Great Fortunes: Cyrus W. Field Part 6
In the summer of 1857, Mr. Field having returned to England, the cable was declared to be in readiness for laying. The United States Government now placed at the disposal of the Telegraph Company the magnificent new steam frigate “Niagara,” as the most suitable vessel for laying the cable, and ordered the “Susquehanna,” the largest side-wheel frigate in the service, to accompany her in the expedition. The British Government provided the steam frigate “Agamemnon,” a splendid vessel, which had been the flagship of the English fleet at the bombardment of Sebastopol, and ordered the “Leopard” to accompany her as an escort. The “Niagara” was commanded by Captain W.L. Hudson, of the United States Navy, and the “Agamemnon” by Captain Noddal, of the Royal Navy. The “Niagara” took on her share of the cable at Liverpool, and the “Agamemnon” received hers at London. It was agreed that the “Niagara” should begin the laying of the cable, and continue it until her portion of it should be exhausted in mid-ocean, when her end of it should be united with the cable on board the “Agamemnon,” which ship should continue laying the line until the shores of Newfoundland were reached. After taking on the cable, the ships were ordered to Queenstown.
The vessels left England in the midst of general rejoicings, and arrived at the rendezvous at the proper time. Thence they sailed for the harbor of Valentia, which was to be the eastern terminus of the line and the starting point of the expedition. They were greeted every-where with enthusiasm, and the greatest confidence in the success of the enterprise was manifested by those on board. Mr. Field, Professor Morse, and several other officers of the company were on board the “Niagara,” as that ship was to conduct the first part of the sinking of the cable.
At length all was in readiness. The shore end of the cable was landed and made fast on Wednesday afternoon, the 5th of August, and the next morning the fleet stood out to sea. “Before they had gone five miles the heavy shore end of the cable caught in the machinery and parted. The ‘Niagara’ put back, and the cable was ‘underrun’ the whole distance. At length the end was lifted out of the water and spliced to the gigantic coil, and as it dropped safely to the bottom of the sea, the mighty ship began to stir. At first she moved very slowly, not more than two miles an hour, to avoid the danger of accident; but the feeling that they are at last away is itself a relief. The ships are all in sight, and so near that they can hear each other’s bells. The ‘Niagara,’ as if knowing that she is bound for the land out of whose forests she came, bends her head to the waves, as her prow is turned toward her native shores.
“Slowly passed the hours of that day. But all went well, and the ships were moving out into the broad Atlantic. At length the sun went down in the west, and stars came out on the face of the deep. But no man slept. A thousand eyes were watching a great experiment, as those who have a personal interest in the issue. All through that night, and through the anxious days and nights that followed, there was a feeling in every soul on board as if a friend in the cabin were at the turning-point of life or death, and they were watching beside him. There was a strange, unnatural silence in the ship. Men paced the deck with soft and muffled tread, speaking only in whispers, as if a loud voice or a heavy footfall might snap the vital cord. So much had they grown to feel for the enterprise, that the cable seemed to them like a human creature, on whose fate they hung, as if it were to decide their own destiny.
