HARD LUCK AND HUMAN NATURE 79 
were received. In the words of Henry Field: “The Atlantic 
cable was dead! That word fell heavy as a stone on the hearts 
of those who had staked so much upon it. . . . Vain is all 
human toil and endeavor. The years thus spent are fled away. 
. . . So was it here. Years of labor and millions of capital 
were swept away in an hour into the bosom of the pitiless 
sea. Of course the reaction of the public mind was very great. 
As its elation had been so extravagant before, it was now silent 
and almost sullen. People were ashamed of their late enthu- 
siasm, and disposed to revenge themselves on those who had 
been the objects of their idolatry. It is instructive to read the 
papers of the day. As soon as it was evident that the Atlantic 
cable was a dead lion, many hastened to give it a parting kick. 
There was no longer any dispute as to who was the author of 
the great achievement. Rival claimants quietly withdrew 
from the field [sic], content to leave him alone in his glory.” 
At each end of the cable discouraged operators vainly tapped 
their keys, adjusted fresh batteries, and attempted new combi- 
nations—but the useless wire was dumb. 
A curious aftermath of the official celebration in New York 
was that, nearly a year later, Cyrus Field received a note from 
the Mayor granting him the freedom of the City. The delay 
was partly caused by the manufacture of a gold snuff-box, also 
voted him by the City at that time. These testimonials came 
like an anticlimax. A somewhat similar delay was to occur 
years later when Congress gave him a gold medal. 
A letter, dated September 6, 1858, from the secretary of the 
Atlantic Telegraph Company was published in the London 
Times. It said: “I am instructed by the directors to inform 
you that owing to some cause not at present ascertained, but 
believed to arise from a fault existing in the cable at a point 
hitherto undiscovered, there have been no intelligible signals 
from Newfoundland since one o’clock on Friday, the gd inst. 
The directors are now at Valentia, and aided by various scien- 
tific and practical electricians, are investigating the cause of 
