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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
230
This
was
a
congratulation
on
an
escape
from
death,
for
their
cherished
scheme
had
just
passed
through
a
critical
period
of
its
history.
The
enterprise
had
been
in
great
danger
of
abandonment--at
least
for
years,
a
peril
from
which
it
had
been
rescued
only
by
the
most
prompt
and
vigorous
effort.
Thus
after
infinite
toil,
the
wreck
of
old
disasters
was
cleared
away,
and
the
mighty
task
begun
anew.
The
works
of
the
Telegraph
Construction
and
Maintenance
Company
were
the
largest
in
the
world,
and
all
their
resources
were
now
put
in
requisition.
Never
did
greater
care
preside
over
a
public
enterprise.
It
was
a
case
in
which
the
motive
of
interest
was
seconded
or
overborne
by
pride
and
ambition.
A
cable
was
to
be
made
to
span
the
Atlantic
Ocean,
and
to
join
the
hemispheres;
and
they
were
determined
to
produce
a
work
that
should
be
as
nearly
perfect
as
human
skill
could
make
it.
The
Scientific
Committee,
that
had
so
long
investigated
the
subject,
had
approved
a
particular
form
of
cable,
as
"the
one
most
calculated
to
insure
success
in
the
present
state
of
our
experimental
knowledge
respecting
deep-sea
cables,"
but
at
the
same
time
recommended
the
utmost
vigilance
at
every
stage
of
the
manufacture.
These
precautions
deserve
to
be
noted,
as
showing
with
what
jealous
care
science
watches
over
the
birth
of
a
great
enterprise,
and
prescribes
the
conditions
of
success.
They
recommended:
That
the
conductivity
of
the
wire
should
be
fixed
at
a
high
standard,
certainly
not
less
than
eighty-five
per
cent;
that
the
cable
should
be
at
least
equal
to
the
best
ever
made;
that
the
core
should
be
electrically
perfect;
that
it
should
be
tested
under
hydraulic
pressure,
and
at
the
highest
pressure
attainable
in
the
tanks
at
the
Company's
works;
that
after
this
pressure,
the
core
should
be
examined
again,
and
before
receiving
its
outer
covering,
be
required
to
pass
the
full
electrical
test
under
water;
that
careful
and
frequent
mechanical
tests
be
made
upon
the
iron
wire
and
hemp
as
to
their
strength;
that
special
care
be
given
to
the
joints,
where
different
lengths
of
cable
were
spliced
together;
and
that
when
completed,
the
whole
be
tested
under
water
for
some
length
of
time,
at
a
temperature
of
seventy-five
degrees.
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