<h3><SPAN name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></SPAN>CHAPTER XIX<br/><br/> ATLANTIC CABLE SYSTEMS OF TO-DAY</h3>
<div class="blockquot"><p class="c">Connecting Links—Tariff—Revenue</p>
</div>
<p>A<small>S</small> a part of the union between the old world and the new, there are
altogether fifteen cables now working across the North Atlantic Ocean
(<SPAN href="#ill_45">see Fig. 45</SPAN>), such as are usually termed “Atlantic cables.” Some of the
Atlantic companies have special cables of their own from the landing
place on the coast of Ireland to points on the Continental coasts. The
figure on page 221 suggests one of the difficulties any wireless system
would have to contend with in attempting at transatlantic telegraphy on
a commercial basis.<SPAN name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</SPAN> Some of<span class="pgnum"><SPAN name="page_220" id="page_220"></SPAN>{220}</span> these cables at each end of the
corresponding main section contain more than one insulated conductor.</p>
<p><i>Tariff.</i>—In the early pioneer days of ocean telegraphy the Atlantic
Telegraph Company started with a minimum tariff of £20 for twenty words,
and £1 for each additional word. This was first reduced to £10 for
twenty words, and was further altered later on to £5 for ten words.
After this it stood for a long time at a minimum of 30s. for ten words
of five letters each. Subsequently, in 1867, the Anglo-American Company
tried a word-rate of £1 for the 1865 and 1866 Atlantic cables; but it
was not until 1872 that Mr. Henry Weaver, their able manager, first
instituted a regular word-rate system (without any minimum) of 4s. per
word. At the present time (1903), thanks to competition, to technical
improvements in the plant, and increased traffic—bringing in its train
those economies in the working which are always possible in a larger
scale of operation—the rate stands at 1s. a word with all the Atlantic
companies. Some day we may, perhaps, see a sixpenny transatlantic tariff
in permanent force.</p>
<p><SPAN name="ill_45" id="ill_45"></SPAN></p>
<p class="figcenter">
<SPAN href="images/ill_pg_221_lg.jpg">
<br/>
<ANTIMG class="enlargeimage" src="images/enlarge-image.jpg" alt="" width-obs="18" height-obs="14" />
<br/>
<ANTIMG src="images/ill_pg_221_sml.jpg" width-obs="448" height-obs="240" alt="Fig. 45.—Atlantic Cable Systems, 1903." /></SPAN>
<br/>
<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig.</span> 45.—Atlantic Cable Systems, 1903.</span></p>
<p><i>Revenue.</i>—The fifteen Atlantic cables now in use represent a total
capital of well over £20,000,000 sterling. A knowledge of the profits
derived from each system is not readily arrived at; but<span class="pgnum"><SPAN name="page_221" id="page_221"></SPAN>{221}</span><SPAN name="page_222" id="page_222"></SPAN> from a
comparison of the traffic receipts or “money returns” of the oldest
existing Atlantic company at different periods, we are bound to conclude
that the “takings” are, roughly speaking, very much the same now as they
were twenty-five years ago. This is explainable by the fact that,
although the number of messages now passing is much greater, the
reduction of the rate (with the ever-increasing competition of rival
lines) just about cancels the advantage, so far as receipts are
concerned. Roughly speaking, however, the annual gross traffic on
transatlantic telegraphy stands at about £1,200,000, divided among two
English companies, two American, one French, and one German company.
Both the two latter are materially subsidized by their respective
Governments, who now foresee the desirability of being independent of
cables under English control.</p>
<div class="footnotes"><h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></SPAN> For particulars regarding preelectrical telegraphy and
previous researches in electrotelegraphy, the reader is referred to A
History of Telegraphy to the year 1837, by J. J. Fahie, M.I.E.E. (E. and
F. N. Spon, 1884).</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></SPAN> A certain knowledge regarding electric and magnetic science
has to be assumed here; and, for further particulars on this subject,
the reader is referred to another volume of this series, The Story of
Electricity, by John Munro.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></SPAN> Submarine Telegraphs: Their History, Construction, and
Working, by Charles Bright, F.R.S.E., A.M. Inst. C.E., M.I.E.E. (London:
Crosby Lockwood & Son, 1898.)</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></SPAN> B.W.G.—Birmingham Wire Gage.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></SPAN> It was gravely suggested by a prominent naval officer to
thread the line through old cannonades lying idle, at Portsmouth harbor.
This notion was not taken up; but a light chain twined round the
insulated conductor throughout its length would certainly have served
the purpose better than the leaden weights, inasmuch as it would have
protected the line from chafing, besides being less liable to damage the
core.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></SPAN> Some critics had actually supposed that the method of
signaling was that of <i>pulling</i> the wire after the manner of mechanical
house-bells; and were at pains to point out that the bottom of the
channel was too rough for that.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></SPAN> For further particulars, see the Life Story of Sir Charles
Tilston Bright. (London: Archibald Constable & Co., 1898.)</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></SPAN> It will be readily understood that without this weight, the
line would not for certain descend to the bottom—and certainly not in a
straight line—in any considerable depths. On the other hand, it would
be impossible to recover an effective weight without great risk of
breaking the line. For this reason the weight is abandoned, and a
considerable number may be found at the bottom of the sea in every
quarter of the globe.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></SPAN> These live near the surface of the ocean in myriads upon
myriads, incessantly sinking to the bottom as their short life is ended.
Thus, in the course of ages, there grows constantly upward a formation
similar to the chalk cliffs of England, which contain the identical
shells, deposited when this country was submerged far below sea-level
thousands of years ago.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></SPAN> In the present day, however, soundings are taken at
intervals of about ten miles along the proposed route, and even then
submarine hills and valleys are frequently encountered. This is effected
by means of the Thomson steam sounding-apparatus, the great feature of
which is a fine steel wire (the same as that in the treble notes of a
piano) in place of a hempen line of enormous bulk. Nowadays, taking a
sounding in the Atlantic occupies well under an hour of time, where by
the old method it took at least six hours.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></SPAN> The full particulars of the agreement with the English
Government were embodied in a letter from the Treasury (see Life Story
of Sir Charles Bright) and form instructive reading even at the present
time.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></SPAN> Submarine Telegraphs.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></SPAN> The Pirate, p. 2.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></SPAN> Valentia is the Irish terminus of several of the present
Atlantic lines.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></SPAN> N.M.—Nautical miles.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></SPAN> Though such a core would have been a great novelty at the
time, it closely approximates to present-day practise.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></SPAN> Mins. Proc. Inst. C. E., vol. xvi.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></SPAN> An Atlantic cable of the present day runs into about half
a million sterling. Gutta-percha was, in those days, less scarce; on the
other hand, its manufacture was more of a novelty, and there was
comparatively little competition in cable-making.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></SPAN> Professor Morse (who held a sort of watching brief for the
United States Government) also took passage, but had to retire to his
berth as soon as the elements asserted themselves, and was scarcely
visible again till all was over.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></SPAN> The sheaves had several grooves which the cable fitted
into in its passage. Though possessing some merits, this plan was never
again adopted, owing partly to the above risk.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></SPAN> This was owing to the two halves of the cable being made
at different factories, without any communication passing between them
on the subject.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></SPAN> This apparatus first gained its name from the nature of
the part it plays in machinery, being similar to that of a human
jockey.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></SPAN> So called on account of the form of grooving adopted for
taking the under side of the table.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></SPAN> Submarine Telegraphs.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></SPAN> It is partly for this reason that so full an account is
given here.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></SPAN> In those days all such instruments were spoken of as
galvanometers, no matter for what purpose they were employed. Moreover,
this instrument was also used sometimes for testing. That which goes by
the name of the marine galvanometer in the present day was not invented
by Lord Kelvin till some years later.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></SPAN> This splice-frame was an ingenious arrangement for
neutralizing the untwisting tendency of two opposite lays when spliced
together, but is never required in present-day practise.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></SPAN> This, of course, did not in any way come as a surprise,
for the length of cable employed for these experiments had long since
been condemned as imperfect.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></SPAN> And so it is sometimes with telegraph-ships—as regards
the dead weight of cable—even in the present day, when compared with
the risks run by ordinary seagoing vessels.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></SPAN> When these part to any extent a ship is always considered
in a dangerous condition.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></SPAN> By subsequent tests it was clear that at any rate the
cable remaining on board was perfect. But after com paring notes with
the Niagara, a strong belief was held that the cable probably parted at
the bottom.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></SPAN> This was from the last turn in the coil, and subsequently
it was discovered that owing to the disturbance in the flooring of the
tank during the storm, the cable had been damaged here.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></SPAN> Life-Story of Sir Charles Bright.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></SPAN> Though bearing this somewhat cumbersome and elaborate
title, this instrument was practically nothing more nor less than an
ordinary “detector,” its capacity for actually measuring the electric
current being of an extremely limited character.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></SPAN> This was some of the cable damaged during the storm, like
that which had been broken at the end of the previous attempt. The
bottom of the hold here was found afterward to be in a very disordered
state.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></SPAN> Later on it was made clear that this mysterious temporary
want of continuity, accompanied by an apparent variation in the
insulation, was due to a defect in the more or less inconstant
sand-battery used aboard the latter vessel.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></SPAN> It subsequently transpired that the trouble had been due
to a fault in the Niagara’s ward-room coil. As soon as the electricians
discovered this, and had it cut out, all went smoothly again.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></SPAN> The amount of slack paid out had already been almost
ruinous. Luckily its continuance was not necessary, or it would have
been impossible to reach Ireland with the cable on board.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></SPAN> The Times, Wednesday, August 11, 1858.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></SPAN> This spot had been selected on account of its seclusion
from prevailing winds, and owing to the shelter it afforded from
drifting icebergs.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></SPAN> Engineer’s log, U.S.N.S. Niagara.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></SPAN> The Times, second edition, August 5th, 1858.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></SPAN> The Times, August 6, 1858.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></SPAN> Daily News, August 20, 1858.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></SPAN> “The Life-Story of Sir Charles Bright,” <i>ibid.</i></p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></SPAN> The Times, August 6, 1858.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></SPAN> Submarine Telegraphs.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></SPAN> In his work on the Electric Telegraph, the late Mr. Robert
Sabine said: “At the date of the first Atlantic cable, the engineering
department was far ahead of the electrical. The cable was successfully
laid—mechanically good, but electrically bad.” Its electrical failure
was, of course, bound to spell commercial failure, no matter how great
its success as an engineering feat.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></SPAN> In his presidential address to the Institution of
Electrical Engineers in 1889, Lord Kelvin (the Professor Thomson
referred to in these pages) said: “The first Atlantic cable gave me the
happiness and privilege of meeting and working with the late Sir Charles
Bright. He was the engineer of this great undertaking—full of vigor,
full of enthusiasm. We were shipmates on the Agamemnon on the
ever-memorable expedition of 1858, during which we were out of sight of
land for thirty-three days. To Sir C. Bright’s vigor, earnestness, and
enthusiasm was due the successful laying of the cable. We must always
feel deeply indebted to our late colleague as a pioneer in that great
work, when other engineers would not look at it, and thought it
absolutely impracticable.”</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></SPAN> Encyclopædia Britannica, 8th edition, 1860. Article on The
Electric Telegraph, by Prof. W. Thomson, F.R.S.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></SPAN> Mr. Croskey also subsequently found the bulk of the
capital for the exploring expeditions.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></SPAN> Later Admiral Sir Leopold M’Clintock, K.C.B., LL.D.,
F.R.S.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></SPAN> Now Sir Allen Young, C. B.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></SPAN> The reproduction given here is from a photograph kindly
lent by Sir Allen Young.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></SPAN> In consolidating the texture of the gutta-percha, pressure
increases its electrical resistance, unless a flaw exists such as would
then be immediately brought to light.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></SPAN> See Submarine Telegraphs.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></SPAN> Mr. Field compassed land and sea incessantly for the
purpose of agitating the subject. He is said to have crossed the
Atlantic altogether sixty-four times—suffering from sea sickness on
each occasion—in connection with this great enterprise in which he
formed so prominent a figure.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></SPAN> Afterward Sir John Pender, G.C.M.G., M.P.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></SPAN> The increased breaking strain here afforded over that of
the first Atlantic line was partly due to the great improvement made in
the manufacture of iron wire during the interval.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></SPAN> Experience has since taught us, however, that such a type
lacks durability, owing to the rapid decay of the hemp between the iron
wires and the sea.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></SPAN> The Great Eastern, in point of size, was only a little
before her time. In the present day, with improved engines, she could be
usefully and profitably employed, had she not been broken up.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></SPAN> Afterward the able manager of the Eastern Telegraph
Company.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></SPAN> Life-Story of Sir C. T. Bright.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></SPAN> At a later period—after both the 1865 and 1866 cables
were in working order—Mr. Collett sent a message from Newfoundland to
Valentia with a battery composed of a copper percussion-cap and a small
strip of zinc, which were excited by a drop of acidulated water—the
bulk of a tear only.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></SPAN> This is situated on the opposite side of Trinity Bay to
Bull Arm, where the 1858 cable had been landed, and not so far up. It
was supposed to be even more protected than Bull Arm, from which it is
some eighteen miles distant.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></SPAN> Submarine Telegraphs.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></SPAN> This is, of course, nowadays quite an ordinary occurrence,
and by means of wireless telegraphy likely to become still more so.
Then, however, it was a complete novelty.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></SPAN> Mr. Clark borrowed the thimble—which was a very small
one—from Miss Fitzgerald, the daughter of the Knight of Kerry, living
at Valentia.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></SPAN> Afterward the first Earl of Iddesleigh, G.C.B.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></SPAN> This enterprise, although mainly on behalf of France and
the rest of the European continent, was principally advanced by
financiers in England; the working of the cable was also chiefly under
British direction and management.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></SPAN> Afterward, in 1873, merged with its cable into the
Anglo-American Telegraph Company and its system.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></SPAN> This company had just had two fresh cables laid for them
(1873 and 1874) by the Telegraph Construction Company with some of their
usual staff. The laying of the 1874 Atlantic was the last piece of
telegraph work performed by the Great Eastern. She has since been broken
up, after being employed, among other things, as a sort of variety show.
New cables were first rendered necessary—according to the joint-purse
agreement previously referred to—by the final breakdown, after several
repairs, of the 1866 cable in 1872. Later on (in 1877) the 1865 also
succumbed, and another “Anglo” cable was laid by the same contractors in
1880. The Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company laid this 1880
cable without any hitch or stoppage within the surprisingly short space
of twelve days, the record up to date in Atlantic cable-laying.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></SPAN> Thus the Atlantic cable of to-day may be credited with an
“output” of 100 words a minute as compared with a single word in the
same period, such as was at first obtained in the pioneer days of one
cable worked by one company.</p>
</div>
<div class="footnote"><p><SPAN name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></SPAN><SPAN href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></SPAN> Wireless telegraphy is at present a comparatively slow
working affair; and if it is to successfully compete with our Atlantic
cables, this means a great multiplication of transatlantic circuits all
more or less close together, and, in consequence, all more or less
liable to interfere with each other under existing conditions. Probably,
however, any new company formed for the purposes of telegraphic
communication between different countries would not confine
itself—either in name or practise—to cables, but would also cultivate
the “wireless” system of telegraphy.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="figcenter">
<ANTIMG src="images/ill_back.jpg" width-obs="316" height-obs="500" alt="backcover" title="" /></p>
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