The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph

The boilers too were thoroughly cleansed and repaired in every part, and the paddle-engines were so arranged that in five minutes they could be disconnected, so that by going ahead with one and backing with the other, the ship could be held perfectly at rest or be turned around in her own length, a very important matter when they should come to fish in deep waters for the broken end of the cable. To prepare for this, she was armed with chains and ropes and irons of the most formidable kind. For grappling the cable, she took on board twenty miles of rope, which would bear a strain of thirty tons, probably the largest fishing-line used since the days of Noah!

The cable was manufactured at the rate of twenty miles a day, and as fast as delivered and found perfect, was coiled on board. And now the electricians tried their skill to outdo all that they had done before. As Captain Anderson observed, it seemed as if never had so much brain power been concentrated on the problem of success. The cable itself furnished the grandest subject of experiment. As every week added more than a hundred miles to its length, there was constant opportunity to try the electric current on longer distances and with new conditions. The results obtained showed the rapid and marvellous progress of electrical science. Said The Times:

"The science of making, testing, and laying cables has so much improved that an undetected fault in an insulated wire has now become literally impossible, while so much are the instruments for signalling improved, that not only can a slight fault be disregarded if necessary, but it is even easy to work through a submarine wire with a foot of its copper conductor stripped and bare to the water. This latter result, astonishing as it may appear, has actually been achieved for some days past with the whole Atlantic cable on board the Great Eastern. Out of a length of more than one thousand seven hundred miles, a coil has been taken from the centre, the copper conductor stripped clean of its insulation for a foot in length, and in this condition lowered over the vessel's side till it rested on the ground. Yet through this the clearest signals have been sent – so clear, indeed, as at one time to raise the question whether it would not be worth while to grapple for the first old Atlantic cable ever laid, and with these new instruments working gently through it for a year or so, at least make it pay cost."

As other things were on the same gigantic scale, by the time the big ship had her cargo and stores on board, she was well laden. Of the cable alone there were two thousand four hundred miles, coiled in three immense tanks as the year before. Of this seven hundred and forty-eight miles were a part of the cable of the last expedition. The tanks alone, with the water in them, weighed over a thousand tons; and the cable which they held, four thousand tons more; besides which she had to carry eight thousand five hundred tons of coal and five hundred tons of telegraph stores, making fourteen thousand tons, besides engines, rigging, etc., which made nearly as much more. So enormous was the burden, that it was thought prudent not to take on board all her coal before she left the Medway, especially as the channel was winding and shallow. It was therefore arranged that about a third of her coal should be taken in at Berehaven, on the south-west coast of Ireland. With this exception, her lading was complete.

The time for departure had been fixed for the last day of June, and so admirable had been the arrangements, and such the diligence of all concerned, that exactly at the hour of noon, she loosened from her moorings, and began to move. It was well that she had not on board her whole cargo; for as it was, she drew nearly thirty-two feet. Never had any keel pressed so deep in those waters. It required skilful handling to get her safely to the sea. Gently and softly she floated down, over bars where she almost grazed the sand, where but a few inches lifted her enormous hull above the river's bed. But at length the rising tide bears her safely over, and she is afloat in the deeper waters of the Channel. At first the sea did not give her a very gracious welcome. The wind was dead ahead, and the waves dashed furiously against her; but she kept steadily on, tossing their spray on high, as if they had struck against the rocks of Eddystone lighthouse. In four or five days she had passed down the Irish coast, and was quietly anchored in the harbor at Berehaven, where she was soon joined by the other vessels of the squadron.

The Telegraph fleet was not the same as that of the last year. The Government could spare but a single ship; but the Terrible, which had accompanied the Great Eastern on the former expedition, was still there to represent the majesty of England. The William Corry, a vessel of two thousand tons, bore the ponderous shore end, which was to be laid out thirty miles from the Irish coast, while the Albany and the Medway were ships chartered by the Company. The latter carried several hundred miles of the last year's cable, besides one of heavier proportions, ninety miles long, to be stretched across the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

While the Great Eastern remained at Berehaven, to take in her final stores of coal, the William Corry proceeded around the coast to Valentia to lay the shore end. She arrived off the harbor on the morning of Saturday, the seventh of July, and immediately began to prepare for her heavy task. This shore end was of tremendous size, weighing twenty tons to the mile. It was by far the strongest wire cable ever made, and in short lengths was stiff as an iron bar. As the year before, the cable was to be brought off on a bridge of boats reaching from the ship to the foot of the cliff. All the fishermen's boats were gathered from along the shore, while H. M. S. Raccoon, which was guarding that part of the coast, sent up her boats to help, so that, as they all mustered in line, there were forty of them, making a long pontoon-bridge; and Irish boatmen with eager looks and strong hands were standing along the line, to grasp the ponderous chain. All went well, and by one o'clock the cable was landed, and its end brought up the cliff to the station. The signals were found to be perfect, and the William Corry then slowly drew off to sea, unlimbering her stiff shore end, till she had cast over the whole thirty miles. At three o'clock next morning she telegraphed through the cable that her work was done, and she had buoyed the end in water a hundred fathoms deep. Describing the scene, the correspondent of the London News says:

"In its leading features it presented a striking difference to the ceremony of last year. Earnest gravity and a deep-seated determination to repress all show of the enthusiasm of which everybody was full, was very manifest. The excitement was below, instead of above, the surface. Speech-making, hurrahing, public congratulations, and vaunts of confidence were, as it seemed, avoided as if on purpose. There was something far more touching in the quiet and reverent solemnity of the spectators yesterday than in the slightly boisterous joviality of the peasantry last year. Nothing could prevent the scene being intensely dramatic, but the prevailing tone of the drama was serious instead of comic and triumphant. The old crones in tattered garments who cowered together, dudheen in mouth, their gaudy colored shawls tightly drawn over head and under the chin – the barefooted boys and girls, who by long practice walked over sharp and jagged rocks, which cut up boots and shoes, with perfect impunity – the men at work uncovering the trench, and winding in single file up and down the hazardous path cut by the cablemen in the otherwise inaccessible rock – the patches of bright color furnished by the red petticoats and cloaks – the ragged garments, only kept from falling to pieces by bits of string and tape – the good old parish priest, who exercises mild and gentle spiritual sway over the loving subjects of whom the ever-popular Knight of Kerry is the temporal head, looking on benignly from his car – the bright eyes, supple figures, and innocent faces of the peasant lasses, and the earnestly hopeful expression of all – made up a picture impossible to describe with justice. Add to this, the startling abruptness with which the tremendous cliffs stand flush out of the water, the alternations of bright wild flowers and patches of verdure with the most desolate barrenness, the mountain sheep indifferently cropping the short, sweet grass, and the undercurrent of consciousness of the mighty interests at stake, and few scenes will seem more important and interesting than that of yesterday."

As the ships are now ready for sea, and all who are to embark have come on board, we may look about us at the personnel of the expedition. Who are here? We recognize many old familiar faces, that we have seen in former campaigns – gallant men who have had many a sea-fight in this peaceful war. First, the eye seeks the tall form of Captain Anderson. There he is, modest and grave, of few words, but seeing every thing, watching every thing, and ruling every thing with a quiet power. And there is his second officer, Mr. Halpin, who keeps a sharp lookout after the crew, to see that every man does his duty. While he thus keeps watch of all on board, Staff Commander Moriarty, R. N., comes on deck, with instruments in hand, to look after the heavenly bodies, and reckon the ship's latitude and longitude. This is an old veteran in the service, who has been in all the expeditions, and it would be quite "improper," even if it were possible, for a cable to be laid across the Atlantic without his presence and aid. And here comes Mr. Canning, the engineer, whose deep-sea soundings, the last year, were on a scale of such magnitude, and who, if he cannot well dive deeper, means to pull stronger the next time. That slight form yonder is Professor Thomson, of Glasgow, a man who in his knowledge of the subtle element to be brought into play, and the enthusiasm he brings to its study, is the very genius of electrical science; and this is Mr. Varley, who seems to have the lightning in his fingers, and to whom the world owes some marvellous discoveries of the laws of electricity. Mr. Willoughby Smith, a worthy associate in these studies and discoveries, goes out on the ship as electrician.

And here is Mr. Glass, the managing director of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, which has undertaken by contract to manufacture this cable and lay it safely across the ocean; and Mr. Gooch, chairman of the company that owns the Great Eastern – two gentlemen to whom the Atlantic Telegraph is under the greatest obligation, since it was they who, six months before, when the project seemed in danger of being given up or postponed for years, took Mr. Field by the hand, and cheered him on to a last effort. Blessings on their hearts of oak! Mr. Gooch accompanies the ship, while Mr. Glass, keeping Mr. Varley at his side as electrician, remains on shore, to receive reports of the daily progress of the expedition, and to issue his orders. What a post of observation was that telegraph house on the cliffs of Valentia! It commanded a far broader horizon than the top of Fiesolé, from which Galileo looked down on the valley of the Arno, and up at the stars. Was there ever a naval commander favored with a power of vision that could sweep the boundless sea? What would Nelson have said, if he had had a spy-glass with which he could watch ships in action two thousand miles away, and issue his orders to a fleet on the other side of the ocean? With such a long range, he might almost have fought the Battle of the Nile from his home in England.

Standing on such a spot, and surrounded by such men, representing the capital, the science, and the skill of England, with all those gallant ships in sight, one's heart might well beat high. But there were other reflections that saddened the hour, and caused some at least to look once more on the rocks of Valentia with deep emotion. Some of their old companions-in-arms had fallen out of the ranks, while the battle was not yet won. Brett, Mr. Field's first friend in England, was in his grave. Beyond the Atlantic, Captains Hudson and Berryman slept the sleep that knows no waking. They were not forgotten by their survivors, who mourned that those who had toiled with them in former days, were not here to share their triumph.

The feeling, therefore, of many on this occasion, was not one elate with pride and hope, but subdued by serious thoughts and tender memories. In harmony with this feeling, and with the great work which they were about to undertake, it was proposed that before the expedition sailed they should hold a solemn religious service.

Was there ever a fitter place or a fitter hour for prayer than here, in the presence of the great sea to which they were about to commit their lives and their precious trust? The first expedition ever sent forth had been consecrated by prayer. On that very spot, nine years before, all heads were uncovered and all forms bent low, at the solemn words of supplication; and there had the Earl of Carlisle – since gone to his honored grave – cheered them on with high religious hopes, describing the ships which were sent forth on such a mission, as "beautiful upon the waters as were the feet upon the mountains of them that publish the gospel of peace."

In such a spirit two of the directors – Mr. Bevan, of London, and Mr. Bewley, of Dublin – sent invitations to a number of persons to meet at Valentia, as the expedition was about to sail, and commend it to the favor of Almighty God. Captain Anderson had greatly desired to be with them at this parting service, but the ships were at Berehaven, and they were just embarking for sea. But though the officers could not be present, a large company came together. Said an Irish paper: "Men of different religious denomination, and of various professions in life – Irishmen, Englishmen, and Scotchmen – joined in such a service as has never been held in this island." It was a scene long to be remembered, as they bowed together before the God and Father of all. Their brethren, who were about to go down to the sea in ships, felt their dependence on a Higher Power. Their preparations were complete. All that man could do was done. They had exhausted every resource of science and skill. The issue now remained with Him who controls the winds and waves. Therefore was it most fit that, at the very moment of embarking, those who remained behind should, as it were, kneel upon the cliff, and, with outstretched hands, commit them to Him who alone spreadeth out the heavens and ruleth the raging of the sea.

In all this there is something of antique stamp, something which makes us think of the sublime men of an earlier and better time; of the Pilgrim Fathers kneeling on the deck of their little ship at Leyden, as they were about to seek a refuge and a home in the forests of the New World; and of Columbus and his companions celebrating a solemn service before their departure from Spain. And so with labor and with prayer did this great expedition go forth once more from the shores of Ireland, bearing the hopes of science and of civilization – with courage and skill looking out from the bow across the stormy waters, and a religious faith, like that of Columbus, standing at the helm.

On Friday morning, the thirteenth of July, the fleet finally bade adieu to the land. Was Friday an unlucky day? Some of the sailors thought so, and would have been glad to leave a day before or after. But Columbus sailed on Friday, and discovered the New World on Friday; and so this expedition put to sea on Friday, and, as a good Providence would have it, reached land on the other side of the Atlantic on the same day of the week! As the ships disappeared below the horizon, Mr. Glass and Mr. Varley went up on their watch-tower – not to look, but to listen for the first voice from the sea. The ships bore away for the buoy where lay the end of the shore line; but the weather was thick and foggy, with frequent bursts of rain, and they could not see far on the water. For an hour or two they went sailing round and round, like sea-gulls in search of prey. At length the Albany caught sight of the buoy tossing on the waves, and, firing a signal gun, bore down straight upon it. The cable was soon hauled up from its bed, a hundred fathoms deep, and brought over the stern of the Great Eastern; and the watchers on shore, who had been waiting with some impatience, saw the first flash, and Varley read, "Got the shore end – all right – going to make the splice." Then all was still, and they knew that that delicate operation was going on. Quick, nimble hands tore off the covering from some yards of the shore end of the main cable, till they came to the core; then, swiftly unwinding the copper wires, they laid them together, twining them as closely and carefully as a silken braid. Thus stripped and bare this new-born child of the sea was wrapped in swaddling-clothes, covered up with many coatings of gutta-percha, and hempen rope, and strong iron wires, the whole bound round and round with heavy bands, and the splicing was complete. Signals were now sent through the whole cable on board the Great Eastern and back to the telegraph-house at Valentia, and the whole length, two thousand four hundred and forty nautical miles, was reported perfect. And so with light hearts they bore away. It was a little after three o'clock. As they turned to the west, the following was the "order of battle": the Terrible went ahead, standing off on the starboard bow, to keep other vessels out of the course; the Medway was on the port, and the Albany on the starboard quarter, ready to pick up or let go a buoy, or to do other work that might be required. All these ships were to keep their allotted positions, within signalling distance of the Great Eastern, and at any time that she was heard firing guns, they were to close in with her to render assistance. Their course lay thirty miles to the south of that of the last year, so that there could be no danger, in fishing for the old cable, of disturbing the new.

Dr. Russell, the brilliant historian of the Expedition of 1865, was not on board the Great Eastern this year. He had left England a few weeks before for the scene of the war in Germany. His place was supplied by Mr. John C. Deane, the Secretary of the Anglo-American Company, whose "Diary of the Expedition" furnishes a faithful record of the incidents of this memorable voyage. If the story be not quite so thrilling as that of the year before, it is because it has not to tell of such fatal accidents. It has the monotony of success. A few pages from this diary, giving its most important portions, will render this narrative complete.

The voyage began with good weather and every omen of success. Friday, indeed, was a day of fog and rain. At the very time they were making the splice with the shore end, the rain was pouring on the deck. But in a few hours it cleared off, and Saturday and Sunday, Mr. Field writes in his journal, "Weather fine;" and Monday, "Calm, beautiful day. Signals perfect." Owing to the improved system adopted by the chief electrician, communication with the shore was kept up even while the tests for insulation were going on.25

Every possible precaution was taken to guard against such accidents as had marred the success of the year before. Remembering how small a thing had sufficed to puncture the cable, the men in the tank were not allowed to wear boots or shoes with nails in their heels, but were cased from head to foot in canvas dresses, drawn over their ordinary sailor costume, and, with slippers on their feet, they glided about softly as ghosts. But we turn to Mr. Deane's diary for a record of the progress from day to day:

"Sunday, July 15. – All through yesterday the paying-out machinery worked so smoothly – the electrical tests were so perfect – the weather was so fine, that fresh confidence in the ultimate result has been naturally inspired. The recollection, however, of the reverses of the expedition of 1865 is always before those who have the greatest reliance on success; and there is a quiet repose about the manner of the chief practical men on board, which is an earnest that they will not allow themselves to be carried away by the smoothness of twenty-four hours' events. The convoy kept their position accurately during the day. The Terrible signalled that a man had fallen overboard. Her cutter was speedily lowered. The sailor had, however, laid hold of a rope thrown to him from the frigate, before the boat reached him.

"Monday. – Still everything going on well. The sea like a mill-pond. The paying out of the cable from the after tank progressing with uniformity and steadiness, and the electrical tests perfect.

"Our track is about thirty miles to the south of that of last year, and at that distance we passed parallel to where the telegraph cable parted in August, 1857. Our average speed has been about five knots. We were obliged to stop the screw engines in order to bring down to that speed, and, moreover, to reduce the paddle boiler power. Captain Anderson's ingenious mode of cleaning the ship's bottom, which he carried out last winter at Sheerness, has proved to have effected this very desirable object. Mr. Beckwith, the engineer, is now enabled to regulate and adjust her speed, and get more out of the ship than he could last year, when her bottom was one incrusted mass of mussels.

"Tuesday. – Another twenty-four hours of uninterrupted success. All day yesterday it was so calm that the masts of our convoy were reflected in the ocean, an unusual thing to see. A large shoal of porpoises gambolled about us for half an hour. A glorious sunset, and later, a crescent moon, which we hope to see in the brightness of her full, lighting our way into Trinity Bay before the days of this July shall have ended."

But the whole night did not pass away so tranquilly. By midnight the rain fell fast, and the wind blew fiercely, and then occurred the only real alarm of the voyage. The scene is thus described by Mr. Deane:

"All went on well until twenty minutes past twelve a. m., Greenwich time, when the first real shock was given to the success which has hitherto attended us, and this time we had real cause to be alarmed. A foul flake took place in the after tank. The engines were immediately turned astern, and the paying out of the cable stopped. We were all soon on deck, and learned that the running or paying-out part of the coil had caught three turns of the flake immediately under it, carried them into the eye of the coil, fouling the lay out, and hauling up one and a half turns from the outside, and five turns in the eye of the under flake. This was stopped, fortunately, before entering the paying out machinery. Stoppers of hemp also were put on near the V-wheel astern, and Mr. Canning gave orders to stand by to let go the buoy. This was not very cheering to hear, but his calm and collected manner gave us all confidence that his skill and experience would extricate the cable from the obvious danger in which it was placed. No fishing line was ever entangled worse than the rope was when thrust up in apparently hopeless knots from the eye of the coil to the deck. There at least five hundred feet of rope lay in this state, in the midst of thick rain and increasing wind. The cable crew set to work under their chief engineer's instructions to disentangle it. Mr. Halpin was there too, patiently following the bights as they showed themselves; the crew now passing them forward, now aft, until at last the character of the tangle was seen, and soon it became apparent that ere long the cable would be cleared. All this time Captain Anderson was at the taffrail anxiously watching the strain on the rope, which he could scarcely make out, the night was so dark, and endeavoring to keep it up and down, going on and reversing with paddle and screw. When one reflects for a moment upon the size of the ship, and the enormous mass she presents to the wind, the difficulty of keeping her stern, under the circumstances, over the cable, can be appreciated. The port paddle-wheel was disconnected; but shortly afterward there was a shift of wind, and the vessel canted the wrong way. Welcome voices were now heard passing the word aft from the tank that the bights were cleared, and to pay out. Then the huge stoppers were gently loosened, and at five minutes past two a. m., to the joy of all, we were once more discharging the cable. They veered it away in the tank to clear away the foul flake until three a. m., when the screw and paddle engines were slowed so as to reduce the speed of the ship to four and a half knots. During all this critical time there was an entire absence of noise and confusion. Every order was silently obeyed, and the cable men and crew worked with hearty good-will. Mr. Canning has had experience of foul flakes before, and showed that he knew what to do in the emergency. But what of the electrical condition of the cable during this period? Simply, that through its entire length it was perfect."