The Story of the Atlantic Cable

by Sir Charles Bright

THE gradual failure of the 1858 cable after a short period of working, and the slow rate at which messages were capable of being transmitted, naturally deterred capitalists from providing the means for another cable of such length in deep water.

Several schemes, however, for a fresh line on other routes were brought forward; and there was an alternative route between Great Britain and America by which the transmission of the electric current could be subdivided into four comparatively short sections. This was known in 1860 as the North Atlantic Telegraph project, in which the route was from the extreme north of Scotland to the Faroe Islands, thence to Iceland; from there to the southern point of Greenland, and so on to Labrador or Newfoundland. The distances were (varying a little according to landing-places selected) approximately:

	Miles
From the north of Scotland to Faroe Islands	225
From the Faroe Islands to Iceland	280
From Iceland to Greenland, S. W. Harbor	700
From Greenland to Labrador	550
Total	1755

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