The Story of the Atlantic TelegraphField, Henry M. (Henry Martyn)
History
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
Field, Henry M. (Henry Martyn)
Transatlantic cables
But enough of praise that can fall only on the dull, cold ear of death.
A few words on the after years of this busy life, and I have done. These
years brought a rich reward for all the sacrifices of the past. The
first feeling was one of infinite relief that at last the victory was
won. The terrible strain was taken off, and to him who had borne it so
long, the change to the quiet of his own happy home was inexpressibly
grateful after his many and long separations. He was now in his own
country and under his own roof, but with a name that was known on both
sides of the sea. The complete success of the Atlantic Telegraph had
given him an immense reputation at home and abroad. It seemed as if the
struggles of life were all over, leaving only its honors to be enjoyed.
What more could he ask to make life worth living than the respect of his
countrymen for his courage, energy and perseverance, and a name honored
all over the civilized world as one of the world's benefactors?
The practical results of the cable were even greater than he had dared
to anticipate. In the space of a few months it wrought a commercial
revolution in America. It was a new sensation to have the Old World
brought so near, that it entered into one's daily life. Every morning,
as Mr. Field went to his office, he found laid on his desk at nine
o'clock the quotations on the Royal Exchange at twelve! Lombard Street
and Wall Street talked with each other as two neighbors across the way.
This soon made an end of the tribe of speculators who calculated on the
fact that nobody knew at a particular moment the state of the market on
the other side of the sea, an universal ignorance by which they
profited by getting the earliest advices. But now everybody got them as
soon as they, for the news came with the rising of each day's sun, and
the occupation of a class that did much to demoralize trade on both
sides of the ocean was gone.
The same restoration of order was seen in the business of importations,
which had been hitherto almost a matter of guess-work. A merchant who
wished to buy silks in Lyons, sent out his orders months in advance, and
of course somewhat at random, not knowing how the market might turn, so
that when the costly fabrics arrived, he might find that he had ordered
too many or too few. A China merchant sent his ship round the world for
a cargo of tea, which returned after a year's absence, bringing not
enough to supply the public demand, leaving him in vexation at the
thought of what he might have made, "if he had known," or, what was
still worse, bringing twice too much, in which case the unsold half
remained on his hands. This was a risk against which he had to be
insured, as much as against fire or shipwreck. And the only insurance he
could have was to take reprisals by an increased charge on his
unfortunate customers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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