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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
136
Then
followed
one
of
the
happiest
epochs
in
Jenkin's
life.
After
leaving
Penn's
he
worked
at
railway
engineering
for
a
time
under
Messrs.
Liddell
and
Gordon;
and,
in
1857,
became
engineer
to
Messrs.
R.
S.
Newall
&
Co.,
of
Gateshead,
who
shared
the
work
of
making
the
first
Atlantic
cable
with
Messrs.
Glass,
Elliott
&
Co.,
of
Greenwich.
Jenkin
was
busy
designing
and
fitting
up
machinery
for
cableships,
and
making
electrical
experiments.
'I
am
half
crazy
with
work,'
he
wrote
to
his
betrothed;
'I
like
it
though:
it's
like
a
good
ball,
the
excitement
carries
you
through.'
Again
he
wrote,
'My
profession
gives
me
all
the
excitement
and
interest
I
ever
hope
for.'...
'I
am
at
the
works
till
ten,
and
sometimes
till
eleven.
But
I
have
a
nice
office
to
sit
in,
with
a
fire
to
myself,
and
bright
brass
scientific
instruments
all
round
me,
and
books
to
read,
and
experiments
to
make,
and
enjoy
myself
amazingly.
I
find
the
study
of
electricity
so
entertaining
that
I
am
apt
to
neglect
my
other
work.'...
'What
shall
I
compare
them
to,'
he
writes
of
some
electrical
experiments,
'a
new
song?
or
a
Greek
play?'
In
the
spring
of
1855
he
was
fitting
out
the
s.s.
Elba,
at
Birkenhead,
for
his
first
telegraph
cruise.
It
appears
that
in
1855
Mr.
Henry
Brett
attempted
to
lay
a
cable
across
the
Mediterranean
between
Cape
Spartivento,
in
the
south
of
Sardinia,
and
a
point
near
Bona,
on
the
coast
of
Algeria.
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