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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
134
FOOTNOTES:
[A]
Mr.
Field
was
detained
by
illness
at
Valentia,
and
several
of
the
ships
had
not
arrived.
CHAPTER
IX.
THE
FIRST
EXPEDITION
OF
1858.
The
expedition
of
1857
was
little
more
than
an
experiment
on
a
grand
scale.
As
such
it
had
its
use;
but
its
abrupt
ending
within
three
hundred
miles
of
the
Irish
coast
was
a
severe
shock
to
public
confidence.
Up
to
that
time
the
enterprise
had
been
accepted
by
the
people
of
England
and
of
America,
almost
without
considering
its
magnitude
and
difficulty.
They
had
taken
it
for
granted
as
a
thing
which
must
some
day
be
accomplished
by
human
skill
and
perseverance.
But
now
it
had
been
tried
and
failed.
This
first
expedition
opened
their
eyes
to
the
vastness
of
the
undertaking,
and
led
many
to
doubt
who
did
not
doubt
before.
Some
even
began
to
look
upon
it
as
a
romantic
adventure
of
the
sea,
rather
than
a
serious
undertaking.
This
decline
of
popular
faith
was
felt
as
soon
as
there
was
a
call
for
more
money.
Men
reasoned
that
if
the
former
attempt
was
but
an
experiment,
it
was
rather
a
costly
one.
The
loss
of
three
hundred
and
thirty-five
miles
of
cable,
with
the
postponement
of
the
expedition
to
another
year,
was
equivalent
to
a
loss
of
a
hundred
thousand
pounds.
To
make
this
good,
the
Directors
had
to
enlarge
the
capital
of
the
Company.
This
new
capital
was
not
so
readily
obtained.
Those
who
had
subscribed
before,
thought
they
had
lost
enough;
and
the
public
stood
aloof
till
they
could
see
the
result
of
the
next
experiment.
The
projectors
found
that
it
was
easy
to
go
with
the
current
of
popular
enthusiasm,
but
very
hard
to
stem
a
growing
popular
distrust.
They
found
how
great
an
element
of
success
in
all
public
enterprises
is
public
confidence.
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