Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

EARLY ATLANTIC CABLES. 363 event; and a little later the former received the honour of knighthood at the unprece- dentedly early age of twenty-six—the first knighthood conferred in connection with teleg- raphy. Working the Line. When the engineers had accomplished their share in the undertaking on August 5th, the cable was handed over to the electricians in perfect condition. Unfortunately for the life of the cable, Mr. Whitehouse was imbued with the conviction that currents of very high intensity were the best for signalling, and he used enormous induction coils, five feet long, excited by a series of immense cells, yielding electricity estimated at about two thousand • volts potential. The insulation was unable to bear the strain, and thus the signals began to fail gradually. For about a week the efforts to work through the cable with, the apparatus de- scribed proved ineffectual, though the power was constantly increased. Professor Thom- son’s reflecting instrument, which had worked so well during the voyage, was then resorted to, with ordinary Daniell cells for the generat- ing power, and a maximum working speed of six words per minute was reached. Communication was thus renewed, the first clear message being received from Newfound- land on August 13th, 1858 ; and on the 16th the following was got through :— “ Europe and America are united by tele- graph. Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, goodwill towards men.” Then followed a formal interchange of greeting betwixt Queen Victoria and the President of the United States in commemora- tion of the event. The first public news message is shown here. It served a peculiarly useful purpose at the time in dispelling doubt and fear amongst relatives of those on board two Cunard steamers which had just collided. Fig. 7.—FACSIMILE OF ONE OF THE FIRST MES- SAGES RECEIVED OVER THE FIRST ATLANTIC CABLE. But the insulation of the precious wire had throughout been succumbing to the high- potential currents from Mr. Whitehouse’s enormous induction coils, and the diminished flashes of light Cable 0 fails, proved to be only the flicker- ing of the flame that was soon to be ex- tinguished in the eternal darkness of the waters. It is, indeed, extremely doubtful whether any cable, even of the present day, would long stand a trial of currents of such intensity. When all the efforts of the electricians failed to draw more than a few faint whispers —a dying gasp from the depths of the sea— there ensued in the public mind a feeling of profound ^rea^ Public disappointment. Still more so DlsaPP®int= ment. in the minds of those officially concerned with the enterprise ; for in all the experience of life there are no sadder moments than those in which, after much anxious toil in striving for a great object,