The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.

by Edward W. Byrn

Among the applications of the telegraph which deserve special mention for magnitude and importance is the Atlantic Cable. For boldness of conception, tireless persistence in execution, and value of results, this engineering feat, though nearly a half century old, still challenges the admiration of the world, and marks the beginning of one of the great epochs of the Nineteenth Century. It was not so brilliant in substantive invention, as it added but little to the telegraph as already known, beyond the means for insulating the wires within a gutta percha cable, but it was one of the greatest of all engineering works. It was chiefly the result of the energy and public spirit of Mr. Cyrus W. Field, an eminent American citizen. Three times was its laying attempted before success crowned the work. The first expedition sailed August 7, 1857, and consisted of a fleet of eight vessels, four American and four English, starting from Valentia on the Irish coast. On August 11 the cable parted, and 344 miles of the cable were lost in water two miles deep. In 1858 a renewal of the effort to lay the cable was made. Improvements were added in the paying out machinery, and a different manner of coiling the enormous load of cable on the vessels was resorted to, and provisions also were made to protect the propeller from contact with the cable. On June 10 the telegraphic fleet steamed out of Plymouth harbor. It consisted of the U. S. frigate “Niagara,” with the paddle-wheel steamer “Valorous” as a tender, and the British frigate “Agamemnon,” with the paddle-wheel steamer “Gorgon” as a tender. After three days at sea, terrible gales were encountered and much damage resulted. The vessels were to proceed to midocean, and the portions of the cable carried by the “Niagara” and “Agamemnon” were to be spliced, and the two vessels were then to sail in opposite directions to their respective coasts. The first splice was made on the 26th of June. After paying out two and a half miles each, the cable parted. Again meeting and splicing, forty miles each were paid out, and the cable again parted. On the 28th another splicing was effected, and 150 miles each were paid out, and again the cable parted, and the expedition had to be abandoned. After much financial embarrassment and adverse criticism, the courageous and public-spirited directors who had control of the enterprise dispatched another expedition, which sailed July 17, 1858. The two vessels, “Niagara” and “Agamemnon,” with their tenders, proceeded to midocean, and following the same method of connecting the ends of their respective cable sections, they sailed in opposite directions. On August 5, 1858, Mr. Cyrus Field announced by telegram from Trinity Bay, on the coast of Newfoundland, that Trinity Bay in America, and Valentia in Ireland, 2,134 miles apart, had been connected, and the great Atlantic cable was an established fact.

FIG. 14.—ORIGINAL ATLANTIC CABLE, FULL SIZE.

Consists of seven copper wires (4) to form the conductor, a wrapping (3) of thread, soaked in tallow and pitch, several layers (2) of gutta percha, all surrounded by a protecting coat of mail (1) of twisted wires.

On August 16, 1858, the first message came over from Queen Victoria to President Buchanan of the United States, as follows:

“To the President of the United States, Washington:

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

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

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

to which the President replied as follows:

“Washington City, Aug. 16, 1858.

“To Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain:

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

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

(Signed)

“James Buchanan.”

Great rejoicing on both sides of the ocean followed, and the public print was filled with accounts of the enterprise. The following selection from the Atlantic Monthly of October, 1858, is an apostrophe in lofty sentiments of verse, which to-day stirs the Twentieth Century heart as a joyous prophecy fulfilled: