On the 29th of July, 1857, the U.S.N. frigate Niagara arrived at Queenstown, having been preceded by H.M.S. Leopard and H.M.S. Cyclops, which latter steamer had taken the soundings of the intended bed of the Cable. The Niagara was accompanied by the U.S.N.S. Susquehanna, to act as her convoy. H.M.S. Agamemnon had already arrived.
The Earl of Carlisle, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, ever anxious to give such encouragement as his presence could afford to any undertaking which promised to do good, came down from Dublin to Valentia, and attended a déjeuner given by the Knight of Kerry to celebrate an event in which the keenest interest was evinced, although the heart of the country was thrilled by the dreadful intelligence of Indian mutinies and revolt. The country people flocked to the little island, and expressed their joy by merrymakings, dances, and bonfires. In an eloquent speech Lord Carlisle declared that though disappointment might be in store for the promoters, it would be almost criminal to feel discouragement then—“that the pathway to great achievements has frequently to be hewn out amidst perils and difficulties, and that preliminary failure is ever the law and condition of ultimate success.” These were prophetic words; in others, still to be fulfilled, “Let us hope,” he said. “We are about, either by this sun-down or by to-morrow’s dawn, to establish a new material link between the Old World and the New. Moral links there have been—links of race, links of commerce, links of friendship, links of literature, links of glory; but this, our new link, instead of superseding and supplanting the old ones, is to give them a life and intensity they never had before. The link which is now to connect us, like the insect in a couplet of our poet,
‘While exquisitely fine,
Feels at each thread and moves along the line.’”
If anything could overcome the tendency of men to vaticinate, it surely would be the sad history of the last few years in the United States. The condition of affairs in that lamentable period is illustrated by another passage of his lordship’s speech, which also points out the inestimable value of the telegraph as a conservator of peace. “We may as we take our stand here on the extremest rocky side of our beloved Ireland, leave, as it were, behind us the wars, the strifes, and the bloodshed of the older Europe, and pledge ourselves, weak as our agency may be, imperfect as our powers may be, inadequate in strict diplomatic form as our credentials may be; yet, in the face of the unparalleled circumstances of the place and the hour, in the immediate neighbourhood of the mighty vessels whose appearance may be beautiful upon the waters, even as are the feet upon mountains of those who preach the Gospel of peace—as a homage due to that serene science which often affords higher and holier lessons of harmony and goodwill than the wayward passions of man are always apt to learn—in the face and in the strength of such circumstances, let us pledge ourselves to eternal peace between the Old World and the New. Why, gentlemen, what excuse would there be for misunderstanding? What justification could there be for war, when the disarming message, when the full explanation, when the genial and healing counsel may be wafted even across the mighty Atlantic, quicker than the sunbeam’s path and the lightning’s flash?” At that moment Great Britain was just disengaged from a war with Russia and a war with Persia, and was actively engaged in a war with China, and with mutinies in India. France was preparing to deal Austria a deadly blow; America looked pityingly across the Atlantic, and wondered at our folly and our crimes.
On August the 5th, 1857, the shore end of the Cable was secured in the little cove selected for the purpose in Valentia, on the cliffs above which a telegraphic station had been erected, and was hauled up amidst the greatest enthusiasm, Lord Carlisle participating in the joy and the labour.
On the evening of Friday, August 7th, the squadron sailed, and the Niagara commenced paying out the Cable very slowly. About four miles of the shore Cable had been payed out, when it became entangled with the machinery, by the carelessness of one of the men in charge, and broke; all hands were engaged in trying to underrun and join the Cable, but it was too rough, and the Niagara came to anchor for the night. Next day a splice was mode, the ship resumed her course, and at noon on Sunday, August 9th, 95 miles had been payed out. The paying-out gear proved to be defective in the course of the 10th. On the evening of Tuesday, the 11th, all signals suddenly ceased. The Cable had broken in 2000 fathoms of water, when about 330 nautical miles were laid, at a distance of 280 miles from Valentia. At the time the ship was going from three to four knots, and was able to pay out 5 to 5¾ miles per hour, the pressure shown by the indicator being 3000lb., but the strain being no doubt much greater.
This loss proved fatal to the first attempt to lay the Atlantic Cable, as on consultation among the officers and engineers it appeared to be unwise to renew the attempt with only 1,847 miles on board the ships, or an excess of 12 per cent. on the quantity required by the whole distance.
Nothing daunted by the failure, Mr. Field started off at once in H.M.S. Cyclops for England, and, on his arrival, urged the immediate renewal of the enterprise; but it was resolved by the directors in London to postpone it to the following year. An addition to the capital of the Company was proposed and agreed to. The greater part of the autumn was devoted to preparations for the renewed efforts of the Company. The part of the Cable which was left was landed at Keyham, 53 miles of the shore-end were recovered, and the Company again applied to the British and American Governments for the services of the same vessels which had been previously lent to them. Messrs. Glass, Elliot, & Co., were entrusted by the directors of The Atlantic Telegraph Company to manufacture a further length of 900 miles, to replace that which was lost or damaged, thus making a total of 3,012 miles of Cable, so as to guard against accidents by giving an allowance of 40 per cent. of slack. The paying-out apparatus was also improved, so that the engineer in charge alone should control the egress of the Cable, instead of using the hand-wheel, which, upon the former occasion, had caused much danger in rough weather.
The manufacturers of the machinery were Messrs. Easton & Amos, of Southwark, under the superintendence of Mr. Penn, Mr. Field, Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Everett, and Mr. Bright.
The important part of the apparatus consisted of Appold’s self-regulating brake, so adjusted and constructed as always to exert a certain amount of resistance, regulated by the revolution of the wheels to which it was applied. More than this fixed amount of resistance, whatever it might be, it could not produce, no matter whether the machine was hot or dry, or covered with sand; neither could it be worked at less than this amount. It was made of bars of wood laid lengthwise across the edge of the wheel, over which it lapped down firmly, and to which it was held with massive weights fixed to the ends of levers, which regulated the degree of resistance to the revolutions of the wheel, and which, of course, enabled those in charge of the machine to fix the pressure of the brake. In the new apparatus the brake was attached over two drums connected with the two main grooved wheels, round which the actual Cable passed in running out. The latter were simply broad, solid, iron wheels, each cut with four very deep grooves in which the Cable rested, to prevent it flying up or “overriding.” It passed over these two main wheels, not in a double figure of eight, as in the old ponderous machine of four wheels, but simply wound over one, to and round the other, and so on four times, till it was finally payed down into the water. Thus, the wire was wound up from the hold of the vessel, passed four times over the double main wheels, connected with the brake or friction drums, past the register which indicated the rate of paying out and the strain upon the Cable, and then ran at once into the deep. The strain at which the Cable would break was 62 cwt., and to guard against any chance of mishap, not more than half this strain was put upon it. The brakes, as a rule, were fixed to give a strain of about 16 cwt., and the force required to keep the machine going, or about 8 cwt. more, was the utmost that was allowed to come upon the wire.