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1
378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
156
"The
day
was
beautifully
calm,
so
no
time
was
to
be
lost
before
making
the
splice;
boats
were
soon
lowered
from
the
attendant
ships,
the
two
vessels
made
fast
by
a
hawser,
and
the
Niagara's
end
of
the
cable
conveyed
on
board
the
Agamemnon.
About
half-past
twelve
o'clock
the
splice
was
effectually
made.
In
hoisting
it
out
from
the
side
of
the
ship
the
leaden
sinker
broke
short
off
and
fell
overboard;
and
there
being
no
more
convenient
weight
at
hand,
a
thirty-two
pound
shot
was
fastened
to
the
splice
instead,
and
the
whole
apparatus
was
quickly
dropped
into
the
sea
without
any
formality,
and
indeed
almost
without
a
spectator,
for
those
on
board
the
ship
had
witnessed
so
many
beginnings
to
the
telegraphic
line,
that
it
was
evident
they
despaired
of
there
ever
being
an
end
to
it.
The
stipulated
two
hundred
and
ten
fathoms
having
been
paid
out,
the
signal
to
start
was
hoisted,
the
hawser
cast
loose,
and
the
Niagara
and
Agamemnon
started
for
the
last
time
for
their
opposite
destinations."
At
this
moment
the
ships
were
nearly
in
mid-ocean,
but
not
exactly.
Mr.
Field,
who
never
indulged
in
poetical
descriptions,
but
always
gave
the
figures,
stating
the
precise
latitude
and
longitude,
and
from
what
quarter
the
wind
blew,
and
how
many
fathoms
deep
the
ocean
was,
and
how
many
miles
of
cable
were
on
board,
made
the
following
entry
in
his
journal:
"Thursday,
July
twenty-ninth,
latitude
fifty-two
degrees
nine
minutes
north,
longitude
thirty-two
degrees
twenty-seven
minutes
west.
Telegraph
Fleet
all
in
sight;
sea
smooth;
light
wind
from
S.E.
to
S.S.E.;
cloudy.
Splice
made
at
one
P.M.
Signals
through
the
whole
length
of
the
cable
on
board
both
ships
perfect.
Depth
of
water
fifteen
hundred
fathoms;
distance
to
the
entrance
of
Valentia
harbor
eight
hundred
and
thirteen
nautical
miles,
and
from
there
to
the
telegraph-house
the
shore
end
of
the
cable
is
laid.
Distance
to
the
entrance
of
Trinity
Bay,
Newfoundland,
eight
hundred
and
twenty-two
nautical
miles,
and
from
there
to
the
telegraph-house
at
the
head
of
the
bay
of
Bull's
Arm,
sixty
miles,
making
in
all
eight
hundred
and
eighty-two
nautical
miles.
The
Niagara
has
sixty-nine
miles
further
to
run
than
the
Agamemnon.
The
Niagara
and
Agamemnon
have
each
eleven
hundred
nautical
miles
of
cable
on
board,
about
the
same
quantity
as
last
year."
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