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sudden night; a tornado passes. Or it is midnight, which suddenly becomes bright as day; the polar lights are in the heavens. Whirlwinds in opposite ways, and in a sort of hideous dance, a stamping of the storm upon the waters. A cloud, overburdened, opens and falls to earth. Other clouds, filled with red light, flash and roar, then frown again ominously. Emptied of their lightnings, they are but as spent brands. Pentup rains dissolve in mists. Yonder sea appears a fiery furnace in which the rains are falling; flames seem to issue from the waves. The white gleam of the ocean under the shower is reflected to marvellous distances. The different masses transform themselves into uncouth shapes. Monstrous whirlpools make strange hollows in the sky. The vapors revolve, the waves spin, the giddy naiads roll; sea and sky are level; noises, as cries of despair, are in the air.

Great sheaves of shadow and darkness are gathered up, trembling in the far depths of the sky. At times there is a convulsion. The rumor becomes a tumult, as the wave becomes surge. The horizon, a confused mass of strata, oscillating ceaselessly, murmurs in a continual undertone. Strange and sudden outbursts break through the monotony. Cold airs rush forth, succeeded by warm blasts. The trepidation of the sea betokens anxious expectation, agony, terror profound.

Suddenly the hurricane comes down like a wild beast to drink the ocean-a monstrous draught-the water rises to the invisible mouth; a mound of water is formed; the swell increases and the water-spout appears; the Prester of the ancients, stalactite above, stalagmite below; a whirling, double-inverted cone; a point in equilibrium upon another, the embrace of two mountains-a mountain of foam ascending, a mountain of vapor descending-the terrible coition of the cloud and the wave. Like the column in Holy Writ, the water-spout is dark by day and luminous by night. In its presence the thunder itself is silent, and seems cowed.

The vast commotion of those solitudes has its gamut, a terrible crescendo. There is the gust, the gale, the tempest, the whirlwind, the waterspout, the seven chords of the lyre of the winds, the seven notes of the firmament. The heavens are a clear space, the sea a vast round; but a breath passes, they have vanished, and all is fury and wild confusion. Such are these inhospitable realms.

The winds rush, fly, swoop down, die out, and commence again; hover above, whistle, roar, and smile; frenzied, wanton, unbridled, or sinking at ease on the raging waves. Their howlings have a harmony of their own. They make all the heavens sonorous. They blow in the cloud as in a trumpet; they sing through the infinite space with the mingled tones of clarions, horns, bugles, and trumpets-a sort of Promethean fanfare. Such was the music of ancient Pan. Their harmonies are terrible. They have a colossal joy in the darkness. They drive and disperse great ships. Night and day, in all seasons, from the tropics to the poles, there

is no truce; sounding their fatal trumpet through the tangled thickets of the clouds and waves, they pursue the grim chase of vessels in distress. They have their packs of bloodhounds, and take their pleasure setting them to bark among the rocks and billows. They huddle the clouds together, and drive them diverse. They mould and knead the supple waters as with a million hands.

The water is supple because it is incompressible. It slips away without effort. Borne down on one side, it escapes on the other. It is thus that waters become waves, and that the billows are a token of their liberty.

WEL

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.*

ELL may the story of the Atlantic Telegraph be termed the romance of modern enterprise. Had it been written as pure fiction it would have been ridiculed as utterly impossible, and its hero would have been looked upon as a most exaggerated conception. The perseverance and moral courage of Mr. Field, the projector, are unequalled in history by any examples save those of Columbus and Galileo; with these his name deserves to be joined as a benefactor of his race.

The project of laying a telegraph under the ocean from Europe to America grew out of the efforts of Mr. F. N. Gisborne to connect St. John's, Newfoundland, with the continent by means of a land telegraph over the island and a swift line of steamers plying across the gulf. Owing to breach of contract by this gentleman's company, his designs failed. In 1854 he came to New York, where he met Mr. Cyrus W. Field, to whom he communicated his plans. At first Mr. Field was unwilling to take any part with him, but afterwards, conceiving the possibility of connecting the two continents, he entertained the project more favorably. Having consulted Prof. Morse and Lieut. Maury, and received encouraging answers, he determined to lay the Atlantic Telegraph. His plan was to gain as coadjutors, ten capitalists, who among themselves could readily raise one million of dollars to be expended in the effort. He succeeded in securing four beside himself. All were men of great wealth, Peter Cooper, Moses Taylor, Chandler White, and Marshall O. Roberts. These determined to prosecute the matter without further assistance, and in the fall Mr. Field, D. D. Field, legal adviser of the new company, and Mr. Chandler White went to Newfoundland, to obtain a charter for the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraphic Company. These gentlemen were received with great cordiality by the governor, who, by advice of the council, immediately represented the matter favorably to the Legislature, then in

HISTORY OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. By Henry M. Field, D.D. New York: Scribner & Co. 12mo, pp. 870. $1.75.

session. This body guaranteed £50,000 in bonds of the company, and granted it fifty square miles of land, with the exclusive privilege for fifty years of laying cables on that portion of the island.

This secured, the company set to work. Their first labor was to construct across the island, from St. John's to Cape Ray, a bridle path, eight feet in width, along which to erect the overland line of telegraph. This was no light matter. No roads existed, the interior of the island was uninhabited, and, as far as had been explored, consisted only of morasses and jungles. But the enthusiasm of the company admitted of no obstacles. Six hundred men were immediately employed, and in less than two years four hundred miles of road were constructed. We have not the space, even if we possessed the ability, to give a just account of this vast work. The difficulties and dangers overcome by the engineers and laborers are surpassed by no modern effort except the Darien expedition.

In the meantime, a submarine cable had been manufactured to connect the island and mainland. In August, 1855, it arrived at Cape Ray, and on the 7th of August the incorporators, with a large party of friends, sailed from New York in the James Adger to see the successsful completion of the first part. But the company was ignorant of the difficulties before them. The shore line of the cable was fastened, and the vesssel containing the coils set out for the mainland. When forty miles had been paid out a fearful storm arose, and, after a few hours, it was necessary to cut the cable to save the vessel. The James Adger returned to New York. Some members of the company favored a dissolution, but others insisted upon another effort. Mr. C. W. Field was sent to Europe; a new cable was constructed and successfully laid in 1856.

Thus far all was success; but the million of dollars, originally regarded as sufficient to cover all expenditures, was wholly spent. The company felt unwilling to shoulder the remaining responsibility, and Mr. Field was sent to England to awaken public interest there. At first his reception was cold, but the experiments of Profs. Morse, Thomson, and Fairbairn proved the feasibility of working a cable two thousand miles long, and the soundings by Lieut. Berryman had proved the existence of an extensive plateau on the bed of the ocean along the proposed route. Public opinion changed. The government became interested, and the Atlantic Telegraph Company was formed, with a capital of £350,000 divided into three hundred and fifty shares of £1,000 each. Of these all were taken in Great Britain, excepting eighty-eight which were taken and paid for by Mr. Field, who thereby gave evidence of his confidence in the undertaking. To this company the charter of the New York, Newfoundland and London Company was made over.

Being now in working order, the company, in December, 1856, contracted for the manufacture of the cable, one-half being given to Messrs. Glass, Elliott & Co., of London, and the other half to Messrs. R. S. Newall

& Co., of Liverpool, the whole to be completed by the first of June following, and ready to be submerged in the sea.

In the meantime the British public had viewed the project with the utmost favor. They had granted an annual subsidy of £14,000, and had promised two of the largest vessels in the navy to aid in laying the cable. Immediately upon his return to America, Mr. Field went to Washington, where he laid the matter before the authorities, seeking their approval. Through Mr. Seward a bill, offering privileges similar to those granted by the British Government, was presented to Congress. Contrary to the expectations of its friends, it met with extreme opposition, and passed by a majority of one. With great difficulty it was worked through the House, and was signed by President Pierce on the day preceding his political death. An annual subsidy of $70,000 and the use of the two largest vessels in the navy were granted.

Every thing was now satisfactorily arranged. The noble vessels, Niag ara and Susquehanna, were designated from the American navy; the Agamemnon and Leopard, from the British navy. Mr. Field was recalled to Europe, where, as general manager of the new company, his services were required. On the 22d day of June, the Niagara and Agamemnon began to stow away the cable, each taking half, and so heartily did the work progress that in about three weeks thirteen hundred miles of the coil were safely stowed in each vessel. The event was duly celebrated by a gigantic festival given to the sailors and workmen, with their wives; while the officers of the vessels were regaled at a banquet prepared by the stockholders.

The labor and feasting being ended, the Niagara and Susquehanna left Liverpool the latter part of July, and steamed down to Queenstown, where they were joined by the Agamemnon and Leopard. Here the cable on the two ships was joined and tested from end to end, and found perfect. This inspired fresh hopes for the success of the expedition, and in high spirits the vessels bore away for the harbor of Valentia. Contrary to the advice of the engineers, it was determined to lay the whole cable in a continuous line from Valentia Bay to Newfoundland. The Niagara was to lay the first half from Ireland to the middle of the ocean, where the end would then be joined to the other half on the Agamemnon, which was to lay on to Newfoundland.

At Valentia, as at Liverpool, there was a time of feasting which continued for several days. On Wednesday, August 5th, the shore end was landed by the American sailors from the Niagara, and was received with the greatest enthusiasm, the Lord-Lieutenant and other nobles seizing the rope and helping to drag it on shore. On the morning of the 7th the vessels set sail, but were checked by an accident which detained them another day. Before they had gone five miles the heavy shore end became entangled in the machinery and parted. It was successfully underrun and

spliced, when the vessels again moved. For four days all went well, but on Monday night the cable ceased to work. The electricians gave it up; the engineers were about to cut it and wind it, when the current returned. Joy again prevailed over the ship, and a few crept to their couches; but before morning these hopes were finally destroyed. The cable, it seems, was running out too freely, probably because of a powerful undercurrent. To check the waste, the engineer applied the brakes and stopped the machine. A heavy strain upon the cable in the water resulted; the ship was in the trough of the sea; as she rose the pressure was too great, and the cable parted.

On the following morning a consultation was held. It was found that 300 miles had been paid out, and that only 1,847 miles remained. This was adjudged insufficient to warrant a continuation of the enterprise, and it was abandoned. Mr. Field hastened to London, there to meet the directors. Though disappointed, these men were not disheartened, and they felt no disposition to abandon the scheme. They had learned the defects of their machinery, and also the difficulties of the project. They set themselves to prepare against these, and determined to make a second expedition in the following year.

The lost portion of the cable cost the company £100,000. But, undismayed, the directors gave orders for the construction of seven hundred miles of new cable, that in case of a similar disaster there might be a surplus, and the enterprise need not be again suspended. The American and British governments again promised their assistance, and Mr. Everett, chief-engineer of the Niagara, invented a new paying-out machine, whose brakes were less cumbrous and more regular in their movements than those employed on the first expedition. The cable was reshipped at Plymouth. This process occupied the whole of April and part of May, the line being much longer than before. The cable was now tested. It was perfect, and Mr. Everett's paying-out apparatus worked admirably.

On June 10th, 1858, the vessels sailed from Plymouth. For three days the weather was excellent, but on the 13th the wind began to blow. From this time until the 20th the storm steadily increased in fury. On the 20th, the coil on board the Agamemnon shifted, and the vessel was in danger of foundering. But all things have an end, and on Friday, the 25th, the vessels met in mid-ocean, the cable was spliced, and they separated, the Niagara for Europe, the Agamemnon for America. Before the steamers had gone three miles the cable broke, having become entangled in the machinery on the Niagara. A splice was again effected. "Forty miles had gone," says a writer on the Agamemnon, "when suddenly Prof. Thomson came on deck and announced a total break of continuity: the cable had parted, and, as was believed at the time, from the Niagara." In a moment a blue light and signal gun from the Valorous, consort of the Niagara, showed a similar belief on that vessel. When the

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