no RUSSO-AMERICAX TELEGRAPH PROJECT OF 1864-'67 
and indefiitigable industry he finall}" succeeded in accomplish- 
ing the difficult undertaking with which his name and fame are 
justly identified. So far as Mr Cooper and his famil}' were con- 
cerned, they did what they could to secure the success of the 
enterprise, and I think it may he justly asserted that, without Mr 
Coo])er’s assistance and absolute faith in the final success of the 
undertaking, its realization would have been postponed for many 
j^ears. In the end he was fully indemnified, and perhaps amply 
rewarded, for his investment, hut without detracting in the 
slightest from the credit which is justly accorded to Mr Field, 
I think I am justified in making, at your request, this brief 
statement, in order to show that without the unflinching courage 
and cooi)eration of Mr Cooper, INIr Field would hardly have been 
in a position to achieve the triumph which he finally secured, 
and for which his memoiy is entitled to tlie veneration of suc- 
ceeding generations.” 
THE RUSSO-AMERICAN TELEGRAPH PROJECT OF 
i 864-’67 
By Professor William H. Ball 
Tlie possibility of constructing a line of telegraph overland 
through Siberia and northwestern America had doubtless oc- 
curred to many, hut the first person to endeavor to give practical 
effect to the conception appears to have been Mr Perry M. Collins, 
of California, who in ISoh and for some years suhsequenth" was 
United States consular agent at Xikolaievsk, on the Amur river, 
eastern Siberia. By dint of constant activity and perseverance, 
Mr Collins succeeded in obtaining the concessions necessary to 
the construction of a line of telegraph, with all needful acces- 
sories, from the Amur to tlie British Columbian line through 
eastern Siberia and the Bussian-American colonies, and also 
through the British territories in America. 
Continual mishaps in the course of the attempts to la}" a work- 
able cable across the Atlantic had led many telegraphers to 
lielieve that the plan was im])racticable, though they had no 
doubt of their ability to construct and keep in working order 
shorter lines, such as that proposed across Bering strait. The 
]>ropositions of Mr Collins were laid before the Directors of the 
Western Union Telegraph Comjiany, March 16, 1864. They ac- 
