314 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. 



which elapsed between the hours of the steamers' de- 

 parture and their arrival at Oak Bluffs. 



In 1855 an attempt was made to connect Nantucket 

 by cable with the mainland. A cable was laid from 

 Great Point, Nantucket, to Monomoy Point, Cape 

 Cod; but it proved a failure. This cable was subse- 

 quently taken up and laid from Madaket to Tucker- 

 nuck, thence to Martha's Vineyard; but the cable in 

 this locality worked no better than it did in the other. 

 In 1857 Mr. S. C. Bishop, a gutta-percha manufacturer 

 of New York, took the matter in hand, and after sev- 

 eral years of useless and ineffectual labor the enter- 

 prise was finally abandoned. A number of messages 

 were actually transmitted over Mr. Bishop's cable. 



The telegraph office was in the building now belonging 

 to Lieut. -Commander T. M. Gardner, U. S. Navy, on the 

 corner of Main and Orange Streets, and two insulators 

 are still to be seen on the building directly opposite. 

 The science of telegraphy has made such rapid strides 

 during the last quarter of a century that it is believed a 

 cable can now be successfully laid to connect Nantucket 

 with the continent. Earnest efforts are being put 

 forth by some of our most influential citizens to in- 

 duce the general government to interest itself in the 

 matter. It is sincerely hoped that it can be made 

 to appreciate the need of a signal station here, and be 

 influenced to take the matter in hand. The establish- 

 ment of a signal station of course necessitates the lay- 

 ing of a cable; and when that is done, and the jetty 

 completed, the visitor and resident will not only be 

 accommodated, but commerce will be greatly bene- 

 fited. 



