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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
312
But
though
their
voyage
was
ended,
there
was
still
a
work
to
be
done.
Having
crossed
the
Atlantic,
the
first
thing
was
to
open
communication
with
the
cities
of
the
United
States.
And
now
Mr.
Field
was
extremely
mortified
to
find
that
there
was
a
large
gap
in
the
line
this
side
of
the
ocean.
His
first
question
to
the
Superintendent,
who
came
out
in
a
boat
to
meet
him,
was
in
regard
to
the
cable
across
the
Gulf
of
St.
Lawrence,
which
had
been
interrupted
the
year
before;
and
it
was
a
bitter
pang
to
hear
that
it
lay
still
broken,
so
that
a
message
which
came
from
Ireland
in
a
moment
of
time,
was
delayed
twenty-four
hours
in
its
way
to
New
York.
Of
course
the
public
grew
impatient,
and
there
were
many
sneers
at
the
want
of
foresight
which
had
failed
to
provide
against
such
a
contingency;
and,
as
he
was
the
one
chiefly
known
in
connection
with
the
enterprise,
these
reproaches
fell
upon
him.
He
did
not
tell
the
public,
what
was
the
truth,
that
he
had
anticipated
this
very
trouble
long
ago,
and
entreated
his
associates
to
be
prepared
for
it.
Months
before
he
left
for
England,
he
urged
upon
the
Company
in
New
York
the
necessity
of
rebuilding
their
lines
in
Newfoundland,
which
had
been
standing
over
ten
years,
and
of
repairing
the
old
cable,
and
also
laying
a
new
one
across
the
Gulf
of
St.
Lawrence.
But
this
would
cost
a
large
sum
of
money,
and
as
their
faith
and
purses
had
been
sorely
tried
by
repeated
disasters,
they
were
not
willing
to
spend
more
in
the
uncertainty
of
the
future.
They
wished
to
see
the
result
of
this
new
expedition,
before
advancing
further
capital.
We
do
not
blame
them,
but
only
mention
the
fact
to
show
that
Mr.
Field
had
foreseen
this
very
thing,
and
endeavored
to
guard
against
it.
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