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1
378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
135
But
against
this
very
revulsion
of
feeling
they
had
been
already
warned.
The
Earl
of
Carlisle
the
year
before
had
cautioned
them
against
being
too
sanguine
of
immediate
results,
and
reminded
them
that
"preliminary
failure
was
even
the
law
and
condition
of
ultimate
success."
There
were
many
who
now
remembered
his
words,
and
on
whom
the
lesson
was
not
lost.
But
whatever
the
depression
at
the
failure
of
the
first
attempt
to
lay
a
telegraph
across
the
ocean,
and
at
the
thick-coming
disasters
on
land
and
sea,
it
did
not
interfere
with
renewed
and
vigorous
efforts
to
prepare
for
a
second
expedition.
The
Directors
gave
orders
for
the
manufacture
of
seven
hundred
miles
of
new
cable,
to
make
up
for
the
loss
of
the
previous
year,
and
to
provide
a
surplus
against
all
contingencies.
And
the
Government
promised
again
its
powerful
aid.
In
America,
Mr.
Field
went
to
Washington
to
ask
a
second
time
the
use
of
the
ships,
which
had
already
represented
the
country
so
well.
He
made
also
a
special
request
for
the
services
of
Mr.
William
E.
Everett.
This
gentleman
had
been
the
chief-engineer
of
the
Niagara
the
year
before.
He
had
watched
closely
the
paying-out
machine,
as
it
was
put
together
on
the
deck,
and
as
it
worked
on
the
voyage,
and
with
the
eye
of
a
practised
mechanic,
he
saw
that
it
required
great
alterations.
It
was
too
cumbrous,
had
too
many
wheels,
and
especially
its
brakes
shut
down
with
a
gripe
that
would
snap
the
strongest
chain
cable.[A]
Mr.
Field
saw
that
this
was
the
man
to
remedy
the
defects
of
the
old
machine,
and
to
make
one
that
would
work
more
smoothly.
He
therefore
applied
especially
for
his
services.
To
the
credit
of
the
administration,
it
granted
both
requests
in
the
most
handsome
manner.
"There,"
said
the
Secretary
of
the
Navy,
handing
Mr.
Field
the
official
letter,
"I
have
given
you
all
you
asked."
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