Mr. Field was again in London in 1886, and was at a dinner given on July 16th by the Liberal Club to Mr. Chesson, who, in his speech, said:
“My personal acquaintance with Mr. Field dates back for more than twenty years—from the period when the first Atlantic cable was laid; and I had reason then, as I have had greater reason since, to admire his indomitable perseverance, his unwearied patience, and his great ability. I was for a time on board the Great Eastern with him in 1866, when the Atlantic cable was successfully laid and permanent telegraphic communication established between the two continents. I saw him daily, and held constant social intercourse with him until the splicing of the shore end of the cable with the huge coil which filled the vast tank of the Great Eastern took place; and I noticed that there was nothing in his demeanor to distinguish him from other persons on board, although when some of us cast wistful looks at the big tank we knew that it contained all his worldly goods, and, for aught he knew to the contrary, his fortune was destined to be buried, with the cable, at the bottom of the Atlantic.”
The last of August and part of September this year were spent in another journey to the Pacific coast, in which he was much impressed with the marvellous beauty of the Canadian road.
From a New York paper of November, 1886, this is taken:
“Mr. Field has fought almost since the very beginning of the system as a public conveyance for a uniform charge of five cents at all hours for passengers on all the New York elevated lines, and the morning of the 1st of October, 1886, first saw the complete victory which attended his effort in this direction.”
When, in 1882, he bought a large tract of land in the valley of the Saw Mill River, adjoining on the east his home at Irvington, he intended building there a number of small but comfortable houses for working-men. Around each house he proposed that there should be a plot of ground, and the rent was to be from ten to twenty dollars a month for house and land. The building of the new aqueduct made it impossible for him to carry out at once this project, and before the aqueduct was completed he suffered, in 1887, heavy financial losses from the sudden decline of the stock of the New York elevated roads, in which he was so largely interested.
The last message that passed between Mr. Field and Mr. Bright was on the 11th of December, 1888, when he cabled:
“The Right Hon. John Bright,—Your friends in America read with interest the news that comes daily from your sick-room. Accept the affectionate remembrance of one who has known and loved you for more than a quarter of a century.
“It may comfort you in your long illness to know that your name is on the lips and in the hearts of millions on this side of the Atlantic, who can never forget how you stood by the cause of their country.
“Cyrus W. Field.”