Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
1
378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
45
When
they
began
the
work,
they
hoped
to
carry
the
line
across
Newfoundland
in
one
year,
completing
it
in
the
summer
of
1855.
In
anticipation
of
this,
Mr.
Field
was
sent
by
the
Company
to
England
at
the
close
of
1854,
to
order
a
cable
to
span
the
Gulf
of
St.
Lawrence,
to
connect
Cape
Ray
with
the
island
of
Cape
Breton.
This
was
his
first
voyage
across
the
ocean
on
the
business
of
the
Telegraph--to
be
followed
by
more
than
forty
others.
In
London
he
met
for
the
first
time
Mr.
John
W.
Brett,
with
whom
he
was
to
be
afterward
connected
in
the
larger
enterprise
of
the
Atlantic
Telegraph.
Mr.
Brett
was
the
father
of
submarine
telegraphy
in
Europe,
though
in
carrying
out
his
first
projects
he
was
largely
indebted
to
Mr.
Crampton,
a
well-known
engineer
of
London,
who
aided
him
both
with
advice
and
capital.
With
this
invaluable
assistance,
he
had
stretched
two
lines
across
the
British
channel.
From
his
success
in
passing
these
waters,
he
believed
a
line
might
yet
be
stretched
from
continent
to
continent.
The
scientific
men
of
England
were
not
generally
educated
up
to
that
point.
The
bare
suggestion
was
received
with
a
smile
of
incredulity.[A]
But
Mr.
Brett
had
faith,
even
at
that
early
day,
and
entered
heartily
into
the
schemes
of
Mr.
Field.
To
show
his
interest,
he
afterward
took
a
few
shares
in
the
Newfoundland
line--the
only
Englishman
who
had
any
part
in
this
preliminary
work.
The
summer
came,
and
the
work
in
Newfoundland,
though
not
complete,
was
advancing;
and
the
cable
in
England
was
finished
and
shipped
on
board
the
bark
Sarah
L.
Bryant
to
cross
the
sea.
Anticipating
its
arrival,
the
Company
chartered
a
steamer
to
go
down
to
Newfoundland
to
assist
in
its
submersion
across
the
Gulf
of
St.
Lawrence.
As
yet
they
had
no
experience
in
the
business
of
laying
a
submarine
telegraph,
and
did
not
doubt
that
the
work
could
be
accomplished
with
the
greatest
ease.
It
was
therefore
to
be
an
excursion
of
pleasure
as
well
as
of
business,
and
accordingly
they
invited
a
large
party
to
go
with
them
to
witness
the
unaccustomed
spectacle.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
