Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
1
378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
11
But
at
present
the
country
is
a
terra
incognita.
In
the
interior
there
are
no
towns
and
no
roads.
As
yet
almost
the
whole
wealth
of
the
island
is
drawn
from
the
sea.
Its
chief
trade
is
its
fisheries,
and
the
only
places
of
importance
are
a
few
small
towns,
chiefly
on
the
eastern
side,
which
have
grown
up
around
the
trading
posts.
Besides
these,
the
only
settlements
are
the
fishermen's
huts
scattered
along
the
coast.
Hence
the
bishop
of
the
island,
when
he
would
make
his
annual
visit
to
his
scattered
flock,
is
obliged
to
sail
around
his
diocese
in
his
yacht,
since
even
on
horseback
it
would
not
be
possible
to
make
his
way
through
the
dense
forests
to
the
remote
parts
of
the
island.
This
first
suggested
the
idea
of
cutting
across
the
island
a
nearer
way,
not
only
for
internal
intercourse,
but
for
those
who
were
passing
to
and
fro
on
the
sea.
It
was
in
one
of
these
excursions
around
the
coast
that
the
good
Bishop
Mullock,
the
head
of
the
Roman
Catholic
Church
in
Newfoundland,
when
visiting
the
western
portion
of
his
diocese,
lying
one
day
becalmed
in
his
yacht,
in
sight
of
Cape
North,
the
extreme
point
of
the
province
of
Cape
Breton,
bethought
himself
how
his
poor
neglected
island
might
be
benefited
by
being
taken
into
the
track
of
communication
between
Europe
and
America.
He
saw
how
nature
had
provided
an
easy
approach
to
the
mainland
on
the
west.
About
sixty
miles
from
Cape
Ray
stretched
the
long
island
of
Cape
Breton,
while,
as
a
stepping-stone,
the
little
island
of
St.
Paul's
lay
between.
So
much
did
it
weigh
upon
his
mind
that,
as
soon
as
he
got
back
to
St.
John's,
he
wrote
a
letter
to
one
of
the
papers
on
the
subject.
As
this
was
the
first
suggestion
of
a
telegraph
across
Newfoundland,
his
letter
is
here
given
in
full:
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
