Messrs. Glass, Elliot, & Co. had long successfully manufactured Cables in accordance with all the improvements that had taken place in machinery, as well as in the manufacture of gutta percha, since the laying of the Cable of 1858. Their experience as contractors in laying lines might be estimated by the report of the Jurors of the Exhibition of 1862. They had been identified with the history of submarine telegraphy from its earliest existence, and now, having previously incorporated the Gutta Percha Company, they accepted the offer made by capitalists of influence and became absorbed in “The Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company,” of which Mr. Pender, M.P., was chairman, and Mr. Glass managing director. The British Government were willing to assist by subsidy and guarantee, and there lay the Great Eastern, the only vessel in the world suited for the undertaking, seeking for a purchaser. The huge ship, which cost £640,000, was chartered by the Directors of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, who seemed bent upon solving the problem of its existence, and on showing what great things it was destined to accomplish. Captain James Anderson, an accomplished officer of the Cunard line, was asked to take the command, and received leave to do so, and it was with satisfaction the Directors learned his willingness to undertake the task. In May, 1864, a contract previously entered into was ratified, providing that all profit should be contingent on success, and that all payments were to be made in unissued shares of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. A resolution was also passed, authorising the raising of additional capital by the issue of 8 per cent. guaranteed shares, of which Glass, Elliot, & Co., were to receive 250,000_l._, and also 100,000_l._ in debentures. The form of the Cable selected was similar in its component parts to that of 1858, but widely different in the construction and quality of the materials. It had been reported on most favourably by the Committee of Selection, and was at once accepted by the contractors; the Directors of the Company recognising the assiduity and skill of Mr. Glass in the investigations as to the best description of Cable. The following official account[3] states so minutely every particular connected with the Cable during the process of formation, down to its shipment on board the Great Eastern, that no better description can be given:-- It differed from the Cable of 1857-8, as to its size, as to the weight and method of application of the materials of which it was composed, as to its specific gravity, and as to the mode adopted for its external protection.