The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph

by Henry M. Field

By this combination of rope and iron, a cable was secured two and a half times as strong as the old—the breaking strain of the former having been three tons five cwt., and of the latter seven tons and fifteen cwt. Or, to put it in another form, the contract strain of the former was less than five times its own weight per mile in water; so that if the cable had been laid in some parts of the Atlantic, where the ocean is more than five miles deep, it would have broken under the enormous strain. But the contract strain of the new cable was equal to eleven times its weight per mile in water, which, as the greatest depth of water to be passed was but two and a half miles, rendered the cable more than four times as strong as was required.

This great chain which was to bind the sea was to be 2,300 nautical miles long, or nearly 2,700 statute miles! But where could this enormous bulk be stowed? Its weight would sink the Spanish Armada. In 1858, the cable loaded down two of the largest ships of war in the world, the Niagara and the Agamemnon. Yet now one much larger and bulkier was to be taken on board. This might have proved a serious embarrassment, but that a few years before there had been built in England a ship of enormous proportions. The Great Eastern, whose iron walls had been reared by the genius of Brunel, had been for ten years waiting for "a mission." As a specimen of marine architecture she was perfect. She walked the waters in towering pride, scarce bending her imperial head to the waves that broke against her sides, as against the rocks of the shore. But with all her noble qualities, she was too great for the ordinary demands of commerce. Her very size was against her; and while smaller ships, on which she looked down with contempt, were continually flying to and fro across the sea, this leviathan,

Hugest of all God's works
That swim the ocean stream,

could find nothing worthy of her greatness. Here then was the vessel to receive the Atlantic cable.

Seeing her fitness for the purpose, a few of the gentlemen who were active in reviving the Atlantic Telegraph combined to purchase her, as she was about to be sold. One of them went down with all speed to Liverpool, and the next day telegraphed that the big ship was theirs. The new owners at once put her at the service of the Atlantic Company, with the express agreement that any compensation for her use should depend on the success of the expedition.

Next to the good fortune of finding such a ship ready to their hands, was that of finding an officer worthy to command her. Captain James Anderson, of the China, one of the Cunard steamers, had long been known to the travelling public, both of England and America, and no one ever crossed the sea with him without the strongest feeling of respect for his manly and seamanly qualities. A thorough master of his profession, having followed the sea for a quarter of a century, he was also a man of much general intelligence, and of no small scientific attainments. But it was something more than this which inspired such confidence. It was his ceaseless watchfulness. He always carried with him a feeling of religious responsibility for the lives of all on board, and for every interest committed to him. A man of few words, modest in manner, he was yet clear in judgment and prompt in action. This vigilance was especially marked in moments of danger. When a storm was gathering, all who saw that tall figure on the wheel-house, watching with a keen eye every spar in the ship and every cloud in the horizon, felt a new security from being under his care. Such was the man to be put in charge of a great expedition. He was recommended by Mr. Field in the strongest terms, and was chosen unanimously by the Board. The Cunard Company, with great generosity, consented to give up his services, valuable as they were, to forward an enterprise of such public interest. Being thus free, he accepted the trust, and entered upon it with enthusiasm. How well he fulfilled the expectations of all, the sequel will show.[A]

The work now went on with speed. The wheels began to hum, and the great drums to reel off that line which, considering the distance it was to span, was hardly to be measured by miles, but rather by degrees of the earth's surface. Mere figures give but a vague impression of vast spaces. But it is a curious fact, ascertained by an exact computation, that if all the wires of copper and of iron, with the layers that made up the core and the outer covering, and the strands of yarn that were twisted into this one knotted sea-cable, were placed end to end, the whole length would reach from the earth to the moon!