104 
THE SUBMARINE CABLES OF THE ^YORLD 
liut, alas, the joy over the greatest triumph of the age was des- 
tined to be of short duration. In less than a month the cable 
refused to work, owing to some fault the nature of which could 
not be definitel}'’ ascertained. It was at last abandoned in de- 
spair, and no further attempt to lay another one was made until 
18(>4, when the Atlantic Telegraph Company made with the 
Telegraph Construction and INIaintenance Company a contract 
for a new cable between Valentia and Heart’s Content and char- 
tered the steamship Great Eastern to lay it. This cable was 2,273 
nautical miles* long, and its weight was 300 pounds per mile. 
Its laying down commenced on July 23, 1865, Mr Cyrus W. Field 
being on board the ship, but on August 2, after about 1,400 knots 
had been paid out, the cable parted and the broken end disap- 
peared from view. The Great Eastern remained near the scene 
of the accident until August 11, when she gave up the attempt 
to recover the cable and returned to Europe. Thus another 
hope, another aspiration, was buried, and we may well imagine 
the feelings of those who had put their faith and their money 
into the undertaking. 
The story of this attempt and of the successful recovery of 
the lost cable a year later by means of grapnels from a depth of 
over 2,000 fathoms forms one of the most interesting chapters in 
the histoiy of submarine telegra])hy ; but after all the disheart- 
ening failures which had attended the laying of the first three 
Atlantic cal)les, the indomitable pluck and energ}’^ of iNIr Field 
and his associates were to be finally rewarded with success. A 
new cable was ordered, and on July 13, 1866, the Great Eastern 
again started from Valentia and, without further serious mis- 
hap, finished the ia^ung over the whole distance on July 27, 
when the cable was spliced to the shore end at Heart’s Content. 
IMoreover, on September 1 following, the Great Eastern recovered 
the lost cable of the previous year, spliced it to the cable on 
board, and completed the laying of it toward Heart’s Content, 
thus establishing a duplicate line. Ever since that time we have 
had uninterrupted telegraphic connection Avith Europe, and this 
1866 cable thus became the pioneer of the long-distance, deep- 
sea cables. 
Immense progress has since been made in the establishment 
of submarine telegraph lines. A fieet of between thirt}'’-five and 
forty steamers, specially constructed and equi})ped for cable 
*A nautical mile, as defined by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, equals 
6,080.27 feet, or 1.1516 statute miles. 
