Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
1
378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
23
To
get
some
light
in
his
perplexity,
Mr.
Field,
the
very
next
morning
after
his
interview
with
Gisborne,
wrote
two
letters,
one
to
Lieutenant
Maury,
then
at
the
head
of
the
National
Observatory
at
Washington,
on
the
nautical
difficulties
of
the
undertaking,
asking
if
the
sea
were
itself
a
barrier
too
great
to
be
overcome;
and
the
other
to
Professor
Morse,
inquiring
if
it
would
be
possible
to
telegraph
over
a
distance
so
great
as
that
from
Europe
to
America?
The
mail
soon
brought
an
answer
from
Lieutenant
Maury,
which
began:
"Singularly
enough,
just
as
I
received
your
letter,
I
was
closing
one
to
the
Secretary
of
the
Navy
on
the
same
subject."
A
copy
of
this
he
inclosed
to
Mr.
Field,
and
it
is
given
here.
It
shows
the
conclusions
at
which,
even
at
that
early
day,
scientific
men
were
beginning
to
arrive:
"National
Observatory,
Washington,
February
22,
1854.
"Sir:
The
United
States
brig
Dolphin,
Lieutenant
Commanding
O.
H.
Berryman,
was
employed
last
summer
upon
especial
service
connected
with
the
researches
that
are
carried
on
at
this
office
concerning
the
winds
and
currents
of
the
sea.
Her
observations
were
confined
principally
to
that
part
of
the
ocean
which
the
merchantmen,
as
they
pass
to
and
fro
upon
the
business
of
trade
between
Europe
and
the
United
States,
use
as
their
great
thoroughfare.
Lieutenant
Berryman
availed
himself
of
this
opportunity
to
carry
along
also
a
line
of
deep-sea
soundings,
from
the
shores
of
Newfoundland
to
those
of
Ireland.
The
result
is
highly
interesting,
in
so
far
as
the
bottom
of
the
sea
is
concerned,
upon
the
question
of
a
submarine
telegraph
across
the
Atlantic;
and
I
therefore
beg
leave
to
make
it
the
subject
of
a
special
report.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
