THE SIMPLE IDEA OF AN ATLANTIC CABLE 39 
There were decisive questions of technique to be answered 
before progress could be made. The longest telegraph cable 
hitherto laid successfully was a little over a hundred miles 
long. An Atlantic cable would be two thousand miles long, 
submerged to depths of nearly three miles. Could such a line 
really be laid; what size should it be and how insulated; once 
laid, could an electric charge be sent through it? ‘There were 
widespread doubt and criticism. Field was called a visionary 
fool who was wasting time and money. Professor Sir G. B. 
Airy, F.R.S., the Astronomer Royal, announced that it was 
mathematically impossible to submerge a cable safely at so 
great a depth; and that, even if it were possible, no signals 
could be transmitted through so great a length. One sug- 
gestion received was to fasten the cable to buoys; others were 
still more ridiculous. Bright and Whitehouse had done some 
real research, however; Brett and Bright had actually laid 
short submarine cables that worked. On the other hand, the 
noted bridge-engineer Robert Stephenson declared that the 
mid-Atlantic depths would be too much for any practical 
cable-laying. 
Soon after arriving in England, Field wrote to Lord Clar- 
endon, the Foreign Secretary, about his plans and hopes. He 
was requested to appear for an interview. As Professor Morse, 
electrician for the American company, was also in London, 
the two went to the Foreign Office together. Field’s deter- 
mined attitude impressed the officials, who realized the ad- 
vantages that a seafaring nation would derive if ocean cables 
could be laid and operated. The original suggestions of Bish- 
op Mullock and Gisborne, however, were kept in mind; and 
the British officials arranged with the Cunard line that mail 
steamers between Liverpool and the United States might 
receive and throw overboard, while off the Irish shore and the 
tip of Newfoundland, cases containing messages to be handled 
by the telegraph company’s vessels for quick dispatch. ‘This 
was never done, however, to any great extent. 
