COMPLIMENTARY RECEPTION
OF THE
CREW OF THE U.S. SHIP “NIAGARA.”
———
Mr. Cyrus W. Field requests the pleasure of your Company
at his Entertainment of the Crew of the Niagara, to
be given at the Palace Gardens, at 10 o’clock, this Evening.
W. A. Bartlett, for C. W. F.
New York, August 25, 1858.
From one of the newspapers this account is taken of the meeting held before the reception:
“Upwards of two hundred of the sailors and marines of the frigate Niagara assembled last evening in Franklin Square, formed in procession, and, preceded by the band of the North Carolina, marched to Cooper Institute. They carried with them an accurate model of the Niagara, made by one of her crew, which was gayly decked with flags, exactly as was the noble ship it represents when she last entered our harbor. On arriving at the Cooper Institute the tars were saluted with a discharge of fireworks and the hearty cheers of the multitude....
“Cyrus W. Field was the next speaker. He was evidently a great favorite of the sailors, who, it is said, used to call him on board ship ‘the Sister of Charity.’ They cheered him extravagantly when he rose. He made only a short speech, consisting of reminiscences of the laying and landing of the cable, and the gallantry and faithfulness of the crew on these occasions. More singing and more cheers were followed by the entrance of Captain Hudson, who was greeted with the warmest enthusiasm, and made some appropriate remarks.”
On the 26th Mr. Field, with a party, left for Great Barrington, and the next day they were welcomed at Stockbridge by Mr. Field’s old friends.
Between the 10th of August and the 1st of September ninety-seven messages were sent from Valentia to Newfoundland, and two hundred and sixty-nine messages from Newfoundland to Valentia.
The English government had, by cable, countermanded the return to England of the Sixty-second and the Thirty-ninth regiments. The news of the peace with China had also been sent to this country, and the English papers of August 18th reported the collision between the Cunard steamers Arabia and Europa. This statement is taken from a letter written in July, 1862, by order of the Atlantic Telegraph Company and signed by the secretary of the company, Mr. George Saward.
The 1st and 2d of September were chosen as the days for a “General Celebration of the Laying of the Atlantic Telegraph Cable.”
In deference to the wish expressed by the rector and vestry of Trinity Church, it was arranged that the first day should begin with a service and Te Deum at ten o’clock. In the absence of Bishop Horatio Potter, Bishop George Washington Doane, of New Jersey, took charge of this service.
Trinity Church had never been so gayly dressed. “The edifice was decorated from the steeple to the top of the spire with the flags of all nations. Around the steeple were hung the flags of France, Spain, Prussia, Austria, Russia, Portugal, and other nations, while the spire about three-quarters of the way to the cross was decorated with the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack.” It was this incident that called forth these verses, written by Bishop Doane: