Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
223
To
this
request
they
received,
in
the
course
of
a
few
weeks,
seventeen
different
proposals
from
as
many
companies,
many
of
them
firms
of
large
wealth
and
experience.
These
different
tenders,
with
the
numerous
specimens
of
cable
and
materials,
were
at
once
submitted
to
a
Consulting
Committee
composed
in
part
of
members
of
the
Committee
which
had
already
rendered
such
service
by
its
advice.
It
consisted
of
Captain
Douglas
Galton,
William
Fairbairn,
Professor
C.
Wheatstone,
William
Whitworth
and
Professor
William
Thomson.
There
were
no
more
distinguished
engineers
and
electricians
in
the
world.
They
examined
all
the
proposals,
and
then,
taking
up
one
by
one
the
different
samples
of
cable,
caused
them
in
turn
to
be
subjected
to
the
severest
tests.
This
took
a
long
time,
as
it
required
a
great
number
of
experiments;
but
the
result
was
highly
satisfactory.
The
Committee
were
all
of
one
mind,
and
recommended
unanimously
that
the
Board
should
accept
the
tender
of
Messrs.
Glass,
Elliot
&
Co.,
and
the
general
principle
of
their
proposed
cable;
but
advised
that
before
settling
the
final
specification,
every
portion
of
the
material
to
be
employed
should
be
tested
with
the
greatest
care,
both
separately
and
in
combination,
so
as
to
ascertain
what
further
improvements
could
be
made.
To
this
the
manufacturers
readily
consented,
feeling
a
noble
ambition
to
justify
the
confidence
of
the
Committee
and
the
public.
They
provided
abundant
materials
for
fresh
experiments.
New
cables
were
made
and
tested
in
different
lengths;
and
experiments
were
also
tried
upon
different
qualities
of
wire
and
hemp,
that
were
to
compose
its
external
protection.
The
result
of
all
these
investigations
was
the
selection
of
a
model
which
seemed
to
combine
every
excellence,
and
to
approach
absolute
perfection.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
