The vessels left England in the midst of general rejoicings, and arrived
at the rendezvous at the proper time. Thence they sailed for the harbor
of Valentia, which was to be the eastern terminus of the line and the
starting point of the expedition. They were greeted every-where with
enthusiasm, and the greatest confidence in the success of the
enterprise was manifested by those on board. Mr. Field, Professor Morse,
and several other officers of the company were on board the "Niagara,"
as that ship was to conduct the first part of the sinking of the cable.

At length all was in readiness. The shore end of the cable was landed
and made fast on Wednesday afternoon, the 5th of August, and the next
morning the fleet stood out to sea. "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 are
at last away is itself a relief. The ships are all in sight, and so near
that they can hear each other's bells. The 'Niagara,' as if knowing that
she is bound for the land out of whose forests she came, bends her head
to the waves, as her prow is turned toward her native shores.

"Slowly passed the hours of that day. But all went well, and the ships
were moving out into the broad Atlantic. At length the sun went down in
the west, and stars came out on the face of the deep. But no man slept.
A thousand eyes were watching a great experiment, as those who have a
personal interest in the issue. All through that night, and through the
anxious days and nights that followed, there was a feeling in every soul
on board as if a friend in the cabin were at the turning-point of life
or death, and they were watching beside him. There was a strange,
unnatural silence in the ship. Men paced the deck with soft and muffled
tread, speaking only in whispers, as if a loud voice or a heavy footfall
might snap the vital cord. So much had they grown to feel for the
enterprise, that the cable seemed to them like a human creature, on
whose fate they hung, as if it were to decide their own destiny.

"There are some who will never forget that first night at sea. Perhaps
the reaction from the excitement on shore made the impression the
deeper. What strange thoughts came to them as they stood on the deck and
watched that mysterious cord disappearing in the darkness, and gliding
to its ocean bed! There are certain moments in life when every thing
comes back upon us--when the events of years seem crowded into an hour.
What memories came up in those long night hours! How many on board that
ship thought of homes beyond the sea, of absent ones, of the distant and
the dead! Such thoughts, mingling with those suggested by the scene
around, added to the solemnity of the hour, had left an impression which
can never be forgotten.

"But with the work in hand all is going on well. There are vigilant eyes
on deck. Mr. Bright, the engineer of the company, is there, and Mr.
Everett, Mr. De Sauty, the electrician, and Professor Morse. The
paying-out machinery does its work, and though it makes a constant
rumble in the ship, that dull, heavy sound is music to their ears, as it
tells them that all is well. If one should drop to sleep, and wake up at
night, he has only to hear the sound of 'the old coffee-mill,' and his
fears are relieved, and he goes to sleep again."

Saturday and Sunday passed away without accident, but on Monday, when
two hundred miles at sea, in deep water, and safely beyond the great
submarine mountain, the electrical continuity was suddenly lost. This
interruption amazed and perplexed all on board, but no one was able to
remedy it, or to account for it satisfactorily. It lasted for two hours,
and then, just as the order was about to be given to cut the cable and
endeavor to wind it in, it came back as suddenly and mysteriously as it
had disappeared. The greatest delight was now manifested by all on
board. "You could see," says the correspondent of the London _Times_,
"the tears of joy standing in the eyes of some as they almost cried for
joy, and told their mess-mates that it was all right."

That night, however, the expedition came to grief. The cable was running
out freely at the rate of six miles per hour, while the ship was making
only four. This was supposed to be owing to a powerful undercurrent. To
check this waste of the cable the engineer applied the brakes firmly,
which at once stopped the machine. The effect was to bring a heavy
strain on the cable that was in the water. The stern of the ship was
down in the trough of the sea, and as it rose upward on the swell, the
pressure was too great, and the cable parted. The alarm was at once
given, and the greatest consternation and grief prevailed on board. "It
made all hands of us through the day," says Captain Hudson, "like a
household or family which had lost their dearest friend, for officers
and men had been deeply interested in the success of the enterprise."

The fleet immediately put about and returned to England, where Mr. Field
at once informed the directors of the extent of the disaster. The
remaining portions of the cable were landed and stored safely away, and
the vessels were returned to their respective Governments. Orders were
given for the manufacture of seven hundred miles of cable to replace the
portion which had been lost, and to allow for waste in paying it out,
and the most energetic preparations were made for another attempt.

Being satisfied that the machine used for paying out the cable was
defective, Mr. Field went to Washington and procured from the Navy
Department the services of Mr. Wm. E. Everett, the chief engineer of the
"Niagara," stating to that gentleman the necessity for a new machine,
and urging him to invent it. This Mr. Everett succeeded in doing during
the winter. His machine was regarded as a great improvement on that
which had been used on the "Niagara." "It was much smaller and lighter.
It would take up only about one third as much room on the deck, and had
only one fourth the weight of the old machine. Its construction was much
more simple. Instead of four heavy wheels, it had but two, and these
were made to revolve with ease, and without danger of sudden check, by
the application of what were known as self-releasing brakes. These were
the invention of Mr. Appold, of London, a gentleman of fortune, but with
a strong taste for mechanics, which led him to spend his time and wealth
in exercising his mechanical ingenuity. These brakes were so adjusted as
to bear only a certain strain, when they released themselves. This
ingenious contrivance was applied by Mr. Everett to the paying-out
machinery. The strength of the cable was such that it would not break
except under a pressure of a little over three tons. The machinery was
so adjusted that not more than half that strain could possibly come upon
the cable, when the brakes would relax their grasp, the wheels revolve
easily, and the cable run out into the sea 'at its own sweet will.' The
paying-out machine, therefore, we are far from claiming as wholly an
American invention. This part of the mechanism was English. The merit of
Mr. Everett lay in the skill with which he adapted it to the laying of
the Atlantic cable, and in his great improvements of other parts of the
machinery. The whole construction, as it afterward stood upon the decks
of the 'Niagara' and the 'Agamemnon,' was the combined product of
English and American invention."

In January, 1858, the Board of Directors offered Mr. Field the sum of
five thousand dollars per annum if he would assume the post of general
manager of the company. He at once undertook the duties of the
position, but declined all compensation.

Every thing being in readiness for the second attempt at laying the
cable, the "Niagara" sailed from New York in March, 1858, to take on her
portion of the cable at Plymouth. The "Agamemnon" was again ordered to
assist in the undertaking, and the "Gorgon" was made her consort Mr.
Field had hoped that the "Susquehanna" would again be the consort of the
"Niagara," but a few days before the sailing of the fleet he was
officially informed that he could not have the ship, as she was then in
the West Indies, with the greater part of her crew down with the yellow
fever. This was a keen disappointment, as every arrangement had been
made with the expectation of having the assistance of the "Susquehanna."
It was too late to ask the Government at Washington for another ship,
and it was by no means certain that the request would be granted if
made. In this dilemma Mr. Field frankly stated his disappointment to the
Lords of the Admiralty of England, and asked for a ship to accompany the
"Niagara." He was informed that the English Government was at that
moment chartering vessels to convey troops to Malta, as it had not ships
enough of its own, and that it was doubtful whether it could contribute
a third ship to the expedition. Still, so greatly did the government
desire the success of the enterprise, that a little later on the same
day the "Valorous" was ordered to take the place of the "Susquehanna" in
the telegraph fleet. This generous assistance was all the more
praiseworthy, as it was given at a time when the need of England for
ships was very urgent.

After shipping the cable, the squadron sailed from Plymouth on the 29th
of May, 1868, for the Bay of Biscay, where the cable was subjected to
numerous and thorough tests, which demonstrated its strength and its
sensitiveness to the electric current. This accomplished, the vessels
returned to Plymouth.

"Among the matters of _personal_ solicitude and anxiety at this time,
next to the success of the expedition, was Mr. Field himself. He was
working with an activity which was unnatural--which could only be kept
up by great excitement, and which involved the most serious danger. The
strain on the man was more than the strain on the cable, and we were in
fear that both would break together. Often he had no sleep, except such
as he caught flying on the railway. Indeed, when we remonstrated, he
said he could rest better there than anywhere else, for then he was not
tormented with the thought of any thing undone. For the time being he
could do no more; and then, putting his head in the cushioned corner of
the carriage, he got an hour or two of broken sleep.

"Of this activity we had an instance while in Plymouth. The ships were
then lying in the Sound, only waiting orders from the Admiralty to go to
sea; but some business required one of the directors to go to Paris,
and, as usual, it fell upon him. He left on Sunday night, and went to
Bristol, and thence, by the first morning train, to London. Monday he
was busy all day, and that night went to Paris. Tuesday, another busy
day, and that night back to London. Wednesday, occupied every minute
till the departure of the Great Western train. That night back to
Plymouth. Thursday morning on board the 'Niagara,' and immediately the
squadron sailed."

The plan of operations this time was for the vessels to proceed to a
given point in mid-ocean, and there unite the two ends of the cable,
after which the "Niagara" should proceed toward Newfoundland and the
"Agamemnon" toward Ireland, and it was supposed that each vessel would
make land about the same time. This was believed to be a better plan
than the one pursued in the first expedition.

The squadron sailed from Plymouth on the 10th of June. The weather was
favorable for the first two or three clays of the voyage, but on the
13th a severe gale set in, which lasted for over a week, and came near
causing the "Agamemnon" to founder beneath her immense load, a portion
of which broke loose in her hold. All the vessels succeeded in
weathering the storm, however, and on the 25th reached the rendezvous in
mid-ocean. The next day the splice was made, and the ships set out for
their respective destinations. Before they had gone three miles the
machinery of the "Niagara" caught the cable and broke it. A second
splice was made, but when each ship had paid out about forty miles, the
electric current suddenly ceased. The cable was cut promptly, and the
two vessels at once returned to the rendezvous, where they rejoined each
other on the 28th. A comparison of the logs of the two ships "showed the
painful and mysterious fact that at the same second of time each vessel
discovered that a total fracture had taken place, at a distance of
certainly not less than ten miles from each ship, in fact, as well as can
be judged, at the bottom of the ocean." A third splice was made without
delay, and the two ships again set out for the opposite shores of the
Atlantic. This time about two hundred miles of the cable were
successfully laid, when it parted about twenty feet from the stern of
the "Agamemnon." The "Niagara," being unable to communicate with the
English frigate, bore away for Queenstown, where she was joined a few
days later by the "Agamemnon."

This second failure greatly disheartened the directors, and it required
all Mr. Field's persuasiveness to induce them to sanction another
attempt. Yet he prevailed, and, hastening from London to Queenstown,
sailed with the telegraph fleet on the third attempt to lay the cable,
leaving Queenstown on the 17th of July. The rendezvous was reached on
the 28th, and on the 29th the splice was made; and the "Niagara" and
"Agamemnon" parted company. This time the undertaking was successful.
The cable was laid across the Atlantic, the "Niagara" reaching Trinity
Bay, Newfoundland, on the 5th of August, and the "Agamemnon" arriving
at Valentia, Ireland, a few hours later on the same day. Signals were
sent across the entire length of the line, from shore to shore, with
ease and rapidity, and nothing occurred to mar the success of the mighty
undertaking.

The successful laying of the cable was hailed with the liveliest joy on
both sides of the Atlantic, and those who had participated in it were
regarded as heroes. But great as was the achievement, it was not
destined to be a lasting success. After working for four weeks, the
electric current suddenly ceased on the 1st of September. It never
worked _perfectly_ at any period of its existence, but it did transmit a
number of messages with intelligibleness, and thus put an end to all
doubt in the minds of the scientific men of the expedition of the
feasibility of laying a successful line across the ocean.

The public generally and the directors of the company were greatly
disappointed, and many of-the latter and nearly all of the former
declared that all such attempts must of necessity fail. Some persons
even went so far as to avow their belief that the statements as to the
successful transmission of signals over the wire were false; but the
proofs that the wire did work properly for awhile are too strong to
allow us to accord the slightest weight to this disbelief. But whether
signals had passed over the wire or not, there could be no doubt that
the cable had ceased to respond to the efforts of the electricians, and
was a total failure, and the discouragement of nearly every one
connected with it was most profound.

Mr. Field and one or two others were the only persons who retained the
slightest confidence in the enterprise, and it was clear to them that
any further effort to secure the aid of private capital would be useless
just then. An appeal was made to the British Government. It was urged
that the work was too great to be undertaken by private capital alone,
and that, since it was to be more of a public than a private nature, it
was but just that the Government should undertake it. The company asked
the Government to guarantee the interest on a certain amount of stock,
even if the second attempt should not prove a complete success. The
failure of the Red Sea cable, to which the British Government had given
an unconditional guarantee, had just occurred, and had caused a
considerable loss to the treasury, and the Government was not willing to
assume another such risk. Anxious, however, for the success of the
Atlantic telegraph, it increased its subsidy from fourteen thousand to
twenty thousand pounds, and agreed to guarantee eight per cent, on six
hundred thousand pounds of new capital for twenty-five years, upon the
single condition that the cable should be made to work successfully.

This was not all, however. The Government caused further soundings to be
made off the coast of Ireland, which effectually dispelled all the fears
which had been entertained of a submarine mountain which would prove an
impassable barrier in the path of an ocean telegraph. In addition to
this, it caused the organization of a board of distinguished scientific
men for the purpose of determining all the difficult problems of
submarine telegraphy. This board met in 1859, and sat two years. The
result of its experiments and investigations was a declaration, signed
by the members, that a cable properly made, "and paid into the ocean
with the most improved machinery, possesses every prospect of not only
being successfully laid in the first instance, but may reasonably be
relied upon to continue many years in an efficient-state for the
transmission of signals."

Meanwhile, Mr. Field labored energetically to revive the company. The
war which had broken out in the United States brought home to our
Government the urgent need of telegraphic communication with Europe, and
Mr. Field had no difficulty in obtaining from the President an assurance
that this Government would be most happy to join with Great Britain in
promoting this great international work. He addressed meetings of
merchants in various American cities, and displayed the greatest energy
in his efforts to enlist the aid of American capital. Very little was
accomplished, however, until 1863. By this time the success of the lines
in the Mediterranean and in the Persian Gulf had demonstrated the
practicability of long submarine telegraphs, and the public confidence
in the attempt had been revived to such an extent that the directors
ventured to call for proposals for the manufacture of a cable. Seventeen
offers were made, from which that of Messrs. Glass, Elliott & Co., of
London, was selected. Mr. Field now renewed his indomitable efforts, and
in a few months the new capital of six hundred thousand pounds was
subscribed, Messrs. Glass, Elliott &, Co. taking three hundred and
fifteen thousand pounds, besides one hundred thousand pounds in bonds.
This was accomplished in 1864, and work on the cable was immediately
begun. The cable now adopted was very different from, and much more
sensitive than, those which had been used before. It was heavier, and
less liable to be injured by the water.

The "Great Eastern" steamship, the greatest wonder of naval
architecture, was at this time advertised for sale, and it occurred to
several of the gentlemen interested in the telegraph company that she
was the best vessel for laying the cable that could be found. They at
once organized themselves into a company, purchased the ship, and fitted
her up for that service. They were fortunate in securing the services of
Captain James Anderson, and placing him in charge of her, sent her to
Sheerness, where the cable was sent down to her in lighters from the
factory at Greenwich. When the cable was on board, and all the other
arrangements had been completed, the big ship left the Thames and sailed
for Valentia harbor.

The point of landing had been changed from Valentia harbor, five or six
miles, to Foilhommerum Bay. On the 23d of July, 1865, the shore end was
connected with the cable on board the ship, and the voyage was begun. It
would be interesting to follow the huge steamer on this remarkable
voyage, and to relate to the reader the almost marvelous manner in which
faults were detected in the line hundreds of miles from the shore, and
how the cable was successfully hauled in and the damage repaired. All
went well until twelve hundred miles of cable had been paid out, and the
ship was but six hundred miles from the shores of Newfoundland, when the
cable broke again and plunged into the sea.

Mr. Canning, the engineer in charge, was dismayed, but not disheartened.
For nine days the ship hung around the spot grappling for the cable, in
the hope of raising it, and sinking its grapnels for this purpose to a
depth of two miles. The cable was caught several times, but the rope
which held the grapnel broke each time, and the precious coil fell back
again into the deep. At length, having marked the place where the cable
was lost with buoys, the ship put back for England, and the enterprise
was abandoned for that year.

Though unsuccessful in carrying the cable across the ocean, this
expedition was by no means a failure. Its results are thus summed up by
the officers in charge of it:


1. It was proved by the expedition of 1858 that a submarine
telegraph cable could be laid between Ireland and Newfoundland, and
messages transmitted through the same.

By the expedition of 1865 it has been fully demonstrated:

2. That the insulation of a cable improves very much after its
submersion in the cold deep water of the Atlantic, and that its
conducting power is considerably increased thereby.

3. That the steamship "Great Eastern," from her size and constant
steadiness, and from the control over her afforded by the joint use
of paddles and screw, renders it safe to lay an Atlantic cable in
any weather.

4. That in a depth of over two miles four attempts were made to
grapple the cable. In three of them the cable was caught by the
grapnel, and in the other the grapnel was fouled by the chain
attached to it.

5. That the paying-out machinery used on board the Great Eastern
worked perfectly, and can be confidently relied on for laying
cables across the Atlantic.

6. That with the improved telegraphic instruments for long
submarine lines, a speed of more than eight words per minute can be
obtained through such a cable as the present Atlantic one between
Ireland and Newfoundland, as the amount of slack actually paid out
did not exceed fourteen per cent., which would have made the total
cable laid between Valentia and Heart's Content nineteen hundred
miles.

7. That the present Atlantic cable, though capable of bearing a
strain of seven tons, did not experience more than fourteen
hundred-weight in being paid out into the deepest water of the
Atlantic between Ireland and Newfoundland.

8. That there is no difficulty in mooring buoys in the deep water
of the Atlantic between Ireland and Newfoundland, and that two
buoys even when moored by a piece of the Atlantic cable itself,
which had been previously lifted from the bottom, have ridden out a
gale.

9. That more than four nautical miles of the Atlantic cable have
been recovered from a depth of over two miles, and that the
insulation of the gutta-percha covered wire was in no way whatever
impaired by the depth of water or the strains to which it had been
subjected by lifting and passing through the hauling-in apparatus.

10. That the cable of 1865, owing to the improvements introduced
into the manufacture of the gutta-percha core, was more than one
hundred times better insulated than cables made in 1858, then
considered perfect and still working.

11. That the electrical testing can be conducted with such unerring
accuracy as to enable the electricians to discover the existence of
a fault immediately after its production or development, and very
quickly to ascertain its position in the cable.

12. That with a steam-engine attached to the paying-out machinery,
should a fault be discovered on board whilst laying the cable, it
is possible that it might be recovered before it had reached the
bottom of the Atlantic, and repaired at once.


It was now placed beyond the possibility of a doubt that the cable would
be laid within the next year. More than this, it was determined not only
to lay a new cable between the two continents, but to fish up the cable
of 1865, splice it and continue it to Newfoundland, thus giving the
company two working lines.

It was necessary, however, to raise more capital, and in this effort Mr.
Field again put forth his restless and indomitable energies. As the
public confidence in the scheme had been effectually restored, it was
resolved to raise six hundred thousand pounds of new capital by the
issue of one hundred and twenty thousand shares of five pounds each,
which should be preferential shares, entitled to a dividend of twelve
per cent, before the eight per cent, dividend to be paid on the former
preference shares, and the four per cent, on the ordinary stock. They at
once proceeded to issue these bonds, when they were informed by the
Attorney-General that the proceeding was contrary to law.

In this dilemma work on the new cable was at once stopped, and the money
which had been paid in returned to the subscribers. As Parliament was
not in session, and a new issue of stock could not be made by the
company without its authorization, and as to wait for this would be to
postpone the laying of the cable for another year, Mr. Field was now
advised by Mr. Daniel Gooch, M.P., that the only way out of the
difficulty was to organize a new company at once, which should assume
the work, issue its own shares, and raise its own capital. Eminent legal
gentlemen sustained Mr. Gooch in this opinion, and Mr. Field again set
to work to organize a new company, under the name of the "Anglo-American
Telegraph Company." The capital was fixed at six hundred thousand
pounds, Mr. Field taking ten thousand pounds. The whole amount was
raised in a short time, and the company "contracted with the Atlantic
Cable Company to manufacture and lay down a cable in the summer of 1866,
for doing which it is to be entitled to what virtually amounts to a
preference dividend of twenty-five per cent., as a first claim is
secured to them by the Atlantic Telegraph Company upon the revenue of
the cable or cables (after the working expenses have been provided for)
to the extent of one hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds per annum,
and the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company undertake
to contribute from their revenue a further annual sum of twenty-five
thousand pounds, on condition that a cable shall be working during
1866."

Once more the furnaces glowed and the hammers rang in the manufacture of
the cable. Great improvements were made in the cable itself and in the
machinery for laying it, and the "Great Eastern" was thoroughly
overhauled. The cable was completed and put on board in June, and the
big ship left the Medway on the last of the month and proceeded to
Berehaven, in Ireland, where she took on her final stores of coal. This
done, she proceeded to Valentia, where she arrived on the seventh of
July.

The shore end was successfully laid and made fast to the cable on board
the "Great Eastern," and on Friday morning, the 13th of July, 1866, the
huge ship set sail for Newfoundland, accompanied by her consorts of the
telegraph fleet. The voyage occupied fourteen days, the ship making an
average run of about one hundred and eighteen miles per day, and paying
out about one hundred and thirty-one miles of cable in the same period
of time. The weather was fair during the whole voyage, but the anxiety
of the officers in charge was none the less on that account. There were
accidents to be dreaded more than unfavorable weather. The ship was run
at moderate speed all the way, as it was thought she had once or twice
run too fast on the last voyage, and exposed the cable to danger. "The
total slack of the cable was less than twelve per cent., showing that
the cable was laid almost in a straight line, allowing for the swells
and hollows in the bottom of the sea.

"As the next week drew toward its close, it was evident that they were
approaching the end of their voyage. By Thursday they had passed the
great depths of the Atlantic, and were off soundings. Besides, their
daily observations, there were many signs well known to mariners that
they were near the coast. There were the sea-birds, and even the smell
of the land, such as once greeted the sharp senses of Columbus, and made
him sure that he was floating to some undiscovered shore. Captain
Anderson had timed his departure so that he should approach the American
coast at the full moon; and so, for the last two or three nights, as
they drew near the Western shore, the round orb rose behind them,
casting its soft light over sea and sky; and these happy men seemed like
heavenly voyagers, floating gently on to a haven of rest.

"In England the progress of the expedition was known from day to day,
but on this side of the ocean all was uncertainty. Some had gone to
Heart's Content, hoping to witness the arrival of the fleet, but not so
many as the last year, for the memory of their disappointment was too
fresh, and they feared the same result again. But still a faithful few
were there, who kept their daily watch. Two weeks have passed. It is
Friday morning, the 27th of July. They are up early, and looking
eastward to see the day break, when a ship is seen in the offing. She is
far down on the horizon. Spy-glasses are turned toward her. She comes
nearer; and look, there is another, and another! And now the hull of the
'Great Eastern' looms up all glorious in that morning sky. They are
coming! Instantly all is wild excitement on shore. Boats put off to row
toward the fleet. The 'Albany' is the first to round the point and enter
the bay. The 'Terrible' is close behind; the 'Medway' stops an hour or
two to join on the heavy shore end, while the 'Great Eastern,' gliding
calmly in as if she had done nothing remarkable, drops her anchor in
front of the telegraph house, having trailed behind her a chain of two
thousand miles, to bind the old world to the new.

"Although the expedition reached Newfoundland on Friday, the 27th, yet,
as the cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence was broken, the news was
not received in New York till the 29th. It was early Sunday morning,
before the Sabbath bells had rung their call to prayer, that the tidings
came. The first announcement was brief: 'Heart's Content, July 27th. We
arrived here at nine o'clock this morning. All well. Thank God, the
cable is laid, and is in perfect working order. Cyrus W. Field.'"

There was no failure in the communication this time. The electric
current has continued to flow strongly and uninterruptedly from that day
until the present, and experience has demonstrated for the wonderful
wire a capacity far beyond the hopes of its projectors.

Having laid the cable, the "Great Eastern" proceeded with surprising
accuracy to where the line had been lost the year before, and succeeded
in grappling and raising it to the surface. It was tested, and found to
be in perfect order, messages being sent with ease from the ship to
Valentia, and from that point back again. A splice was then made, and
the line was continued to Newfoundland. Both cables are still working,
and bid fair to be serviceable for many years to come.

Many persons had contributed to this great success, but to Cyrus W.
Field must be assigned the chief praise. His energy and perseverance
kept the subject constantly before the public. His courage inspired
others, and his faith in its ultimate success alone kept its best
friends from abandoning it in its darkest hours. In its behalf he spent
twelve years of constant toil, and made over fifty voyages, more than
thirty of which were across the Atlantic. He devoted his entire fortune
to the undertaking, of which he was the projector and cheerfully
incurred the risk of poverty rather than abandon it. Therefore, it is
but just that he, who was the chief instrument in obtaining for the
world this great benefit, should receive the chief measure of the praise
which it has brought to all connected with it.

[Illustration: ROBERT FULTON.]




III.

INVENTORS




CHAPTER XIII.

ROBERT FULTON.


One of the pleasantest as well as one of the most prominent places in
the city of New York is the grave-yard of old Trinity Church. A handsome
iron railing separates it from Broadway, and the thick rows of
grave-stones, all crumbling and stained with age, present a strange
contrast to the bustle, vitality, and splendor with which they are
surrounded. They stare solemnly down into Wall Street, and offer a
bitter commentary upon the struggles and anxiety of the money kings of
the great city. Work, toil, plan, combine as you may, they seem to say,
and yet it must all come to this.

Not far from the south door of the church, and shaded by a venerable
tree, is a plain brown stone slab, bearing this inscription: "The vault
of Walter and Robert C. Livingston, sons of Robert Livingston, of the
manor of Livingston." A stranger would pass it by without a second
glance; yet it is one of the Meccas of the world of science, for the
mortal part of Robert Fulton sleeps in the vault below, without monument
or legendary stone to his memory, but in sight of the mighty steam
fleets which his genius called forth. Very few visitors ever see this
part of the churchyard, and the grave of Fulton is unknown to nine out
of ten of his countrymen. Yet this man, sleeping so obscurely in his
grave without a name, did far more for the world than either Napoleon or
Wellington. He revolutionized commerce and manufactures, changed the
entire system of navigation, triumphed over the winds and the waves, and
compelled the adoption of a new system of modern warfare. Now he lies in
a grave not his own, with no monument or statue erected to his memory in
all this broad land.

ROBERT FULTON was born in the township of Little Britain (now called
Fulton), in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1765. He was of Irish
descent, and his father was a farmer in moderate circumstances. He was
the eldest son and third child of a family of five children. The farm
upon which he was born was conveyed by his father in 1766 to Joseph
Swift, in whose family it still remains. It contains three hundred and
sixty-four acres, and is one of the handsomest farms in Lancaster
County.

After disposing of his farm, Mr. Fulton, senior, removed to the town of
Lancaster, where he died in 1768, and there young Robert grew up under
the care of his mother. He learned to read and write quickly, but did
not manifest much fondness for his books after mastering his elementary
studies. He early exhibited an unusual talent for drawing, however,
greatly preferring the employment of his pencil to the more serious
duties of the school. His instructors and companions considered him a
dull boy, though all admitted that he showed no disposition to be idle.
All his leisure time was spent either in drawing, or in visiting the
shops of the mechanics in the place and eagerly watching their
operations. He displayed a remarkable talent for mechanism, which was
greatly assisted by his skill in drawing, and his visits to the machine
shops were always welcomed by both the apprentices and their employers,
who recognized the unusual genius of the boy, and predicted great things
for him in the future. But to his teacher, who seems to have been rather
more belligerent than is usual with Quakers, Robert's neglect of his
studies and visits to the machine shops were so many indications of
growing worthlessness. The indignant pedagogue once took occasion to
remonstrate with him upon his course, and, failing to convince him by
argument, rapped him sharply over the knuckles with a ruler, telling him
he would make him do something. Robert at once placed his arms akimbo,
and, looking his tutor sternly in the face, replied: "Sir, I came here
to have something beat into my brains, not into my knuckles."

Some time after this Mrs. Fulton, in conversation with the teacher,
expressed her solicitude lest her son should "turn out nothing," since
he neglected his books so entirely. The teacher frankly confessed that
he had done all in his power for the boy, but that he was discouraged,
and added: "Only yesterday, madam, Robert pertinaciously declared to me
that his head was so full of original notions that there was no vacant
chamber to store away the contents of any dusty books." The lad was only
ten years of age at the time, and, as may be supposed, the good Quaker
who directed his education was not a little dismayed by such a remark.

The boyhood of Fulton was passed during the stormy period of the
Revolution, and in a section so close to the theater of war that he was
in the midst of all the excitement engendered by the conflict. He was an
ardent patriot from the first, and used his pencil freely to caricature
all who showed the slightest leaning to the cause of the enemy.

In 1778 the supply of candles was so low in Lancaster that the town
authorities advised the people to refrain from illuminating their houses
on the 4th of July of that year, in order to save their candles. Robert,
at this time but thirteen years old, was determined not to forego a
patriotic display of some sort. He had prepared a quantity of candles
for the occasion, and after the proclamation of the Town Council was
issued, he took them to a Mr. John Fisher, who kept a store in the
place, and sold powder and shot. Mr. Fisher was somewhat astonished at
Robert's desire to part with the candles, which were at that time scarce
articles, and asked his reason for so doing. The boy replied: "Our
rulers have requested the citizens to refrain from illuminating their
windows and streets; as good citizens we should comply with their
request, and I prefer illuminating the heavens with sky-rockets." Having
procured the powder, he left Mr. Fisher's, and entered a small variety
store kept by a Mr. Cossart, where he purchased several sheets of
large-sized pasteboard. As Mr. Cossart was about to roll them, the boy
stopped him, saying he wished to carry them open. Mr. Cossart, knowing
Robert's mechanical genius, asked him what he was about to invent.

"Why," said the boy, "we are prohibited from illuminating our windows
with candles, and I'm going to shoot my candles through the air."

"Tut, tut, tut," said Mr. Cossart, laughingly; "that's an
impossibility."

"No, sir," said Robert, "there is nothing impossible."[A]

[Footnote A: He proved that this was not impossible, for he had his
display, making his rockets himself, and after his own model.]

"Robert was known," says one of his biographers, "to purchase small
quantities of quicksilver from Dr. Adam Simon Kuhn, druggist, residing
opposite the market-house. He was trying some experiments that he did
not wish to make public, and which the workmen in Mr. Fenno's and Mr.
Christian Isch's shops were anxious to find out, but could not. He was
in the habit almost daily of visiting those shops, and was a favorite
among the workmen, who took advantage of his talent for drawing by
getting him to make ornamental designs for guns, and sketches of the
size and shape of guns, and then giving the calculations of the force,
size of the bore and balls, and the distances they would fire; and he
would accompany them to the open commons near by potter's field, to
prove his calculations by shooting at a mark. On account of his
expertness in his calculations, and of their ineffectual efforts to
discover the use he was making of quicksilver, the shop-hands nicknamed
him 'quicksilver Bob.'

"Mr. Messersmith and Mr. Christian Isch were employed by the Government
to make and repair the arms for the troops; and on several occasions
guards were stationed at their shops to watch and see that the workmen
were constantly employed during whole nights and on Sunday, to prevent
any delay. The workmen had so much reliance and confidence in
'quicksilver Bob's' judgment and mechanical skill, that every suggestion
he would make as to the alteration of a gun, or any additional ornament
that he would design, was invariably adopted by common consent.

"In the summer of 1779, Robert Fulton evinced an extraordinary fondness
for inventions. He was a frequent visitor at Mr. Messersmith's and Mr.
Fenno's gunsmith shops, almost daily, and endeavored to manufacture a
small air-gun."

Among the acquaintances of Robert Fulton at this time was a young man,
about eighteen years of age, named Christopher Gumpf, who used
frequently to accompany his father in his fishing excursions on the
Conestoga. Mr. Gumpf, Sen., being an experienced angler, readily
consented to allow Robert to join himself and his son in these
expeditions, and made the two boys earn their pleasure by pushing the
boat about the stream, as he desired to move from point to point. As the
means of propulsion was simply a pole, the labor was very severe, and
Robert soon became tired of it. Not wishing, however, to give up his
pleasant fishing trips, he determined to devise some means of lightening
the labor.

"He absented himself a week, having gone to Little Britain township to
spend a few days at his aunt's; and while there he planned and completed
a small working model of a fishing boat, with paddle-wheels. On leaving
his aunt's, he placed the model in the garret, with a request that it
should not be destroyed. Many years afterward, that simple model was the
attraction of friends, and became, instead of lumber in the garret, an
ornament in the aunt's parlor, who prized it highly. That model was the
result of Robert's fishing excursions with Christopher Gumpf; and when
he returned from his aunt's he told Christopher that he must make a set
of paddles to work at the sides of the boat, to be operated by a double
crank, and then they could propel the old gentleman's fishing-boat with
greater ease. Two arms or pieces of timber were then fastened together
at right angles, with a paddle at each end, and the crank was attached
to the boat across it near the stern, with a paddle operating on a pivot
as a rudder; and Fulton's first invention was tried on the Conestoga
River, opposite Rockford, in the presence of Peter and Christopher
Gumpf. The boys were so pleased with the experiment, that they hid the
paddles in the bushes on the shore, lest others might use and break
them, and attached them to the boat whenever they chose; and thus did
they enjoy very many fishing excursions."

This was the first experiment in the science of navigation attempted by