE HOLY HILLS. With a map. Crown 8vo, $1.50.

     THE GREEK ISLANDS, and Turkey after the War. With illustrations
     and maps. Crown 8vo, $1.50.

     OLD SPAIN AND NEW SPAIN. With map. Crown 8vo, $1.50.

     BRIGHT SKIES AND DARK SHADOWS. With maps. Crown 8vo, $1.50

          _The set, 7 vols., in a box, $12.00._

     OUR WESTERN ARCHIPELAGO. Illustrated. Crown 8vo, $2.00.

     THE BARBARY COAST. Illustrated. Crown 8vo, $2.00.

     GIBRALTAR. Illustrated. Small 4to, $2.00.


     THE STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50.

       *       *       *       *       *



[Illustration: Cyrus W. Field.]


THE STORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH

by

HENRY M. FIELD


"Since the discovery of Columbus, nothing has been done in any degree
comparable to the vast enlargement which has thus been given to the
sphere of human activity."

                              --THE TIMES, August 6th, 1858.







New York
Charles Scribner's Sons
1898

Copyright, 1892, by
Henry M. Field.

Press of J. J. Little & Co.
Astor Place, New York




PREFACE


The recent death of Mr. Cyrus W. Field recalls attention to the great
enterprise with which his name will be forever associated. "The Atlantic
Telegraph," said the late Chief Justice Chase, "is the most wonderful
achievement of civilization, and entitles its author to a distinguished
rank among public benefactors. High upon that illustrious roll will his
name be placed, and there will it remain while oceans divide, and
telegraphs unite, mankind." The memory of such an achievement the world
should not let die. The story of its varied fortunes reads like a tale
of adventure. From the beginning it was a series of battles, fighting
against the elements and against the unbelief of men. This long struggle
the new generation may forget, profiting by the result, but thinking
little of the means by which it was attained. What toil of hand and
brain had gone before; what days and nights of watching and weariness;
how often hope deferred had made the heart sick: how year after year had
dragged on, and seen the end still afar off--all that is dimly
remembered, even by those who reap the fruits of victory. And yet in the
history of human achievements, it is necessary to trace these
beginnings step by step, if we would learn the lesson they teach, that
it is only out of heroic patience and perseverance that anything truly
great is born.

Twelve years of unceasing toil was the price the Atlantic Telegraph cost
its projector; and not years lighted up by the assurance of success, but
that were often darkened with despair: years in which he was restlessly
crossing and recrossing the ocean, only to find on either side, worse
than storms and tempests, an incredulity which sneered at every failure,
and derided the attempt as a delusion and a dream. Against such
discouragements nothing could prevail but that faith, or fanaticism,
which, believing the incredible, achieves the impossible. Such a tale,
apart from the results, is in itself a lesson and an inspiration.

In attempting to chronicle all this, the relation of the writer to the
prime mover has given him facilities for obtaining the materials of an
authentic history; but he trusts that it will not lead him to overstep
the limits of modesty. Standing by a new-made grave, he has no wish to
indulge in undue praise even of the beloved dead. Enough for him is it
to unroll the canvas on which the chief actor stands forth as the
conspicuous figure. But in a work of such magnitude there are many
actors, and there is glory enough for all; and it is a sacred duty to
the dead to recognize, as he did, what was due to the brave companions
in arms, who stood by him in disaster and defeat; who believed in him
even when his own countrymen doubted and despaired; and furnished anew
men and money and ships for the final conquest of the sea. If history
records that the enterprise of the Atlantic Telegraph owed its inception
to the faith and daring of an American, it will also record that all his
ardor and activity would have been of no avail but for the science and
seamanship, the capital and the undaunted courage, of England. But when
all these conditions were supplied, it is the testimony of Englishmen
themselves that his was the spirit within the wheels that made them
revolve; that it was his intense vitality that infused itself into a
great organization, and made the dream of science the reality of the
world. This is not to his honor alone: it is a matter of national pride;
and Americans may be pardoned if, in the year in which they celebrate
the discovery of the continent, they recall that it was one of their
countrymen whom the Great Commoner of England, John Bright, pronounced
"the Columbus of our time, who, after no less than forty voyages across
the Atlantic in pursuit of the great aim of his life, had at length by
his cable moored the New World close alongside the Old." How the miracle
was wrought, it is the design of these pages to tell.




CONTENTS


CHAPTER I.                                                        Page 1

     Discovery of the New World by Columbus. Relative Position
     of the Two Hemispheres. Nearest Points--The Outlying
     Islands, Ireland and Newfoundland. Shorter Route to Europe
     suggested by Bishop Mullock. The Electric Telegraph Company
     of Newfoundland. Project of Mr. F. N. Gisborne. Failure of
     the Company

CHAPTER II.                                                      Page 15

     Mr. Gisborne comes to New York. Is introduced to Cyrus W.
     Field, who conceives the Idea of a Telegraph across the
     Atlantic Ocean. Is it Practicable? Two Elements to be
     mastered, the Sea and the Electric Current. Letters of
     Lieutenant Maury and Professor Morse

CHAPTER III.                                                     Page 24

     Mr. Field enlists Capitalists in the Enterprise. Commission
     to Newfoundland to obtain a Charter. The New York,
     Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company

CHAPTER IV.                                                      Page 38

     The Land-Line in Newfoundland