History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network

The Trans-Atlantic Submarine Telegraph:
A Brief Narrative of the Principal Incidents
in the History of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.
Compiled from Authentic and Official Documents
by the Late George Saward, Secretary to the Company.

PREFACE.

MY husband, during the last two years of his life, was much interested in putting together some authentic particulars of the history of the Atlantic Telegraph, in which he took so prominent a part. Therefore, out of respect for his memory, I have determined to publish them.

I think that this history will be an agreeable recollection to any of the Directors who are now living, and an interesting story to all. And I am sure that those who worked with my husband will bear testimony to the modesty that he displays when he speaks of the part he took in the great enterprise.

HARRIET SAWARD.     

THE TRANSATLANTIC SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH

CHAPTER I.

In the month of November, 1850, Bishop Mullock, at that time the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Newfoundland, addressed to the Courier, an American newspaper, a letter in which he advocated the establishment of a line of telegraphic communication from Newfoundland to New York, so that under proper arrangements the news of the mail steamers could be intercepted in passing Newfoundland and sent forward by telegraph to New York, while, on the other hand, news occurring in New York, subsequent to the sailing of each mail, could be telegraphed on to Newfoundland, and there sent out to meet the steamer passing on its way to Europe —thus shortening the time of communication between the two countries by several days.

The Bishop suggested the construction of a land telegraph from St. John’s to Cape Ray, to be continued by submarine cable to St. Paul’s Island, and from the latter place to Cape North (Cape Breton), thence by the best route to the mainland of America, there to unite with existing telegraphs, and by these means to complete the communication to New York. A year later the idea of carrying such a scheme into practice appears to have occurred either as an original notion, or from the perusal of the above-mentioned letter, to a Mr. F.N. Gisborne, an English telegraph engineer, who, in 1851, was living in Nova Scotia.

Mr. Gisborne visited Newfoundland for the purpose of explaining his plan to the Legislature of that colony, with a view to their possible assistance in carrying it out.

His project was at once to erect an overland telegraph from St. John’s to Cape Ray, and as there was at that period much doubt as to the practicability of submarine cables he proposed to establish a temporary communication from Cape Ray to Cape Breton by means of steamers and carrier pigeons, until it should have been proved to be possible to lay a submarine cable across the sea between those places.

It was hoped at the time that these important arrangements might ultimately lead to the running of steamers from Galway to America, calling at St. John’s. The establishment of these steamers had been mooted previously, and the scheme having thus a local interest for Newfoundland Mr. Gisborne’s plans were favourably received, and met with such assistance as enabled him to survey a line from St. John’s to Carbonear. In 1852 the local Legislature of Newfoundland gave further encouragement to the project by granting to Mr. Gisborne an Act of Incorporation which conferred, under certain conditions, upon a projected Company, important concessions of land, and the exclusive right of erecting telegraphs in the colony during a period of thirty years.

Furnished with this authority Mr. Gisborne proceeded to New York for the purpose of introducing his plans and his Act of Parliament to the notice of capitalists there. In this endeavour he was to some extent successful, for he met with a Mr. Tebbits, through whom he obtained some subscriptions, and promises of further help in the same direction.

Mr. Gisborne then set to work upon the line to Cape Ray, and, in spite of formidable engineering difficulties, and great personal dangers and privations, he bravely persevered in making a survey of the hitherto unexplored country westward of St. John’s, and commenced the erection of an electric telegraph by land in the direction of Cape Ray.

By this time several submarine cables had been laid in Europe, and the idea of the steamer and the carrier pigeons was consequently now laid aside. Mr. Gisborne now proceeded to England, where he purchased and shipped a submarine cable, which he succeeded in submerging successfully from Prince Edward’s Island to New Brunswick, this being the first cable of any importance ever laid in America. Unfortunately this cable was shortly afterwards broken, and, owing to the want of experience, could not at that period be recovered.

Undaunted by this untoward circumstance Mr. Gisborne proceeded with his land lines towards Cape Ray, and was pushing forward with great energy when his progress was suddenly arrested, owing to the necessary funds for the payment of wages and expenses not being forthcoming from New York. This catastrophe involved Mr. Gisborne personally in great pecuniary loss and liability for debts incurred in the Island of Newfoundland, and it was not till January, 1854, that he was able again to take up the matter.

He then went to New York to see some of his American friends, in order to ascertain if anything further could be done to resuscitate and complete the half-finished project. He was long unsuccessful in this, and while meditating on the best course to relieve him from his embarrassment he became acquainted with Mr. Matthew D. Field, an engineer, by whom he was introduced to Mr. Cyrus W. Field, whose name and exertions are so well known in connection with this enterprise.

Mr. Cyrus Field, having carefully considered the history of Mr. Gisborne’s proceedings, decided at once not to attempt to complete Mr. Gisborne’s unfinished enterprise, inasmuch as during his consideration of the matter the idea of a much larger project had dawned upon his own mind. It had struck him that if it were possible to succeed in establishing a submarine telegraphic communication across the Atlantic Ocean a grand scheme of international telegraph would be formed by combining this larger enterprise with the original project of Mr. Gisborne.

The recent success of the cable between Dover and Calais in 1851, and the consequent confidence thence arising in Europe as to the indefinite extension of submarine telegraphy, gave great encouragement to this idea. Mr. Field accordingly took measures for obtaining the opinions of the highest scientific authorities in America: First, as to the possibility of stretching a telegraphic cable across the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean without mechanical injury; and, secondly, as to whether a submarine cable could be so constituted electrically, having regard to its conductibility and insulation, as to be capable of transmitting telegraphic signals with speed and accuracy between Europe and America.

From Lieutenant Maury, of the National Observatory at Washington, he received satisfactory assurances as to the mechanical question, and the further information, founded upon the soundings of Lieutenant Berryman, of the United States brig Dolphin, that between Ireland and Newfoundland there existed a line of equable soundings and a character of sea bottom admirably adapted for the purpose of receiving a telegraphic cable.

From Professor Morse he obtained equally encouraging assurances as to the practicability of the electrical portion of the work, and, thus supported by scientific opinions, Mr. Field decided upon making an attempt to combine in one grand undertaking the project of Mr. Gisborne and the important supplement to that project which had been conceived by himself.

From that hour to the final consummation of the great work, during a period of twelve years of wearing trial and disappointment, Mr. Field never lost heart, but devoted himself with untiring energy to the work of which he from thenceforth became the apostle.

The object of these pages being to narrate in a plain way some of the principal incidents in the history of a famous enterprise, without presuming to adjust the various claims to praise among the many meritorious persons who were concerned in bringing it to completion, it must not be supposed that injustice is intended to Mr. Field, or other labourers in the work, if their separate efforts are not dwelt upon as often or as fully as some might think due to them.

As regards Mr. Cyrus W. Field, his great services have fortunately found an eloquent exponent in the person of the Rev. Henry Field, who, in a very interesting work, entitled “The Atlantic Telegraph,“ has more particularly dwelt upon the important part fulfilled by his distinguished relative.

Supported by the authority of Professor Morse, Captain Maury, and other eminent authorities, Mr. Field agreed, on certain terms, to assist Mr. Gisborne, and the better to carry out his views he, with his brother Mr. Dudley Field, obtained the co-operation of certain capitalists, viz., Mr. Peter Cooper, Mr. Moses Taylor, Mr. Marshall 0. Roberts, and Mr. Chandler White, all of New York.

These gentlemen, in conjunction with the Messrs. Field, agreed, at their mutual expense, to promote and carry out a certain Company, to be called “The New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company,“ provided that an Act of Incorporation could be obtained from the Legislature of Newfoundland in its favour, conferring and confirming certain privileges upon the shareholders in the event of their completion of various telegraphic works, more especially of a cable across the Atlantic.

Mr. Cyrus Field and Mr. Dudley Field therefore proceeded to Newfoundland, and having acquired a surrender of Mr. Gisborne’s charter they eventually obtained from the Newfoundland Legislature a new and most important Act of Parliament (which was duly confirmed by the Colonial Department of the Home Government), incorporating their project, under the title of “The New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company.“ This Act conferred upon the promoters, during a term of forty years, the exclusive right of landing cables in Newfoundland and Labrador, together with the fee simple of fifty square miles of unappropriated land on completion of certain land telegraphs, and of a further fifty square miles on the completion of the submarine cable to Europe.

The Act also confirmed a guarantee by the Newfoundland Government of interest on £50,000 worth of the new Company’s Bonds, and took upon itself the payment of £5,000 in cash towards the construction of a bridle path along the line of the land telegraph.

This Colonial Act having been secured and confirmed, the promoters at once discharged the debts of the old Newfoundland Company, the Act incorporating which was repealed by that obtained by Mr. Field.

The new Company soon completed the line from St. John’s to Cape Ray, with a branch to Cape Race, and, after losing one cable, they finally succeeded in establishing submarine communication between Cape Ray (Newfoundland) and Ashpee Bay in Cape Breton, and also connected Nova Scotia with Cape Breton by a cable across the Gut of Kanso.

During the construction of the land lines some differences arose between the new Company and Mr. F. Gisborne, in consequence of which the latter gentleman thenceforward seceded from the undertaking.

Communication between New York and Newfoundland having thus been established, the promoters proceeded to demonstrate to the public, experimentally, the commercial advantages attainable, by at once shortening, via Newfoundland, the intercommunication between New York and Queenstown to the extent of two or three days, thus indicating the conveniences which would result from the completion of entire telegraphic communication between Europe and America, so that the public might be induced to come forward in support of that more extensive project.

This they effected by stationing at Cape Race (a headland at the extreme south-eastern point of Newfoundland) a small vessel, whose business it was, in accordance with a previous arrangement effected with the owners of the Cunard line of mail steamers, to intercept (weather permitting) the regular steamers employed in the latter service, the captains of which had orders to steer a course sufficiently north to enable them to sight Cape Race as closely as possible both on the outward and homeward voyage.

Agents were appointed in Europe and America to collect telegraphic messages for transmission between the two countries by this new route, which soon came into favour with the press and public, though too much trammelled with working expenses to have been permanently kept open. The process of transmission was as follows:—The messages from Europe, collected up to the sailing of each mail, were placed in water-tight canisters and taken out by the mail boat, which, on sighting Cape Race, began to slacken speed, and continued to do so for a short distance, thus enabling the local steamboat employed by the Telegraph Company to come within hailing distance of her. The water-tight canisters containing the messages collected up to the latest moment of leaving Europe were then cast overboard, and as quickly as possible fished u p by the telegraph steamer, which, having secured them, immediately hastened to St. John’s, where the despatches were opened by the Superintendent of the office and sent forward to New York by electric telegraph, in this way anticipating by several days the European news which had been carried all the way by steamboat.

On the American side the same process was reversed:—The despatches for Europe, collected by the Agency during the two to three days succeeding the departure of each mail from New York, were telegraphed to St. John’s, Newfoundland, where they were received up to the latest moment consistent with due regard to the necessary allowance of time for the telegraph boat to go out and meet the return steamer for Europe.

The water-tight canisters again came into requisition, and being filled with news for Europe and sealed down, the little telegraph steamer at once started to meet the mail boat passing Cape Race on its way to Europe, which slackened speed at that point and received the despatches as on the inward journey.

On arriving at Queenstown (in Ireland) the despatch canisters were again opened, and their contents sent by telegraph to their various destinations, thus affording three days later American news than the letters brought over in the same steamer.

At a later period a special land line was erected to Crookhaven (in Ireland), six or seven private individuals having formed themselves into an association for the purpose, and a steamer was put on to run out to Cape Clear for the purpose of intercepting the mail at that point on the European side, thus saving the time occupied in the voyage from Cape Clear to Queenstown, and making two interceptions during each voyage. These arrangements might have lasted u p to the laying of the Atlantic Cable had not the cost of the requisite maintenance of the land lines prevented the scheme from being remunerative.

The Newfoundland line, therefore, having got out of order, and its maintenance being very expensive, the steamer at Cape Race was, after a considerable trial, discontinued. In fact, some of the most wealthy of the members of the Newfoundland Company, which continued to be numerically a very small association, were completely discouraged by the repeated disappointments of the Atlantic Telegraph Company in 1857 and 1858,and the continued ill-success of their negotiations for additional capital. Seeing, therefore, that the maintenance of their land line and cables would be too costly to allow the scheme of interception at Cape Race to be independently remunerative, they at length refrained from all expenditure in the matter, pending the fate of the main project for crossing the Atlantic. The Crookhaven line occasionally received despatches even so late as 1872.

Although the plan of intercepting the mails at Cape Race had practically proved the advantage of complete telegraphic communication across the Atlantic, the capitalists of New York and Boston could not be induced to risk their money in an undertaking which seemed at that time, to most persons except the promoters, of a very visionary character.

Mr. Field, however, nothing daunted by this circumstance, left America for England in July, 1856, having for some time previous been in communication upon the subject of submarine telegraphy with Mr. John W. Brett, of London, so well known as one of the earliest practical originators of submarine telegraphic communication in Europe.

Mr. Field brought with him full powers from his associates in America to make arrangements to raise on this side of the Atlantic the necessary money for carrying out this great experiment, either by obtaining subscriptions for sufficient New Stock of the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company, for the completion of the entire project, or by the establishment and subsidising of a special English Company, charged with the construction and laying of the submarine cable across the Atlantic.

He found it necessary to adopt the latter course, and shortly after his arrival in England he entered into an agreement with Mr. Brett and subsequently with Mr. E.O.W. Whitehouse, a gentleman who had recently abandoned the practice of medicine at Brighton for the pursuit of experimental electricity, and with Mr. (afterwards Sir Charles) Bright, at that time the Engineer of the Magnetic Telegraph Company.

By this agreement each of these promoters were mutually bound to push on the undertaking in every possible way, and become sharers in the ultimate profit to be derived therefrom.

Mr. Field also put himself in communication with the English Government, and received, as the result of his application to Lord Clarendon, a letter from Mr. James Wilson, then Financial Secretary to the Treasury, agreeing, on the part of the British Cabinet, to furnish the aid of national ships for the purpose of taking soundings across the Atlantic, in the first instance, and of assisting in the ultimate work of laying the cable.

The British Cabinet further undertook to enter into contract for the payment during twenty-five years of £14,000 a year, as a subsidy for the transmission of Government messages, until the Company, on the establishment and during the continuance of communication, should be able to declare a dividend of six per cent., and after that period a fixed sum of £10,000 per annum, the understanding being that Government messages were to be charged at the Company’s ordinary rates, and that if the cable were used to an extent not covered by their amount of subsidy the balance should be paid by the Treasury.

Mr. Field had set on foot measures for obtaining a subsidy from the United States Government on a basis similar to the one just referred to, and it may here be stated that immediately after the formation of the English Company he left for Washington, where, in 1857, he obtained the assent of Congress to a Bill entitled “A Bill to expedite Telegraphic Communication for the Use of the Government in its Foreign Intercourse.“ This Bill empowered the Secretary of State, under the direction of the President of the United States, to contract with any competent persons or association for the aid of the United States in laying down a submarine cable to connect existing telegraphs between the coast of Newfoundland and the coast of Ireland, and for the use, by the United States’ Government, of such submarine communication when established, the terms and conditions of that use to be such as might seem to the President just and reasonable, not exceeding 70,000 dollars per annum, until the net profits of such persons or association shall be equal to a dividend of six per cent. per annum upon the capital employed, and afterwards of an annual payment not exceeding 50,000 dollars.

The duration of the contract was to be twenty-five years, and the Bill further provided that before its powers should be exercised the Government of Great Britain should enter into a similar contract; that the tariff of prices should be fixed by the two Governments, who should both be on an equality as regards the use of the cable.

The following gentlemen, from whom Mr. Field received very great assistance, were induced to unite with him in forming a Provisional Committee, and in their names and that of Mr. Field the Atlantic Telegraph Company were first registered under the Limited Liability Act:—Mr. G.B. Carr (Chairman), Mr. J.W. Brett, Mr. Samuel Statham, Mr. J.S. Walker, Mr. C.W. Tupper; and Mr. J.A.M. Pinniger acted as Solicitor to the Committee.

Upon this Committee, in connection with Mr. Field, devolved all the preliminary arrangements. Their first act was to issue a private prospectus addressed to commercial capitalists, and by dint of great personal exertions in London, Manchester, and Glasgow, assisted in Liverpool by Messrs. Charles and Edward Bright, they succeeded in raising the first capital, which, contrary to the advice of Mr. Brunel and other scientific advisers who had been consulted, was unfortunately fixed at the small amount of only £350,000, in 350 shares of £1,000 each, under the belief that to raise the large sums proposed would be impossible. Mr. Brunel, foreseeing the difficulties before them, had wisely advocated a subscription of £2,000,000.

His plans further included the construction of a ship of special form and adequate capacity for storing the entire cable, and he insisted on the necessity for a series of preliminary experiments before deciding upon the “paying out “ machinery, or finally settling the form of cable.

It is remarkable that Mr. Brunel’s original forecast of the work to be done should have turned out to be so nearly correct. The ultimate capital at the time of success was about the sum named by him, and the wondrous ship, the Great Eastern steamship, the creation of his genius, after vicissitudes as great as that of the cable itself, became a principal in the establishment of telegraphic communication with America.

Of the first capital £88,000 was subscribed for by Mr. Cyrus Field himself, who had, however, intended to dispose of the greater portion of it in America, believing that his countrymen at home would like to share in a great international enterprise which by this time had attained such popularity in England. In this respect, however, he was greatly disappointed, for the total amount subscribed by persons living in America was only £27,000, the entire liability for deposits and calls upon the remainder being left on Mr. Field’s hands.

This large amount, however, was duly paid in full by Mr. Field, who was protected from undue pressure in the matter by the temporary aid of Messrs. Peabody and Co., whose interest in the work was ever unceasingly manifested.

In Great Britain Messrs. George Peabody and Co., Messrs. Overend and Gurney, Messrs. Schroeder, Messrs. C.M. Lampson and Co., and the Right Hon. J. Stuart Wortley, of London; Mr. C.W. Pickering and Mr. Cropper, of Liverpool; Mr. Richard Gardner and Mr. Robert Lees, of Manchester; Messrs. Coats and Co., of Paisley; Mr. Crum Ewing and Mr. Walter Paterson, Glasgow, were among the earliest and most liberal subscribers to this undertaking at a time when the hope of profit from their venture was very remote, and the undertaking rather partook of the character of a grand philosophical experiment.

Previous to their attempt to raise the capital the Provisional Committee had discussed with great attention the various forms of cable proposed for submersion across the Atlantic. In this part of the question they were very much assisted by Mr. (now Sir R.A.) Glass, who, as the head of the firm of Glass, Elliot, and Co., the telegraph cable makers, zealously devoted his works and his own personal labour, in conjunction with Mr. (now Sir Samuel) Canning and the late Mr. Samuel Statham, of the Gutta Percha Company, towards the investigation of the subject.

A great many experiments were tried, and many different forms of cable were constructed at the works of Messrs. Glass, Elliot, and Co., until at length a cable was selected which, in the judgment of most persons at that time, was deemed to be the best for the purpose.

Thousands of specimens of this well-known cable were made, and gratuitously distributed among the mercantile public by Mr. Glass and Mr. Field, with a view to interest them in the subject.

By this Committee also were settled the terms of the contract for manufacturing the cable. This operation, so soon as the undertaking appeared likely to obtain funds, became the subject of intrigues, so that in making their final arrangements for that purpose they were unfortunately driven, as an act of policy rather than of prudence, to the necessity of dividing the work into two contracts, instead of entrusting the whole cable, as at first intended, to the firm of Glass, Elliot, and Co., who had from the outset evinced so deep an interest in its inauguration. Eventually, therefore, one contract for 1,250 miles of cable was entrusted to Messrs. Glass, Elliot, and Co., to be made and shipped at Greenwich; and the remaining 1,250 miles was contracted for by Messrs. Newall and Co., of Newcastle, to be made and shipped at Birkenhead, thus entirely precluding the testing of the cable in one length before shipment.

Previous to their retirement the Provisional Committee also agreed, and finally settled with the projectors Messrs. Cyrus W. Field, J.W. Brett, C.T. Bright, and E.O.W. Whitehouse the remuneration to accrue to them for their rights and for the surrender of the exclusive privilege of landing cables in Newfoundland and elsewhere, which, having been acquired by the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company, had been ceded to Mr. Field by the latter Company to be dealt with for his own advantage in any manner he might deem expedient, so as to promote the subscription of capital for the Atlantic Telegraph Company.

As the form of this remuneration was subsequently varied by the Permanent Board it may be as well to state here the whole facts relating to it.

The first arrangement agreed upon among the promoters and the Provisional Committee, and upon which the prospectus was based and the capital subscribed, provided that, after the successful laying of the cable, and so soon as, in addition to the payment of all working expenses, there should be sufficient profit left, a dividend of more than ten per cent should be paid to the shareholders, and that the surplus above ten per cent. should be divided into two equal parts, one part to be the property of the projectors, and the remaining half to be retained by the shareholders.

To secure this to the projectors a certain amount of supervision of, and interference with, the accounts was stipulated for, which Mr. Lampson and Mr. Brooking, the permanent Directors of the Company, to whom the agreements and contracts were submitted, at once felt would operate very inconveniently for the Company by injuriously interfering with the Board in working the traffic.

From the earliest period, therefore, they advised their colleagues to compromise the original arrangement for a fixed and final amount in money or shares.

At first it was impossible to effect this, owing to the large amount demanded by the promoters for capitalizing the objectionable conditions; but, when the first expedition of 1857 had returned unsuccessful, the pretensions of the projectors were somewhat lowered, and the Board then succeeded in effecting the surrender of the ten per cent. arrangement in exchange for a payment of £75,000 in ordinary fully paid-up shares of the Company, to be delivered by the Company on the successful laying of the cable.

This agreement was ultimately carried out after the cable had been laid, in 1858, by the following apportionments of Ordinary Stock of the Atlantic Telegraph Company credited as fully paid-up, viz.:—

In completing here the account of the work performed by the Provisional Committee it should be mentioned that the terms of union between the Atlantic Telegraph Company and the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company were preliminarily settled by those gentlemen, and a draft agreement prepared by them for carrying out the arrangement was handed to the Permanent Board, who subsequently remodelled the same, and caused it to be executed after an ineffectual attempt to improve its somewhat onerous provisions.

The general terms of this agreement were:—

First—That the two Companies should mutually aid and connect exclusively with each other.
Second—That the exclusive rights belonging to the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company should become the property of the Atlantic Telegraph Company conditional upon the cable being laid to Newfoundland within a limited period.
Third—The revenue derived from messages between the Irish terminus of the cable and the Western terminus of the Newfoundland Company’s lines to be divided into three parts, of which two parts were to be the property of the Atlantic Company, and the third to belong to the Newfoundland Company.

The preliminary business having thus been settled the original capital of the Company, consisting of 350 shares of £1,000 each, was allotted to a constituency composed of merchants and others of the highest commercial standing in London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Glasgow, and the first deposit of £200 per share having been called up, a general meeting of the shareholders was held on the 9th December, 1856, at which the following gentlemen were elected Permanent Directors:—

At their first meeting on the 17th December, 1856, the Board so constituted appointed as their Chairman William Brown, Esq., subsequently Sir William Brown, Bart., of the firm of Brown, Shipley, and Co., of London, Liverpool, and New York, and their Secretary Mr. George Saward, who had for many years previously been the Secretary and Manager of the British Telegraph Company.

The Provisional Committee had, before their resignation, become aware that the Constitution conferred by the Limited Liability Act would be insufficient for the extensive objects of the undertaking, and in order to save a Session of Parliament had complied with the Standing Order which requires the insertion of notices in the official Gazettes published in the month of November by parties intending to promote Bills in the Session of the year following.

They gave notice in 1856 of an intended application to Parliament in the Session of 1857 for a Special Act to incorporate the Atlantic Telegraph Company, and to confer thereon various important and requisite powers and privileges.

This Bill was now carried through Parliament by the Permanent Board, and in the month of July, 1857, an Act of complete incorporation was obtained, nearly all the powers applied for having been enacted, but the borrowing powers which had been sought having been struck out in the House of Lords at the instigation of Lord Redesdale, the Directors considered it desirable to apply a second time to Parliament in order to obtain their re-insertion.

To this latter Act Royal assent was given in 1858.

The Act of 1857 conferred upon the Atlantic Telegraph Company, among other powers, those of entering into contracts with the British and American Governments, the right to land cables on the shores of the United Kingdom, and a confirmation of the agreement with the Newfoundland Company. It also sanctioned the privilege of alternate priority in the despatch of messages in favour of the Governments of Great Britain and of the United States which had been already agreed to by the Company.

Further clauses made it lawful for the shareholders in England to elect twelve Honorary Directors resident in the United States and Canada with power to sit and vote at the ordinary Board in England.

This latter authority was exercised at the first ordinary annual meeting of the Company. The following gentlemen were chosen the first Honorary Directors of the Company:

The Hon. E.M. Archibald, H.M. Consul, New York.
Auguste Belmont, Esq., banker, New York.
Peter Cooper, Esq., merchant, New York.
Francis P. Corbin, Esq., Paris.
Wilson G. Hunt, Esq., merchant, New York.
A.A. Low, Esq., merchant, New York.
Matthew Morgan, Esq., banker, New York.
Watts Sherman, Esq., banker, New York.
The Hon. Geo. E. Cartier, of Quebec, Lower Canada.
The Hon. John Ross, of Toronto, Upper Canada.
The Hon. John Young, of Montreal, Upper Canada.
The Hon. John Robertson, St. John’s, New Brunswick.

The seal of the Company having been affixed by the newly-elected Board to the two contracts previously entered into by the Provisional Committee for the construction of 1,250 miles of cable under each contract, according to the pattern originally determined upon, its manufacture was now commenced at the works of Messrs. Glass, Elliot, and Co., at East Greenwich, in the month of February, 1857.

Messrs. Newall, at Birkenhead, did not begin their portion until somewhat later. Nevertheless, the entire length of 2,500 miles was completed by the two firms before the end of the first week of July, 1857.

The manufacture of the cable being now fairly under way, the Directors made the necessary arrangements for its shipment and submersion. These operations had to be taken at the risk of the Company and by its own appointed officers, as want of experience and the largeness of the undertaking rendered it impossible at the time to contract for work of so uncertain a character.

In assisting to carry out the various and most important arrangements determined on by the Board and rendered necessary by the arrangement of this responsible undertaking, Mr. Brooking, the Vice-chairman, Mr. C.M. Lampson, and Mr. Brett, with the Secretary, were the most active members of the Company.

Their first duty was to make applications to the Lords of the Admiralty and to the United States Government for assistance from the Naval resources respectively under the control of those authorities.

These applications were most cordially responded to. Her Majesty’s ship Cyclops was despatched during the month of May, 1857, under the command of Lieutenant Dayman, to sound on the great circle arc between Valentia and Newfoundland.

Her Majesty’s ships Agamemnon and Leopard were also commissioned, the former to receive on board at the Greenwich works of Messrs. Glass, Elliot, and Co., and when received to proceed to pay out into the Atlantic, under the instructions of the engineer, one-half of the main cable, and the latter to assist in any emergency that might arise.

The United States, on their part, sent over their finest frigate, the Niagara,with instructions to take on board, and assist in paying out, one half of the cable. On account of her great draught of water, which rendered it unsuitable for her to lie at Greenwich, she was appointed to the service of shipping the cable made by Messrs. Newall and Co., at Birkenhead. She was under the command of Captain Hudson, and was attended by the United States steamer Susquehanna, under the command of Captain Sands.

On the recommendation of the Liverpool section of the Board of Directors, Mr. (now Sir Charles) Bright was about this time appointed Engineer in charge of the entire expedition.

Mr. Bright, who was at that time Engineer to the Magnetic Telegraph Company, had previously been Superintendent to the British Telegraph Company, after several years’ service as instrument clerk under the Electric Telegraph Company. Thus upon this gentleman at once devolved the responsibility of designing the paying-out machinery and other mechanical appliances required for the submergence of the cable.

With Mr. Bright were associated four other engineers, namely, Mr. (now Sir Samuel) Canning and Mr. H. Woodhouse (now deceased) on board the Niagara, and Mr. H. Clifford and Mr. F.C. Webb on board the Agamemnon.

Mr. E.O.W. Whitehouse had been appointed by the Provisional Committee, in 1856, Electrician to the Company, and superintended the testing of the cable throughout its manufacture, but being prevented by the state of his health from accompanying the expedition, he remained in charge of the apparatus at Valentia, his place on board being fulfilled by Professor (now Sir William) Thomson, of Glasgow, who not only devoted himself with great ardour to the enterprise, but whose services, like those of all the rest of the Board, were from first to last gratuitous.

It is to him and to his researches on the first Atlantic Cable that telegraphic science owes the exquisitely delicate and simple instrument which, as perfected by the Professor, is now constantly in use under the name of the “Marine Reflecting Galvanometer.” It receives messages through the Atlantic and other cables (deep-sea) with unrivalled speed and accuracy, and its value is probably even greater still as a certain and most searching instrument for testing the insulating qualities of gutta percha and other non-conductors.

Had this instrument been invented when the first cable was manufactured for the Atlantic Telegraph Company it is not too much to say that the result would in all probability have been a complete success.

The United States steamer Niagara arrived in the Thames on the 14th May, 1857, and cast anchor near Gravesend, as her commander supposed that she would now take on board the cable manufactured at the works of Messrs. Glass, Elliot, and Co., but this, however, as mentioned above, was found impossible, without great difficulty, in consequence of her extreme length and draught of water, which prevented her from lying sufficiently near to the manufacturers’ wharf.

The Niagara, therefore (at the request of the Directors), was sent round to Liverpool, but she was detained a fortnight at Portsmouth Dockyard for the internal alterations required to enable her to ship the cable.

She arrived in the Mersey on the 22nd June, followed by the Susquehanna, and on the 24th July all the details connected with the manufacture and stowage of the cable were completed, not only in Liverpool but at Greenwich also, where the Agamemnon had been moored to receive and stow away her valuable freight.

The completion and shipment of the cable were celebrated by a magnificent banquet, given by Messrs. Glass, Elliot, and Co. to the officers of both ships and to the sailors of the Agamemnon at Belvedere House, near Erith, at that time the residence of Sir Culling Eardley, Bart., who had from the first taken great interest in the undertaking, and who now opened his beautiful house and park for this entertainment.

The two portions of cable having been coiled on board their respective ships, these took their departure, the one from the Mersey and the other from the Thames, in order to meet at Queenstown, in Ireland, where they arrived in due course, the Niagara on the 29th and the Agamemnon on the 30th July.

Owing to the impolitic division of the contract for its manufacture between two distant contractors, no scientific man, up to this period, had been able to prove by actual experiment the possibility of telegraphing through 2,500 continuous miles of submarine telegraph cable, but on the arrival of the vessels at Queenstown they were laid alongside each other and the ends of the two cables were brought together and joined into one unbroken line.

A number of electric currents were then sent through the conductor, and the insulation was reported to be perfect,—perfect so far as the comparatively crude means of testing were then capable of showing.

The following Directors were at Queenstown at this time in attendance upon the squadron: Mr. Brooking, Mr. Lampson, Mr. Crosbie, Mr. Pickering, Mr. Logie, Mr. Brett, and Mr. Cyrus W. Field.

The power of the instruments devised by the electrician for working the line when laid was stated to the Board to be ample for the length of 2,500 miles, but the time required to charge the cable electrically and again discharge it necessitated long intervals between signal and signal to avoid the blending of electric waves, and consequent unintelligible transmission.

As the chief electrician remained on shore, an extemporised arrangement between Professor Thomson and himself enabled them to send and receive intelligible despatches at Queenstown, and subsequently between Valentia and the paying-out ship;but it was evident to all who witnessed the first experiment that more time and attention were required in order to attain such a satisfactory rate of electric communication as would be commercially remunerative.

On Monday, August 3, at the conclusion of the tests, which were not, however, entirely satisfactory, the telegraphic squadron left Queenstown for Valentia Bay.

The expedition consisted of the following ships, viz.:—

The United States’ steam frigate Niagara, to lay the half of the cable from Valentia Bay, Ireland.

The United States’ steam frigate Susquehanna, in attendance upon the Niagara

Her Majesty’s steamer Agamemnon, to lay the half of the cable on the American side.

Her Majesty’s steamer Leopard, in attendance upon the Agamemnon.

Her Majesty’s steamer Cyclops, to go ahead of the steamers and keep the course.

The steamers Advice and Willing Mind, to assist in landing the thicker shore end of the cable in Valentia.

In Trinity Bay the United States’ steamer Arctic, and the Telegraph Company’s steamer Victoria, were to await the arrival of the fleet and to assist in landing the cable there.

While the cable was in course of being received on board the two ships, important meetings of the Directors and officers of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, attended by the chief officers of the American and English ships employed, had been held at the offices in London.

It was clear that no one ship could at that time be found which could coil away the entire cable, so it was necessary to employ two vessels, and it became a question of deep interest and of earnest debate at these meetings-first, whether the commencement of the laying of the cable should take place in the Atlantic Ocean, midway between Valentia and Newfoundland, by joining the two ends of the cable, and sinking the portion so joined at that spot, so as to enable the ships to sail away and pay-out in opposite directions, until the one should arrive in England and the other in America; or, whether the Niagara should lay the first half from Ireland to the middle of the Atlantic, there to unite the end of its cable with the other half on board the Agamemnon, which latter ship would then take u p the work and complete the connection with Newfoundland.

The engineers were in favour of the former course, but they were overruled by the electricians, who advocated the latter plan, in which advocacy they were supported by some members of the Board. It was, therefore, decided that the cable should be attached to the, shore at Ballycarberry Strand in Valentia Bay, and payed out across the ocean to Newfoundland direct.

According to the plan thus finally adopted the Niagara was to pay out her portion of the cable first, and then to splice the end to that on board the Agamemnon, which was to lay the remaining half, and land her end in Trinity Bay, the point of connection on the American side.

Events, however, prevented the Agamemnon from taking part in the paying out on this occasion, so that the possibility of the two ships being able to meet and connect their cables in mid-ocean was never put to the test.

Whatever doubts may at that time have existed as to the greater advantages of the mid-ocean plan there certainly can be none at present.

The successful employment of the Great Eastern steamship in the laying of long cables has shown that the difficulties attendant upon either course may now be happily overcome.

CHAPTER II.

ON the 5th August, 1857, the work of laying the first Submarine Telegraph Cable ever attempted to be stretched across the Atlantic Ocean was fairly commenced.

The Eastern end of the cable was carried on shore from the Niagara, at Ballycarberry Strand, by American sailors, in the presence of the Earl of Carlisle, at that time Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, who made a special journey from Dublin in order to evince his interest in the undertaking.

At a short distance from Valentia an accident happened to the shore end of the cable, which occasioned some delay in starting, but on the 7th August the squadron fairly bore away for the West.

The following extract from the Engineer’s report will supply the facts relating to this expedition:—.

“The machinery for regulating the egress of the cable from the paying-out vessels was constructed with regard to the great depth of water to be passed over, the constant strain, and the number of days during which the operation must unceasingly be in progress.

“The cable was passed over and under a series of sheaves, having the bearings of their axles fixed to a framework composed of cast-iron girders bolted down to the ship’s beams.

“The sheaves were geared to each other, and to a pinion fixed to a central shaft revolving at a rate three times faster than that of the sheaves; two friction drums upon this shaft regulated the speed of paying-out, and the grooves of the sheaves (which were fixed to their axles outside the framework and bearings) were fitted to the semi-circumference of the cable, so as to grasp it firmly, without any pressure by which it could be injured.

For three days everything proceeded as satisfactorily as could be wished; the paying-out machinery worked perfectly in shallow as well as in the deepest water, and in rapid transition from one to the other.

“By noon of the 8th we had payed-out forty miles of cable, including the heavy shore end. Up to four P.M. on that day the egress of the cable had been sufficiently retarded by the power necessary to keep the machinery in motion at a rate of a little faster than the rate of the ship; but as the water deepened it was necessary to place some further restraint upon it by applying pressure to the friction drums in connection with the paying-out sheaves. By midnight eighty-five miles had been safely laid, the depth of water being then a little more than 200 fathoms.

“At eight o’clock in the morning of the 9th we had finished the deck coil in the after part of the ship, having paid out 120 miles;the change to the coil between decks forward was safely made. By noon we had laid 136 miles of cable, the depth of the water having increased to 410 fathoms. In the evening the speed of the vessel was raised to five knots per hour. I had previously kept down the rate at from three to four knots per hour for the small cable, and two for the heavy end next the shore, wishing to get the men and machinery well at work prior to attaining the speed which I had anticipated making. By midnight 189 miles of cable had been laid.

“At four o’clock in the morning of the 10th the depth of water began to increase rapidly, from 550 to 1,750 fathoms in a distance of eight miles. Up to this time 7 cwt. strain sufficed to keep the rate of the cable near enough to that of the ship; but as the water deepened the proportionate speed of the cable advanced, and it was necessary to augment the pressure by degrees until, in the depth of 1,700 fathoms, the indicator showed a strain of 15 cwt., while the cable and ship were running 5 1/2 and 5 knots respectively.

“At noon on the 10th we had payed out 255 miles of cable, the vessel having made 214 miles from the shore. From this period, having reached 2,000 fathoms of water, it was necessary to increase the strain to a ton, by which the rate of the cable was maintained in due proportion to that of the ship. At six o’clock in the evening some difficulty arose through the cable getting out of the sheaves of the paying-out machine, owing to the tar and pitch hardening in the groove and a splice of large dimensions passing over them. This was rectified by fixing additional guards, and softening the tar with oil.

“It was necessary to bring up the ship, holding the cable by stoppers, until it was again properly disposed around the pulleys.

“Some importance is due to this event, as showing that it is possible to ‘lay to’ in deep water without continuing to pay out the cable, a point upon which doubts have frequently been expressed.

“Shortly after this the speed of the cable gained considerably upon that of the ship and up to nine o’clock, while the rate of the latter was about three knots, by the log, the cable was running out from five-and-a-half to five-and-three-quarters knots per hour.

The strain was thus raised to 25 cwt.; but the wind and sea increasing, and a current at the same time carrying the cable at an angle from the direct line of the ship’s course, it was found insufficient to check the cable, which was at midnight making two-and-a-half knots above the speed of the ship, and sometimes imperilling the safe uncoiling in the hold.

“The retarding force was therefore increased at two o’clock to an amount equivalent to 30 cwt., and then again, in consequence of the speed continuing to be more than it would have been prudent to permit, to 35 cwt.

“By this the rate of the cable was brought to a little short of five knots, at which it continued steadily until 3.45, when it parted, the length payed-out at that time being 380 statute miles.

“Up to this time I had attended personally to the regulation of the brakes, but finding that all was going on well, and it being necessary that I should be temporarily away from the machine to ascertain the rate of the ship, and to see how the cable was coming out of the hold, and also to visit the electrician’s room, the machine was for the moment left in charge of a mechanic who had been engaged from the first in its construction and fitting, and was acquainted with its operation.

“I was proceeding towards the fore part of the ship when I heard the machine stop, but when I reached the spot the cable was broken. On examining the machine, which was otherwise in perfect order, I found that the brakes had not been released, and to this, or to the handwheel of the brake being turned the wrong way, may be attributed the stoppage and the consequent fracture of the cable when the rate of the wheels grew slower.”

Upwards of 380 miles of cable was thus totally lost, for although several attempts to recover it were subsequently made, the experience in such operations being at that time very limited, they did not succeed.

Immediately on the failure of the expedition the entire squadron returned—the Cyclops to Valentia, to give information of the accident, and the other ships to Plymouth to await further orders.

On the 19th of August the Directors met in London, and having discussed the reports of the engineer and of the electrician, they appointed a Committee, consisting of Mr. Lampson, Mr. Brett, Mr. Pender, Mr. Pickering, and Mr. Johnston, to investigate and report upon the causes which had led to the accident, the efficiency of the paying-out machinery, and the electrical department of the Company.

Mr. Lampson, Mr. Carr, and Mr. Cyrus W. Field were also nominated as a Committee to negotiate with the Lords of the Admiralty for the use of the Government vessels during the year 1858, with a view to another attempt to lay down the cable.

On the 20th the Board again assembled to meet all the commanding officers of the Telegraphic Squadron.

These gentlemen having afforded information additional to that contained in the reports of the Company’s officers, the following resolutions were unanimously agreed to:—

1. “That the cable is suited for the object in view, and that no alteration in the construction therein is expedient.

2. “That the cause of the accident arose from an application of the brake at a time when the ship was stern down in the sea.

3. “That considerable change and modification will be required in portions of the paying-out machinery before making another attempt to lay the cable.

4. “That an attempt to lay the cable during the month of October would be attended with hazard.

5. “That although on the present occasion the commencement of operations at the coast has been attended with some advantage it will in future be desirable to begin paying-out the cable in mid-ocean.

6. “That the shore ends should be laid by separate vessels, irrespective of those containing the portions of main cable.”

During the progress of the work in 1857 the attention of the Board had been directed to the mechanical talent and experience of Mr. W.E. Everett, the chief engineer of the United States’ ship Niagara, and they now resolved to consult him with reference to the alterations and improvements required in the future paying-out machinery. They, therefore, nominated a Committee, consisting of Mr. Penn of Greenwich, Mr. Field of the firm of Maudslay, Son, and Field, and Mr. Lloyd the chief of the Steam Department of Her Majesty’s Navy, to act with Mr. Everett, and at once to proceed to Plymouth to examine the machinery and mechanical appliances in use by the Company, and to report thereon to the Board.

On the 14th of September the above Committee reported as follows:

“London, Sept. 17, 1857.     

GENTLEMEN,—

“Having examined, agreeably to your request, the apparatus and arrangements on board the Niagara for paying-out the Atlantic Telegraph Cable, and given the whole subject our careful consideration, we beg to lay before you the conclusions at which we have arrived.

“We consider the paying-out sheaves require no alterations, except those suggested by Mr. Bright in a memorandum which he was good enough to place in our hands, a copy of which we append, namely:

“To have one groove only in each of the sheaves; to make the groove deeper and wider at the periphery, and fit the sheaves with guards to prevent the cable coming off; to apply scrapers for removing the tar from the grooves, and to make the circumference of each successive sheave which the cable passes over as much larger than the preceding one as the cable is found to stretch by the application of the increasing strain which it has to bear in passing round the several sheaves when it is being paid out with the maximum strain, and thus greatly diminish, or perhaps entirely obviate, the slipping of the cable on all the sheaves.’

“We may add that we see no reason why this apparatus should not also be used for hauling in the cable when necessary, if sufficient engine power be provided for that purpose.

“The most important consideration, however, to which we have directed our attention, is how to guard against the strain being brought on the cable, while paying-out, greater than it is considered capable of bearing without risk or damage-that is, after having determined the maximum strain, how to counteract the numerous causes which have a tendency to increase it; and which, especially when brought into operation simultaneously, would otherwise endanger or destroy the cable.

“The means which we recommend for this purpose are the substitution for the present brakes of two others moving with the same regular velocity, but of twice the diameter, and having their rubbing surface of gun metal about 12 inches wide, each brake to be capable of doing the whole work, but both may be in operation together if found convenient.

“They should be constructed on the plan patented some years ago by Mr. Appold.

“Their rims should be lined with slips of lignum vitae about 3 inches broad and half-an-inch apart, and immersed about one-third of their diameter in cisterns of salt water, it being found by experience that under great pressure brass and lignum vitae work together with no appreciable wear.

“Mr. Appold’s brake has the advantage of insuring a uniform holding power, so long as the pressure on the lever remains unaltered, capable of being increased or diminished to any required degree with certainty.

“A light moveable sheave of the same size as those on the paying-out apparatus should be introduced, and be arranged to move horizontally on the deck through a space of about twenty feet by the action of strong springs of vulcanised india-rubber.

“The cable, by passing over that apparatus on the stern of the ship, would be relieved from the great inequalities of strain to which it would otherwise be subject, and the position of this sheave would at all times be the surest indication of the maximum strain on the cable, a matter of the utmost importance to be known, as upon it should depend the adjustment of the brakes and other operations for ensuring the safety of the cable itself.

“The importance of carrying this principle into operation is enhanced in our minds by our conviction that any injury sustained by the cable in.deep water would in all probability be irreparable, it being exceedingly doubtful whether the cable could by any contrivance be safely arrested if broken while running out, or raised from the bottom of the sea.

“As an additional means of obviating the danger of breaking the cable we recommend the adoption of some kind of compensating arrangement to allow for the rise and fall of the stern of the ship in a sea way, which may be controlled either by springs or weights. We have seen at Mr. Hodges’, of Southampton Row, vulcanised springs which we feel satisfied would answer perfectly.

“We think with these additions and alterations the apparatus would be greatly improved, and might be confidently expected to answer the intended purpose.

“We now beg to offer some observations on matters which, although of comparatively minor importance, ought in our opinion to be attended to in order to ensure, as far as may be practicable, the success of an undertaking so novel, great, and difficult. Correct instruments should be provided for indicating the speed of the ship and the distance run, as well as the rate at which the cable may be running out and the whole quantity expended.

“By means of these instruments and the adjustment of the paying-out apparatus the rate of the cable above that of the ship may, we think, be regulated with considerable exactness, and the excess, we may venture to suggest, should not be less than one-third.

“This appears to be the only means of allowing the cable to sink into the hollow at the bottom of the sea, instead of hanging as it might otherwise do in some places in long loops, supported only at their ends, and consequently having to bear the strains which, if not at first, might ultimately produce fracture when the strength of the iron wire became impaired by oxidation.

“All the machinery should be covered by a kind of house on deck, to protect the attendants from the weather.

“It should be well lighted at night, and proper accommodation provided for the men when off duty.

“An adequate number of efficient attendants should be hired to superintend the machinery, who should relieve each other at short intervals; the greatest care should be taken to keep all the indicators and other instruments in good working order.

“In conclusion, we beg to say that we think no practical difficulty would be found in carrying out all the mechanical arrangements we have suggested, and we also think that they should be carried out under the special superintendence of the officer entrusted by the Company with the important duty of laying the cable, assisted by the most able practical machinist who may be willing to undertake the execution of the works, who should make an experiment ashore on the proposed brake as soon as one can be finished, and such other experiments as he may deem necessary to enable him to arrange the details in the most effectual manner.

Upon this report the Directors determined to act, and as the consent of the United States’ Government was necessary, prior to Mr. Everett’s being able to devote his attention to the Company’s service, an application to the Government at Washington was made by the Directors to allow Mr. Everett to return to England early in 1858, for the purpose of superintending and carrying out the manufacture of machinery in the form suggested by himself and the Committee.

The Board next turned their attention to the provision of the requisite cable to supply the length lost, and after full discussion it was deemed advisable to manufacture a larger quantity, so that the length to be taken out in 1858 should not be less than 3,000 miles, in place of 2,500 shipped in 1857.

To this end an appeal to the shareholders for more money was necessary.

This appeal was made and heartily responded to, and an order was at once given to Messrs. Glass, Elliot, and Co., for the additional length of cable.

Perhaps it was an unfortunate necessity that the Niagara and the Agamemnon should be compelled to unship their valuable freight, in obedience to the order of their respective Governments; the former had peremptory instructions to return to the United States, and the latter was obliged to undergo complete refitment and alteration.

After much negotiation the Board obtained the permission of the Admiralty to erect a wooden tank on ground attached to the Keyham Docks at Plymouth, and there the entire cable from both ships was coiled, and stored during the winter. It was passed through tar to prevent oxydation of the thin iron wires by which it was surrounded.

The Niagara first discharged her cable into this extemporised storehouse, and on the 5th of November, 1857, left on her way to carry to the American people her story of loss and disappointment.

The Agamemnon, having next uncoiled and discharged her load, was taken into dock, and so ends the history of the first attempts to connect Europe and America by Electric Telegraph.

CHAPTER III.

THE thoughts of all concerned were now hopefully turned towards the preparations for the new Expedition.

The manufacture and shipping to Plymouth of the new length of cable was contracted for by Messrs. Glass, Elliot, and Co., whose works at East Greenwich soon became the scene of renewed activity.

Favourable replies were received from the Lords of the Admiralty, and from the United States’ Government, respectively, to the applications for the appropriation of their ships to the service of the undertaking, and  arrangements having been made for the work necessary to be done on board the Niagara and the Agamemnon, preparatory to their reception of the cable, the attention of the Board was directed to the reconstruction on an improved plan of the machinery for paying-out the cable, upon the perfection of which it was now perceived that the ultimate success of every enterprise of this nature must to a large extent depend.

They called to their aid, in conjunction with the engineer-in-chief, the services of a committee of eminent machinists, consisting of Mr. Field (of Maudslay and Field), Mr. Penn (of Greenwich), Mr. Amos (of Easton and Amos), and Mr. Lloyd (Chief of the Steam Department of Her Majesty’s Navy).

These gentlemen came forward in the most handsome manner, and continued their aid and supervision during the whole period of the construction and fixing of the machinery, and they refused to receive any remuneration for their services.

The Board also obtained from the American Government the advice of Mr. W. E. Everett, the chief engineer of the United States’ frigate Niagara, whose mechanical skill had attracted such attention during the expedition of 1857. He arrived in England in company with Mr. Cyrus W. Field on the 16th January, 1858.

On the 27th of the same month Mr. Cyrus W. Field received an unanimous invitation from the Board to undertake the general management and supervision, subject to the control of the Directors, of all the multifarious commercial and other non-scientific arrangements required before the sailing of the expedition.

This office he not only undertook, but he declined to receive any remuneration for his services.

Mr. Everett was at the same time appointed to prepare, in consultation with Messrs. Lloyd, Penn, and Field, and assisted by Mr. Henry Clifford, an experimental set of paying-out machinery for the purpose of determining upon the changes in construction that might (in consultation with the Scientific Committee) be deemed advisable to remedy the defects of the former apparatus.

One of the large machine shops of Messrs. Easton and Amos, in Southwark, was appropriated to his use, and under his supervision a new machine was constructed in about three months, on the principle indicated by the experience of the previous year. Mr. Bright and the other engineers of the Company, as well as a number of eminent scientific persons, were then invited by the Board to inspect its operation, and gave it their almost unanimous approval.

The new apparatus was much smaller than its predecessor; it occupied only one-third as much room on the deck, and its weight was one-fourth of that of the former machine.

Instead of four heavy wheels it had but two, and these were made to revolve with great ease, and all danger of sudden check in regulating the speed of paying-out was removed by adapting as a restraint upon the issue the principle of the self-releasing brakes invented by Mr. Appold, of London.

These brakes were so adjusted as to release themselves immediately upon a measured definite strain being exerted against them. They could thus, by means of a, dynamometer, be made to indicate by weight the exact amount of check or resistance borne from time to time by the cable during the paying-out, and thus they rendered possible the regulation of this force to a point within which the cable could not be injured.

To the application of these brakes Mr. Appold not only gave his consent, but added his hearty and gratuitous assistance in their application. -

The breaking strain of the cable was over three tons, and the machinery was so adjusted that when the half of that strain was exerted against it the brakes relaxed their grasp, and the wheels revolved easily so as to allow the cable to run out without restraint.

The machine being now perfected, a final convocation of scientific men assembled at the works of Messrs. Easton and Amos on the 21st April, 1858, where they met the Directors and such of the commanding officers of the ships as could attend.

The complete paying-out apparatus was kept running during the day, and accomplished all that was desired of it; the verdict of those present being unanimous in its favour.

Mr. Everett was accordingly requested to superintend the construction, on the same plan, of the two machines required for use on board the

Niagara and the Agamemnon respectively, and it was determined that on the. sailing of the ships a series of experiments, to illustrate their practical working, should be tried in deep water before commencing the serious business of the expedition.

The Niagara, having been again devoted to the service of the undertaking, arrived at Plymouth on the 23rd March, and proceeded to take on board the cable, which, as before stated, had been preserved during the winter in Keyham Dockyard, as well as 700 miles of new cable and 39 miles of the cable of the year before which had been recovered by the Company.

The whole of these proceedings occupied until the middle of May.

On the 29th May the squadron sailed from Plymouth on the experimental trip to the Bay of Biscay, and commenced their operations in latitude 47° 12' N., longitude 9° 32' W., and (as subsequently shown by the soundings of the Gorgon) in 2,500 fathoms of water.

Here the Niagara approached the Agamemnon within a convenient distance, and the vessels being fastened stem to stern by a hawser 700 feet apart, the end of the telegraph cable was passed from the Niagara to the Agamemnon, where it was spliced to the cable on board the latter; the spliced portion was then lowered into the sea, and sufficient cable followed it from the Agamemnon to allow of its hanging in the centre between the two ships.

Both ships then began to pay-out at an equal rate until the splice hart reached the bottom of the ocean.

This was effected with perfect success.

The reverse operation was then attempted—namely, that of hauling in again the submerged portion.

This, however, was not attended with the same success, partly perhaps in consequence of: the fact that the cable experimented upon was not new.

Some further experiments and rehearsals in buoying the cable having been made, the squadron returned to Plymouth, where it arrived on the 3rd June.

The following extract from Mr. Everett’s report of that date will summarise the results gained by this trip:—

“The result of this experimental trip has demonstrated that we have the capability of hauling in the cable to a greater extent than I had expected. Not that I believe any great distance could be recovered, but in the general depth of water where the cable is to be laid, in good weather, should a fault go overboard before the ship could be stopped, I am of the opinion sufficient of the cable may be hauled in to remedy the fault.

“The operation of the machinery generally is certainly satisfactory, and there is no alteration I can suggest other than the tar scrapers, which will require modification.

“The amount of tar accumulating is so much beyond what could have been expected from last year’s experience, owing to the repeated coatings it has received since it was unloaded from this vessel last October, that extraordinary provision will be required.

“As regards the attaching of buoys, we can attach them, but at a great risk of breaking the cable, and they should not be used in deep water except as a last resort.”

On arriving at Plymouth the condition of the Electrical Department was found to be such as to cause great anxiety to the Directors.

They had given instructions to the electrician during the winter to .employ the Company’s operators in constant practice upon the instruments which were supposed to be in preparation for final use in working through the cable, and as the whole of the latter was coiled in one building at Keyham, it was supposed that they would have the opportunity of sending and receiving messages through its whole length during several months, and be thus prepared for all the peculiarities of a conductor so long and special in its character.

The Directors were, therefore, greatly disappointed to find that not only had this not been done, but they found, on their assembling at Plymouth, that the instruments were not in a state nor of a nature calculated to work the cable to a commercial profit, and further that the chief electrician would be for a second time prevented by indisposition from accompanying the expedition to America.

Under these circumstances they again turned to their colleague, Sir W. Thomson, who once more consented to accompany the expedition; he made all the necessary arrangements for intercommunication during the voyage.

The Company’s own electrician remained, as before, at Valentia.

During the experimental trip which preceded the expedition of this year a few exchanges of signals had been effected between the two ships. These were sufficient to show the continuity of the cable, but it subsequently came to the knowledge of the Board that even at this period the electrical operators displayed a want of perfection in the insulation.

The Directors having decided that the paying-out of the cable should commence in mid-ocean, and be carried on simultaneously by both ships as previously described, the Telegraph Squadron, having coaled at Plymouth, started for the mid-Atlantic on the l0th June, 1858.

Mr. Everett had the management of the engineering department on board the Niagara, while that on board the Agamemnon was entrusted to Mr. Bright.

The place of rendezvous was fixed in lat. 52° 0.2'—long. 33° 18'.

The Niagara and the Agamemnon had each about 1,500 statute miles of cable; an allowance of a little more by 50 per cent. than the distance to be traversed.

A continuance of fearful gales prevented the meeting of the ships at the appointed rendezvous until Friday, the 25th of June, when it was found that the Agamemnon had been in great danger, owing to the strain to which she was exposed by the great weight and peculiar nature of her cargo. The upper part of the main coil, which contained nearly a thousand miles, had shifted during the violent weather, which made it necessary to re-coil about a tenth part of the entire coil.

This was accomplished on the 26th June. The joining of the Niagara’s cable with that of the Agamemnon occupied about two hours, and, when completed, the process of paying-out proceeded, but when about two miles and a-half of the cable had been payed out, it broke on the Niagara’s machine, having been allowed to run too slack, so that the leading-on part got into the wrong groove, and the endeavour to put it back into its proper position threw it off the wheels altogether, and in falling down on the tar scraper it was broken.

A new splice was at once made, and about five o’clock in the evening of the 2 6th, the paying-out again commenced, and continued till ten minutes to one on the morning of the 27th, at which hour thirty-one miles had been payed-out, when suddenly, and without any apparent reason, the electrical continuity ceased, the test showing every appearance of a broken cable.

The cause of this accident was never discovered, but it was believed that a breakage took place in the deep water.

It was two o’clock on the afternoon of the 28th before the Niagara and Agamemnon again met, and by half-past seven the third splice was made, and the process of paying-out once more commenced.

Before starting on this occasion it was agreed between the engineers of the two paying-out ships that if by accident the cable were broken when less than one hundred miles had been run from the place of rendezvous each ship should return to that spot, and there wait during a period not exceeding eight days for the arrival of the other ship.

In case the latter should not arrive within the time specified the waiting steamer was to return to Queenstown.

It was also agreed that if the Niagara and Agamemnon met under these circumstances at the rendezvous they would proceed to make the splice and pay-out, without waiting for the attendant ships.

These preliminaries being settled the work of paying-out was resumed for the third time, and the submersion of the cable proceeded at first in a highly satisfactory manner.

At ten o’clock on the 29th the whole amount submerged between the two ships was upwards of 160 miles, and all was going on well when suddenly, about six o’clock on the morning of the 30th June, the cable broke a few feet from the stern of the Agamemnon, and disappeared into the sea.

A further length of 200 miles of cable was thus sacrificed, and the length of useful cable on board the two ships had by this last stroke of ill fortune been reduced to about 2,200 miles.

From some reason not dearly explained the ships failed to meet each other at the rendezvous as agreed, and hence proceeded separately on their way homeward to Queenstown, at which place the Niagara arrived on the 5th July, and the Agamemnon a week later.

Mr. Field, the General Manager, at once proceeded to London, the Board was called together, and all concerned were greatly dispirited at the repeated failures which had taken place.

Sir William Brown, the Chairman of the Company, was now so convinced of the impracticability of the undertaking that he recommended his co-Directors to abandon all future efforts, and recommended a sale of the unsubmerged cable which remained on board the ships, and a distribution of the proceeds rateably amongst the shareholders.

Other members of the Board took the same view, and some, while dissenting from such extreme measures, were opposed to the further prosecution of the work during the autumn of 1858, partly on account of a desire for further investigation, and partly from misgivings as to the suitability of the cable, and also from a conviction that the season of the year was too advanced to justify the renewal of operations.

But bolder counsels were destined to prevail, and a firm stand against delay was at this period made by Mr. Lampson, in conjunction with Mr. Cyrus W. Field and Professor William Thomson.

It was clear to those gentlemen that unless the utmost possible effort were made to complete the laying of the cable in 1858 all hope of a cable being extended from Europe to America by the Atlantic Telegraph Company must be abandoned.

The Governments would certainly require the cable ships to again unload their delicate freights, already much damaged by repeated coilings and uncoilings, and the deterioration of the Niagara and Agamemnon as ships of war, and the cost of repairs arising from their employment in this peculiar service, had beets such as to make it most improbable that they would be again allowed to renew operations in 1859.

Even with that assistance the balance of capital would not have been anything like sufficient for recoiling the cable and refitting a new Expedition; and the cable itself would, it was feared, have suffered so seriously from exposure to atmospheric influence during a second winter, and other causes, as just stated, as to render it practically useless.

This position of affairs was strongly urged upon the Board by the gentlemen referred to, and, mainly by the persistence and energy of Mr. Lampson, who at this crisis exerted himself most strenuously in supporting the flagging spirits of his less hopeful colleagues, he and the other friends of progress at length succeeded in carrying an order for the immediate sailing of the Expedition for a final effort, which effort resulted in proving to the world the possibility of telegraphing from one hemisphere to the other, and which lacked nothing but a more perfectly tested cable (then almost an impossibility) to have made the enterprise a great commercial and scientific triumph.

The question as to further proceedings to lay the cable during the present season having been fully discussed, it was moved by Mr. Lampson, seconded by Mr. Brett, and resolved (Mr. T. H. Brooking dissentient)—“That it is desirable that a renewed attempt to lay the cable between Ireland and Newfoundland be made during the present season, and that in pursuance of this object the Commanders of the ships composing the squadron, and the Engineers of the Company, should be requested to proceed to sea on Saturday, the r 7th instant.”

This period was indeed the darkest and most ominous in the history of the undertaking, for, if the perseverance and energy of Mr. Lampson and his friends had not then prevailed, there is little doubt that the establishment of telegraphic communication with America would have been delayed for several years.

There had been so much to discourage, and on every department failure complete and ruinous had been so stamped, that nothing would have been left on which to found an expectation of future success, or encourage the expenditure of further capital upon an adventure so completely visionary.

Mr. Brooking, the Vice-Chairman of the Company, had remained to the last unconvinced of the wisdom of the course decided upon, and his feeling against it was so strong, and at the same time so conscientious, that on the next day after the Board had come to a decision to proceed, he sent in his resignation, to the great regret of every one associated with him. Mr. Lampson succeeded him as Deputy Chairman.

The order to advance having been given, the ships immediately took in coal and other necessaries. Mr. Field resumed his post as general manager, and Professor Thomson again took charge of the electrical department.

On the 17th July, 1858, the ships again left Queenstown, and proceeded to the place of rendezvous in mid-ocean, which was reached on the evening of the 28th, and at one P.M. in the morning of the 29th in lat. 52° 9' N., long 32° 27' W., the two ends of the cable were spliced together and let down into the deep, in soundings of 1,500 fathoms; the distance to the entrance of Valentia Harbour being eight hundred and thirteen nautical miles, and the distance to the entrance of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, being eight hundred and eighty-two nautical miles.

On the same evening the electrical tests showed, at 7.45 P.M., a cessation of signals through the cable on board of each ship—there being apparently a want of continuity in the conductor, although the insulation was unaffected. This state of the line continued till past 9 P.M., at which time both ships, which had never ceased to payc0ut, commenced receiving once more the electric signals as perfectly as ever.

The cause of these defective indications was never ascertained, but they may possibly have arisen from some temporary and undetected disarrangement of the batteries on board.

From this time the ships continued to pay-out the cable successfully, and the remainder of their course had happily no other incident, until at 1.45 on Thursday, the 5th August, the Niagara anchored at Trinity Bay, at the western terminus of the Atlantic Cable, which on that occasion was not, as at present, Heart’s Content, but Bull Arm, some forty miles to the N.W.

The Agamemnon arrived at Valentia at daylight on the same morning, and in the course of the day the communication between Europe and America was completed.

The news of success was received with great enthusiasm by all parties in England; and Mr. Charles Bright, the Engineer of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, was summoned to Dublin, to receive the honour of Knighthood from the Lord Lieutenant.

In America the excitement was very great. New York was illuminated, and the success of the cable was inaugurated by magnificent entertainments in honour of the event.

The report of the Agamemnon’s arrival at Valentia having been received in London, the Board was summoned for the 9th August, for the purpose of receiving the reports of the scientific officers.

Meanwhile, as there seemed to be some difficulty in arranging the electrical instruments for working the cable, and as, after the completion of the cable, no messages came through at once, as had been expected, a telegram was sent to Mr. Whitehouse, the Company’s electrician at Valentia, requesting him to report fully.

The Board met on the 9th, l0th, and 11th of August, but no report was received from the electrician, nor any information except some telegrams stating that signals were highly satisfactory, and that the adjustment of instruments was progressing; but in the mean while no messages were received through the cable, and the Directors learnt incidentally that the electrician, contrary to the advice of Professor Thomson, was taking steps to under-run the cable upon his own unconfirmed belief that a fault existed at a short distance from land.

This the Directors forbade by telegraph, but not in time to prevent the cable from being cut and buoyed at Doulas Head.

Mr. Whitehouse, the electrician, on receiving the telegram from the Board, resisted, and became insubordinate; and having subsequently refused the assistance of practical and scientific persons of eminence, who were sent to him, or even to allow them access to the cable, the Board were under the painful necessity of ordering his recall to London.

Mr. Varley and others were then employed to report upon the facts, and their experiments showed that there had been no defect in that portion of the cable lying in Valentia Harbour, as had been supposed by the electrician, but that a fault of great magnitude did exist about 300 miles from Valentia.

Mr. Varley was further of opinion, from data shown to him, that a piece of faulty cable had been payed-out from the Niagara about 56o miles from Valentia, and he stated that it was probable that the powerful electric currents which had been sent into the cable through the large induction coil had still further impaired the insulation, but that had more moderate power been used the cable might have been able to transmit messages at a slow rate for a very considerable period.

A similar opinion was expressed by Mr. Henley, who made a careful examination of the cable.

At length, however, by the aid of Professor Thomson, some instruments were got to work through the line; but the first clear message from America was not received until the 13th August, just eight days after the cable had been successfully laid.

This and all the other messages transmitted by the Cable of 1858 were read by means of the Marine Galvanometer Apparatus of Professor Thomson, previously referred to.

Among the services accomplished by this cable during the short time it was in operation may be mentioned a message of peace and congratulation between Her Majesty and the President of the United States, and similar messages between the Corporations of London and New York.

Intelligence was also conveyed of the collision of two steamers of the Cunard line, the Europa and the Arabia, and the same message conveyed to the relatives of the passengers the assurance of the safety of all on board.

Directions were also despatched to the American Colonies on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government, which saved large sums of money to the country by countermanding orders which could not have been arrested in time in any other way.

In all some two hundred and seventy-one communications passed through this cable. Messages, and portions of messages; half-formed words; letters, and fragments of letters, with unintelligible signals, make up the curious and interesting contents of the Newfoundland and Valentia diaries.

The despatch of ninety-eight words from the Queen to President Buchanan occupied sixteen hours in transmission. The same message could now be sent in less than eight minutes, while the President’s reply of 149 words, which through the present cable would take about ten minutes, required more than ten hours to transmit.

All these utterances, however, were but the result of stimulating doses of battery power upon a cable in a state of dissolution. They became more and more indistinct as the fault enlarged, and at length, on the 18th September, 1858, this great historical and experimental telegraph subsided into entire silence, effacing all those hopes of commercial success in which directors and shareholders had begun to indulge; but leaving behind it, for the benefit of the world at large, a mass of valuable and practical experience in the mechanical and electrical departments of submarine telegraphy, and in the laws of electricity itself.

CHAPTER IV.

AT the present day, when several telegraphic cables are in full operation between England and America, constructed and laid by powerful associations at a great commercial profit, the question of, success may be considered as satisfactorily settled; but at the time of which we are writing all that could be offered to the capitalist was a concession of the right of way over a favourable route to the United States, and the fact that the cable laid down had had a temporary success.

These inducements were insufficient to attract investors, and it became apparent to the Board that, owing to the novelty of the subject and the brief period during which electrical communication had existed, there were many important details which still required full and expensive investigation. These and other serious questions would need to be settled before the enterprise could again be presented to commercial men, with any prospect of the further very large amount of money necessary for the completion of a work innately difficult being obtained, even under better-known conditions of success.

A long and uncertain way, therefore, still remained to be traversed by those to whom the destinies of Transatlantic Telegraphy were at that time committed, and it became necessary, before deciding to recommence their labours, carefully to review the position of affairs.