The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph

"Although we telegraphed signals at the rate of two hundred and ten, two hundred and forty-one, and, according to the count at one time, even of two hundred and seventy per minute upon my telegraphic register, (which speed, you will perceive, is at a rate commercially advantageous,) these results were accomplished notwithstanding many disadvantages in our arrangements of a temporary and local character--disadvantages which will not occur in the use of our submarine cable. "Having passed the whole night with my active and agreeable collaborators, Dr. Whitehouse and Mr. Bright, without sleep, you will excuse the hurried and brief character of this note, which I could not refrain from sending you, since our experiments this morning settle the scientific and commercial points of our enterprise satisfactorily. "With respect and esteem, your obedient servant, "Samuel F. B. Morse." A week later, he wrote again, confirming his former impressions, thus: "London, October 10, 1856. "My dear Sir: After having given the deepest consideration to the subject of our successful experiments the other night, when we signalled clearly and rapidly through an unbroken circuit of subterranean conducting wire, over two thousand miles in length, I sit down to give you the result of my reflections and calculations. "There can be no question but that, with a cable containing a single conducting wire, of a size not exceeding that through which we worked, and with equal insulation, it would be easy to telegraph from Ireland to Newfoundland at a speed of at least from eight to ten words per minute; nay, more: the varying rates of speed at which we worked, depending as they did upon differences in the arrangement of the apparatus employed, do of themselves prove that even a higher rate than this is attainable. Take it, however, at ten words in the minute, and allowing ten words for name and address, we can safely calculate upon the transmission of a twenty-word message in three minutes;