THE LONDON AND BERLIN BUSINESS DISCONNECTED. 223 



obligation of making another attempt by the circum- 

 stance that official despatches were actually exchanged 

 between Oran and Paris. 



The great losses, which these cable-layings brought 

 us. caused a small crisis in our business relations. My 

 partner Halske did not relish such undertakings attended 

 with risks and serious losses, and feared also that the 

 venturesome spirit of my brother William might entangle 

 us in enterprises suited to the large scale of English 

 commercial life, but to which our resources were 

 unequal. He therefore proposed the giving up of our 

 English house. William Meyer as business manager of 

 the firm ranged himself on Halske's side. Although 

 I could not but admit the weightiness of the reasons 

 adduced, I still could not bring myself to leave my 

 brother William in the lurch at so critical a juncture. 

 We accordingly agreed that the London business 

 should be entirely dissociated from the Berlin house, 

 it being taken over by me (at my private risk) and 

 William. This was carried out, and the London business 

 now became the firm of Siemens Brothers. Brother 

 Charles in St. Petersburg likewise entered as partner. 

 Between the three now independent firms in Berlin, 

 St. Petersburg, and London, agreements were drawn 

 up to govern the mutual relations. 



I may as well remark here that the copper-armed 

 cable laid by the London firm in the Black Sea in 1869, 

 of similar construction to the Cartagena - Oran cable, 

 likewise did not prove durable. It was laid by my 

 brother William with complete success as part of the 



