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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
149
On
board
the
Niagara
was
the
same
scene
of
anxious
watching
every
hour
of
the
day
and
night.
Engineers
and
electricians
were
constantly
on
duty:
"The
scene
at
night
was
beautiful.
Scarcely
a
word
was
spoken;
silence
was
commanded,
and
no
conversation
allowed.
Nothing
was
heard
but
the
strange
rattling
of
the
machine
as
the
cable
was
running
out.
The
lights
about
deck
and
in
the
quarter-deck
circle
added
to
the
singularity
of
the
spectacle;
and
those
who
were
on
board
the
ship
describe
the
state
of
anxious
suspense
in
which
all
were
held
as
exceedingly
impressive."
Warned
by
repeated
failures,
they
hardly
dared
to
hope
for
success
in
this
last
experiment.
And
yet
the
spirits
of
all
rose,
as
the
distance
widened
between
the
ships.
A
hundred
miles
were
laid
safely--a
hundred
and
fifty--two
hundred!
Why
might
they
not
lay
two
thousand?
So
reasoned
the
sanguine
and
hopeful
when,
Tuesday
night,
came
the
fatal
announcement
that
the
electric
current
had
ceased
to
flow.
It
afterward
appeared
that
the
cable
had
broken
about
twenty
feet
from
the
stern
of
the
Agamemnon.
As
the
cable
was
now
useless,
it
only
remained
to
cut
it
from
the
stern
of
the
Niagara.
Before
doing
this,
it
was
thought
a
good
opportunity
to
test
its
strength.
For
this
purpose
the
brakes
were
shut
down,
so
that
the
paying-out
machine
could
not
move.
But
still
the
cable
did
not
break,
although
the
whole
weight
of
the
Niagara
hung
upon
that
slender
cord,
and
though
several
men
got
upon
the
brakes.
Says
Captain
Hudson:
"Although
the
wind
was
quite
fresh,
the
cable
held
the
ship
for
one
hour
and
forty
minutes
before
breaking,
and
notwithstanding
a
strain
of
four
tons."
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