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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
236
The
work
now
went
on
with
speed.
The
wheels
began
to
hum,
and
the
great
drums
to
reel
off
that
line
which,
considering
the
distance
it
was
to
span,
was
hardly
to
be
measured
by
miles,
but
rather
by
degrees
of
the
earth's
surface.
Mere
figures
give
but
a
vague
impression
of
vast
spaces.
But
it
is
a
curious
fact,
ascertained
by
an
exact
computation,
that
if
all
the
wires
of
copper
and
of
iron,
with
the
layers
that
made
up
the
core
and
the
outer
covering,
and
the
strands
of
yarn
that
were
twisted
into
this
one
knotted
sea-cable,
were
placed
end
to
end,
the
whole
length
would
reach
from
the
earth
to
the
moon!
As
it
came
from
the
works
in
its
completed
state,
it
was
plunged
in
water,
to
make
it
familiar
with
the
element
which
was
to
be
its
future
home.
In
the
yards
of
the
Company
stood
eight
large
tanks,
which
could
hold
each
a
hundred
and
forty
miles.
Here
the
cable
was
coiled
to
"hibernate,"
till
it
should
be
wanted
for
use
the
coming
spring.
Seeing
the
work
thus
well
under
way,
with
no
chance
of
another
disastrous
check,
Mr.
Field
left
England
with
heart
at
rest,
and
returned
to
America
for
the
winter.
But
the
first
days
of
spring
saw
him
again
on
the
Atlantic.
He
reached
England
on
the
eighteenth
of
March.
His
visit
was
more
satisfactory
than
a
year
before.
The
work
was
now
well
advanced.
It
was
a
goodly
sight
to
go
down
to
Morden
Wharf
at
Greenwich,
and
see
the
huge
machinery
in
motion,
spinning
off
the
leagues
of
deep-sea
line.
The
triumph
apparently
was
near
at
hand.
It
seemed
indeed
a
predestined
thing
that
the
cable
should
finally
be
laid
in
the
year
of
grace
1865--the
end
for
which
he
had
so
faithfully
toiled
since
1858--seven
weary
years--as
long
as
Jacob
served
for
Rachel!
But,
less
fortunate
than
Jacob,
he
was
doomed
to
one
more
disappointment.
At
present,
however,
all
looked
well,
and
he
could
not
but
regard
the
prospect
with
satisfaction.
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