68 A SAGA OF THE SEAS 
modes of telegraphing, so that the directors might decide 
which was the best and most rapid method for future use.” 
On the sixteenth, however, before the Niagara had arrived 
in New York, the public was informed that Queen Victoria’s 
message Officially opening the cable had been received, and 
that President Buchanan’s reply had been dispatched. The 
wording of the Queen’s message was a formal congratulation 
“upon the successful completion of this great international 
work . . . an additional link between the nations, whose 
friendship is founded upon their common interest and recip- 
rocal esteem.” The Queen used the term “electric cable,” a 
new designation for it. 
President Buchanan reciprocated the congratulations ‘on 
the success of the great international enterprise accomplished 
by the science, skill, and indomitable energy of the two coun- 
tries.” He continued: “It is a triumph more glorious, because 
far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror 
on the field of battle. . . . Will not all nations of Christen- 
dom spontaneously unite in the declaration that it shall be 
for ever neutral . . . even in the midst of hostilities?” 
The public announcement of these official messages, formal- 
ly opening the underseas cable, aroused enormous enthusiasm. 
On the morning of August 17, the people of New York were 
awakened by the thunder of a hundred cannon fired in City 
Hall Park at daybreak. At noon the salvo was repeated, and 
bells were rung in the principal churches. Flags were flying 
from the public buildings; factories blew their whistles; 
triumphant placards appeared in the windows of stores and 
business houses. 
The placards displayed quaint phrases that bespoke a naive 
point of view. One of them was as follows: “Queen Victoria, 
your despatch received; let us hear from you again.’ Another 
was: “The Old Cyrus and the New. One Conquered the 
World for Himself, the Other the Ocean for the World.” 
