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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
203
Owing
to
this
impaired
state
of
the
cable,
it
did
not
work
perfectly.
Probably
it
would
not
have
worked
at
all
with
ordinary
instruments.
But
the
galvanometer
of
Professor
Thomson,
that
instrument
of
marvellous
delicacy,
drew
faint
whispers
from
its
muttering
lips.
Signals
came
and
went,
which
showed
that
the
electric
current
passed
from
shore
to
shore,
and
gave
promise
that
with
delicate
handling
it
could
be
taught
to
speak
plainly.
But
for
the
present
it
spoke
slowly
and
with
difficulty.
It
often
took
hours
to
get
through
a
single
despatch
of
any
length.
Witness
the
delay
in
transmitting
the
Queen's
message!
These
frequent
interruptions
were
ascribed
to
various
causes.
Sometimes
it
was
earth-currents;
at
others,
a
thunderstorm
was
raging.
Thus,
on
the
morning
of
Thursday,
the
twenty-sixth
of
August,
there
was
a
violent
storm
in
Newfoundland,
heavy
rain,
accompanied
by
thunder
and
lightning.
At
three
o'clock,
the
lightning
was
so
intense
that
for
an
hour
and
a
half
the
end
of
the
cable
had
to
be
put
to
the
earth
for
protection.
After
that
the
storm
cleared
away,
and
at
seven
o'clock
the
weather
was
reported
as
very
fine.
But
aside
from
these
local
and
temporary
causes,
the
real
difficulty
was
in
the
cable
itself,
whose
insulation
had
been
fatally
impaired,
and
which
was
now
wearing
out
its
life
on
the
rocks
of
the
sea.
These
causes
made
its
speech
difficult
and
broken.
Yet
sometimes
it
flashed
up
with
sudden
power.
In
one
case,
a
message
was
sent
from
the
office
at
Trinity
Bay
to
Ireland
and
an
answer
received
back
in
two
minutes!
Such
incidents
excited
the
liveliest
hopes
that
all
difficulties
would
be
speedily
overcome,
and
justified
the
messages
which
were
sent
to
the
New
York
papers
from
day
to
day,
that
the
instruments
were
being
adjusted,
by
which
it
was
expected
that
the
line
would
soon
be
put
in
perfect
working
order,
and
be
thrown
open
to
the
public.
But
these
flashes
of
light
proved
to
be
only
the
flickering
of
the
flame,
that
was
soon
to
be
extinguished
in
the
eternal
darkness
of
the
waters.
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