ENGINEERING DIFFICULTIES 51 
chronicled three thousand years before, except that the pur- 
poses were different. The Greeks had sought the rescue of a 
beautiful woman and the satisfaction of a successful war with 
old military and commercial rivals; the Anglo-Americans 
were trying to facilitate the transmission of intelligence for 
effecting better understanding among nations. Curiously 
enough, the name Agamemnon of the principal British ship 
engaged in this work recalled the renowned attack on Troy 
in the imperishable story of Homer. 
After an official of the Atlantic ‘Telegraph Company had 
expressed the thanks of all present to the Lord Lieutenant 
for gracing the occasion with his presence, there were calls 
for Cyrus Field. With his customary generosity he said: “If 
ever at the other side of the waters now before us, any one of 
you shall present himself at my door and say that he took hand 
or part, even by an approving smile, in our work of today, he 
shall have a true American welcome.” Naturally this kindly 
sentiment pleased the volatile Irish audience. ‘The Knight of 
Kerry, good Peter Fitzgerald, wrote a personal note to Field 
saying that the latter had “stolen the hearts” of his wife and 
children and of every friend with whom he came in contact. 
There was obviously some blarney in the air. 
The Liverpool Post described vividly the scene on the Irish 
shore: ‘‘For several hours the Lord Lieutenant stood on the 
beach, surrounded by his staff and the directors of the railway 
and telegraph companies, waiting the arrival of the cable, and 
when at length the American sailors jumped through the 
surge with the hawser to which it was attached, his Excellency 
was among the first to lay hold of it and pull it lustily to the 
shore.” The New York Herald of three weeks later said that 
“never before was such a scene presented in Valentia bay; 
the face of the poorest spectator beamed with joy.” 
The London Times of a fortnight earlier had described the 
féte champétre following the storage of half the cable on the 
British Agamemnon as it lay in the Thames: “All the details 
