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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
34
There
were
now
five
gentlemen
enlisted;
and
Mr.
Field
was
about
to
apply
to
others,
to
make
up
his
proposed
number,
when
Mr.
Cooper
came
to
ask
why
five
would
not
do
as
well
as
ten?
The
question
was
no
sooner
asked
than
answered.
To
this
all
agreed,
and
at
once
fixed
an
evening
when
they
should
meet
at
Mr.
Field's
house
to
hear
his
statements
and
to
examine
the
charter
of
the
old
company,
find
out
what
it
had
done,
and
what
it
proposed
to
do,
what
property
it
had
and
what
debts
it
owed;
and
decide
whether
the
enterprise
offered
sufficient
inducements
to
embark
in
it.
Accordingly
they
met,
and
for
four
nights
in
succession
discussed
the
subject.
It
was
in
the
dining-room
of
Mr.
Field's
house,
and
the
large
table
was
spread
with
maps
of
the
route
to
be
traversed
by
the
line
of
telegraph,
and
with
plans
and
estimates
of
the
work
to
be
done,
the
cost
of
doing
it,
and
the
return
which
they
might
hope
in
the
end
to
realize
for
their
labor
and
their
capital.
The
result
was
an
agreement
on
the
part
of
all
to
enter
on
the
undertaking,
if
the
Government
of
Newfoundland
would
grant
a
new
charter
conceding
more
favorable
terms.
To
secure
this
it
was
important
to
send
at
once
a
commission
to
Newfoundland.
Neither
Mr.
Cooper,
Mr.
Taylor,
nor
Mr.
Roberts
could
go;
and
it
devolved
on
Mr.
Field
to
make
the
first
voyage
on
this
business,
as
it
did
to
make
many
voyages
afterwards
to
Newfoundland,
and
still
more
across
the
Atlantic.
But
not
wishing
to
take
the
whole
responsibility,
he
was
accompanied
at
his
earnest
request
by
Mr.
White,
and
by
Mr.
D.
D.
Field,
whose
counsel,
as
he
was
to
be
the
legal
adviser
of
the
Company,
was
all-important
in
the
framing
of
the
new
charter
that
was
to
secure
its
rights.
The
latter
thus
describes
this
first
expedition:
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
