G.
ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY.
Report of the Directors to the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate Street, on Thursday, the 14th day of September, 1865.
12, St. Helen’s Place, London,
13th September, 1865.
The sensation immediately consequent upon the recent accident to the Atlantic Telegraph Cable was one of profound disappointment, but this has to a great extent disappeared before the important and encouraging facts which were found to have been brought to light and practice during the expedition.
Not only has the future permanence of Deep-sea Cables been much enhanced by the greater convenience and safety with which they can be coiled and tested and payed-out since the Great Eastern has shown herself so well adapted to the work, but it has now also been proved absolutely that in the event of injury to the insulation, even after submersion, and while sunk in the deepest water, electricians are enabled with ease to calculate minutely the exact distance of the injured spot from ship or shore in a Cable 2,300 miles long.
It has further been proved that many miles of a Cable like that selected by the Atlantic Telegraph Company can, if so injured, be hauled in and repaired during the heaviest weather and from water 2000 fathoms in depth: and still more that even when a Cable is absolutely fractured, and the broken end lies at the bottom of an ocean 2000 fathoms deep, it is perfectly possible to find it and to raise it, and equally possible, according to the opinions of all those engaged in the recent expedition, to bring up the end of the Atlantic Cable, which is in that situation, and to splice it to the Cable on board the Great Eastern, so as to complete the communication to Newfoundland, so soon as apparatus of suitable strength and convenience can be manufactured.
In fact, so important have been the results of the last expedition in moderating every element of risk attendant on these undertakings, that the successful Submersion of submarine Cables will henceforward take its place as an event insurable for a moderate premium by the Underwriters.
The Directors, after careful investigation, therefore have determined not to relax in striving to bring to a successful issue the great work entrusted to their charge, but to press forward in the path of experience with increased vigilance and perseverance.
They have been encouraged in this view by the fair manner in which they have been met by the Contractors, with whom they have already entered into a contract for renewed operations.