The Story of the Atlantic TelegraphField, Henry M. (Henry Martyn)
History
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
Field, Henry M. (Henry Martyn)
Transatlantic cables
people, will you join with me in giving three hearty cheers for
it? [Loud cheering.] Three cheers are not enough for me--they
are what we give on common occasions--and as it is for the
success of the Atlantic Telegraph Cable, I must have at least
one dozen cheers. [Loud and protracted cheering.]"
Mr. Brooking, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Atlantic
Telegraph Company, then expressed the thanks which all felt to the Lord
Lieutenant for his presence on that occasion.
Then there were loud calls for Mr. Field. He could only answer:
"I have no words to express the feelings which fill my heart
to-night--it beats with love and affection for every man, woman
and child who hears me. I may say, however, that, if ever at
the other side of the waters now before us, any one of you
shall present himself at my door and say that he took hand or
part, even by an approving smile, in our work here to-day, he
shall have a true American welcome. I cannot bind myself to
more, and shall merely say: 'What God has joined together, let
not man put asunder.'"
Thus closed this most interesting scene. The Lord Lieutenant was obliged
to return at once to the capital. He therefore left, and posted that
night to Killarney, and the next day returned by special train to
Dublin, leaving the ships to complete the work so happily begun.
The landing of the cable took place on Wednesday, the fifth of August,
near the hour of sunset. As it was too late to proceed that evening, the
ships remained at anchor till the morning. They got under weigh at an
early hour, but were soon checked by an accident which detained them
another day. Before they had gone five miles, the heavy shore end of the
cable caught in the machinery and parted. The Niagara put back, and the
cable was "underrun" the whole distance. At length the end was lifted
out of the water and spliced to the gigantic coil, and as it dropped
safely to the bottom of the sea, the mighty ship began to stir. At first
she moved very slowly, not more than two miles an hour, to avoid the
danger of accident; but the feeling that they were at last away was
itself a relief. The ships were all in sight, and so near that they
could hear each other's bells. The Niagara, as if knowing that she was
bound for the land out of whose forests she came, bowed her head to the
waves, as her prow was turned toward her native shores.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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