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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
207
That
the
news
must
have
come
by
cable,
is
clearly
shown
by
an
examination
of
dates.
He
died
suddenly,
at
Burlington,
Vermont,
Monday,
August
twenty-third,
1858,
at
ten
o'clock
fifteen
minutes
A.M.
The
exact
day
and
hour
we
learned
from
his
widow,
who
after
his
death
lived
in
Brooklyn.
The
news
was
telegraphed
to
New
York,
and
from
there
sent
to
Trinity
Bay,
which
it
reached
the
following
day,
and
from
which
it
was
forwarded
to
Valentia,
and
appeared
in
the
London
Times
Wednesday
morning.
Thus
not
forty-eight
hours
elapsed
after
he
breathed
his
last,
before
it
was
published
in
England.
If
any
one
wishes
to
see
the
despatch,
he
will
find
a
file
of
The
Times
in
the
Astor
Library.
But
here
appears
a
slight
discrepancy,
that,
however,
when
examined,
furnishes
double
proof.
The
despatch
is
dated
August
twenty-fifth,
and
says
Mr.
Eddy
died
to-day,
and
yet
it
is
published
in
the
London
Times
of
the
same
date!
How
is
this?
It
was
sent
between
nine
and
ten
o'clock
at
night
of
the
twenty-fourth,
when
the
operator
at
Heart's
Content
would
say
this
day
of
a
piece
of
news
just
received,
but
in
affixing
the
date,
he
was
governed
by
Greenwich
time,
which
made
it
more
than
three
hours
later.
Accordingly
it
was
published
in
The
Times,
dated
August
twenty-fifth,
fifty-three
minutes
past
twelve
A.M.!
Those
who
argued
for
the
theory
of
collusion
and
deception,
must
have
been
embarrassed
by
this
unexpected
intelligence
appearing
in
London,
which
could
only
be
explained
as
a
false
report,
unless
(more
wonderful
still!)
Mr.
Eddy
had
entered
into
the
plot,
and
sent
the
message
beforehand,
and
then
offered
himself
as
a
sacrifice,
to
prove
it
correct!
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