Just two weeks after the Irish coast had been left behind the Great Eastern approached Newfoundland just as the shadows of night were added to those of a thick fog. On the next morning, July 28th, she steamed into Trinity Bay, where flags were flying in the little town in honor of the great accomplishment. Amid salutes and cheers the cable was landed and communication between the continents was established. Almost the first news that came over the wire was that of the signing of the treaty of peace which ended the war between Prussia and Austria.

Early in August the Great Eastern again steamed away to search for the cable broken the year before. Arriving on the spot, the grapples were thrown out and the tedious work of dragging the sea-bottom was begun. After many efforts the cable was finally secured and raised to the surface. A new section was spliced on and the ship again turned toward America. On September 7th the second cable was successfully landed, and two wires were now in operation between the continents. Thus was the great task doubly fulfilled. Once again there were public celebrations in England and America. Field received the deserved plaudits of his countrymen and Thomson was knighted in recognition of his achievements.

[Illustration: THE "GREAT EASTERN" LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE. 1866]

The new cables proved a success and were kept in operation for many years. Thomson's mirror receiver had been improved until it displayed remarkable sensitiveness. Using the current from a battery placed in a lady's thimble, a message was sent across the Atlantic through one cable and back through the other. Professor Thomson was to give to submarine telegraphy an even more remarkable instrument. The mirror instrument did not give a permanent record of the messages. The problem of devising a means of recording the messages delicate enough so that it could be operated with rapidity by the faint currents coming over a long cable was extremely difficult. But Thomson solved it with his siphon recorder. In this a small coil is suspended between the poles of a large magnet; the coil being free to turn upon its axis. When the current from the cable passes through the coil it moves, and so varies the position of the ink-siphon which is attached to it. The friction of a pen on paper would have proved too great a drag on so delicate an instrument, and so a tiny jet of ink from the siphon was substituted. The ink is made to pass through the siphon with sufficient force to mark down the message by a delightfully ingenious method. Thomson simply arranged to electrify the ink, and it rushes through the tiny opening on to the paper just as lightning leaps from cloud to earth.

Professor, now Sir, Thomson continued to take an active part in the work of designing and laying new cables. Not only did he contribute the apparatus and the scientific information which made cables possible, but he attained renown as a physicist and a scientist in many other fields. In 1892 he was given the title of Lord Kelvin, and it was by this name that he was known as the leading physicist of his day. He survived until 1907.

To Cyrus W. Field must be assigned a very large share of the credit for the establishment of telegraphic communication between the continents. He gave his fortune and all of his tremendous energy and ability to the enterprise and kept it alive through failure after failure. He was a promoter of the highest type, the business man who recognized a great human need and a great opportunity for service. Without his efforts the scientific discoveries of Thomson could scarcely have been put to practical use.

The success of the first cable inspired others. In 1869 a cable from France to the United States was laid from the Great Eastern. In 1875 the Direct United States Cable Company laid another cable to England, which was followed by another cable to France. One cable after another was laid until there are now a score. This second great development in communication served to bring the two continents much closer together in business and in thought and has proved of untold benefit.

XI

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, THE YOUTH

The Family's Interest in Speech Improvement—Early Life-Influence of
Sir Charles Wheatstone—He Comes to America—Visible Speech and the
Mohawks—The Boston School for Deaf Mutes—The Personality of Bell.