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1
378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
278
And
now
once
more
the
work
began.
No
time
was
to
be
lost.
It
was
already
the
first
of
March,
and
but
four
months
remained
to
manufacture
sixteen
hundred
and
sixty
nautical
miles
of
cable,
and
to
prepare
for
sea.
But
the
obstacles
once
cleared
away,
all
sprang
to
their
work
with
new
hope
and
vigor.
In
the
cable
to
be
made
for
the
new
line,
there
was
but
little
change
from
that
of
the
last
year,
which
had
proved
nearly
perfect.
Experience,
however,
was
constantly
suggesting
some
improvement;
and
while
the
general
form
and
size
were
retained,
a
slight
change
in
the
outer
covering
was
found
to
make
the
cable
both
lighter
and
stronger.
The
iron
wires
were
galvanized,
which
secured
them
perfectly
from
rust
or
corrosion
by
salt
water.
Thus
protected,
they
could
dispense
with
the
preservative
mixture
of
the
former
year.
This
left
the
cable
much
cleaner
and
whiter.
Instead
of
its
black
coat,
it
had
the
fresh,
bright
appearance
of
new
rope.
It
had
another
advantage.
As
the
tarry
coating
was
sticky,
slight
fragments
of
wire
might
adhere
to
it,
and
do
injury,
a
danger
to
which
the
new
cable
was
not
exposed.
At
the
same
time,
galvanizing
the
wires
gave
them
greater
ductility,
so
that
in
the
case
of
a
heavy
strain
the
cable
would
stretch
longer
without
breaking.
By
this
alteration
it
was
rendered
more
than
four
hundred-weight
lighter
per
mile,
and
would
bear
a
strain
of
nearly
half
a
ton
more
than
the
one
laid
the
year
before.
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