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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
199
Many
explanations
were
offered
of
this
sudden
suspension
of
life.
One
writer
argued
that
the
Telegraphic
Plateau
was
only
a
myth;
that
the
bottom
of
the
ocean
was
jagged
and
precipitous;
that
the
cable
passed
over
lofty
mountain
chains,
and
hung
suspended
from
the
peaks
of
submarine
Alps,
till
it
broke
and
fell
into
the
tremendous
depths
below.
But
others
found
a
readier
explanation.
With
the
natural
tendency
of
a
popular
excitement
to
rush
from
one
extreme
to
the
other,
many
now
believed
that
the
whole
thing
was
an
imposition
on
public
credulity,
a
sort
of
"Moon
hoax."
An
elaborate
article
appeared
in
a
Boston
paper,
headed
with
the
alarming
question,
"Was
the
Atlantic
cable
a
humbug?"
wherein
the
writer
argued
through
several
columns
that
it
was
a
huge
deception.
A
writer
in
an
English
paper
also
made
merry
of
the
celebration
in
Dublin,
where
a
banquet
was
given
to
Sir
Charles
Bright,
in
an
article
bearing
the
ominous
title:
"Very
like
a
whale!"
This
writer
proved
not
only
that
the
Atlantic
cable
was
never
laid,
but
that
such
a
thing
was
mathematically
impossible.
But
since
he
turned
out
to
be
a
crazy
fellow,
whom
the
police
had
to
take
into
custody,
his
"demonstrations"
did
not
make
much
impression
on
the
public.
The
difficulty
of
finding
a
motive
for
the
perpetration
of
such
a
stupendous
fraud,
did
not
at
all
embarrass
these
ingenious
writers.
Was
it
not
enough
to
make
the
world
stare?
to
furnish
something
to
the
gaping
crowd,
even
though
it
were
but
a
nine
days'
wonder?
Those
who
thus
reasoned
seemed
not
to
reflect
that
such
deceptions
are
always
sure
to
be
found
out;
that
one
who
goes
up
like
a
rocket
comes
down
like
a
stick;
and
that
if
by
false
means
he
has
made
himself
an
object
of
popular
idolatry,
he
is
likely
to
become
the
object
of
popular
indignation.
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