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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
214
Still
further
to
encourage
the
undertaking,
it
ordered
new
soundings
to
be
taken
off
the
coast
of
Ireland.
These
were
made
by
Captain
Hoskins,
of
the
Royal
Navy,
and
dispelled
the
fears
which
had
been
entertained
of
a
submarine
mountain,
which
would
prove
an
impassable
barrier
in
the
path
of
an
ocean
telegraph.
But
the
greatest
service
which
the
British
Government
rendered,
was
in
the
long
course
of
experiments
which
it
now
ordered,
to
determine
all
the
difficult
problems
of
submarine
telegraphy.
In
1859,
the
year
after
the
failure
of
the
first
Atlantic
cable,
the
Board
of
Trade
appointed
a
committee
of
the
most
eminent
scientific
and
engineering
authorities
in
Great
Britain
to
investigate
the
whole
subject.
This
was
composed
of
Captain
Douglas
Galton,
of
the
Royal
Engineers,
then
of
the
War
Office,
who
represented
the
Government;
Professor
Wheatstone,
the
celebrated
electrician;
William
Fairbairn,
President
of
the
British
Association
for
the
Advancement
of
Science;
George
Parker
Bidder,
whose
name
ranks
with
those
of
Stephenson
and
Brunel;
C.
F.
Varley,
who,
in
the
practical
working
of
telegraphs,
had
no
superior
in
England;
Latimer
Clark
and
Edwin
Clark,
both
engineers,
who
had
had
great
experience
in
the
business
of
telegraphing;
and
George
Saward,
the
Secretary
of
the
Atlantic
Telegraph
Company.
This
Committee
sat
for
nearly
two
years,
at
the
end
of
which
it
made
a
report
to
the
Government,
which
fills
a
very
large
volume,
in
which
are
detailed
an
immense
number
of
experiments,
touching
the
form
and
size
of
cables,
their
relative
strength
and
flexibility,
the
power
of
telegraphing
at
long
distances,
the
speed
at
which
messages
could
be
sent;
and
in
fine,
every
possible
question,
either
as
to
the
electrical
or
engineering
difficulties
to
be
overcome.
The
result
of
these
manifold
and
laborious
experiments
is
summed
up
in
the
following
certificate,
signed
by
all
who
had
taken
part
in
this
memorable
investigation:
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
