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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
347
"It
has
been
said
that
the
greatest
boons
conferred
on
mankind,
have
been
due
to
men
of
one
idea.
If
the
laying
of
the
Atlantic
cable
be
among
those
benefits,
its
consummation
may
certainly
be
attributed
to
the
man
who,
having
many
ideas,
devoted
himself
to
work
out
one
idea,
with
a
gentle
force
and
patient
vigor
which
converted
opposition
and
overcame
indifference.
Mr.
Field
may
be
likened
either
to
the
core,
or
the
external
protection,
of
the
cable
itself.
At
times
he
has
been
its
active
life;
again
he
has
been
its
iron-bound
guardian.
Let
who
will
claim
the
merit
of
having
first
said
the
Atlantic
cable
was
possible;
to
Mr.
Field
is
due
the
inalienable
merit
of
having
made
it
possible,
and
of
giving
to
an
abortive
conception
all
the
attributes
of
healthy
existence."
Sir
William
Thomson,
on
the
final
triumph,
wrote:
"My
dear
Field,
I
cannot
refrain
from
putting
down
in
black
and
white
my
hearty
congratulations
on
your
great
success.
Few
know
better
than
I
do
how
well
you
deserve
it."
Eight
months
after
he
wrote
from
Scotland:
"I
am
sorry
I
had
not
an
opportunity
of
saying
in
public
how
much
I
value
your
energy
and
perseverance
in
carrying
through
the
great
enterprise,
and
how
clearly
you
stand
out
in
its
history
as
its
originator
and
its
mainspring
from
beginning
to
end."
Next
to
Sir
William
Thomson
was
Mr.
C.
F.
Varley,
who
was
associated
in
the
work
from
an
early
day,
and
did
much
to
solve
the
difficult
problems
of
ocean
telegraphy,
and
who
wrote
to
Mr.
Field,
speaking
from
his
personal
knowledge:
"You
did
more
than
any
other
to
float
the
concern,
and
single-handed
saved
the
whole
scheme
from
collapse
more
than
once."
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