These days, we are so accustomed to telegraph message that it is hard for us to imagine the excitement that was felt in the nineteenth century when the first cables were laid.
Cable-laying proved to be immensely difficult. The cable, which, in the autumn of 1850, carried telegraph messages between England and France, had a very short life. The day after was laid, a fisherman `caught’ the cable by mistake. Thinking that the copper wire at the centre of the thick cable was gold, he cut a piece off to show his friends. However, a new cable was put down and soon news could travel quickly across Europe. But there was no way of sending messages between Europe and America.
When the `Atlantic Telegraph Company’ was formed in 1856, a serious attempt was made to `join; Europe to America with no less than, 3735 kilometers of cable. As no single ship could carry such a weight; the job was shared by two sailing vessels, the `Agamemnon’ and the `Niagara.’ The intention was that, the intention was that, after setting out in opposite directions, they should meet in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where the two cables would be connected together. But the ships had hardly covered 487 kilometers when the cable broke.
In 1858, a second attempt was made. This time, greatly hindered by storms, the ships were again unsuccessful. There was great rejoicing a few months later, when, after the combined effort of both ships, Britain and America were at last connected by cable and the Queen of England was able to speak to the president of the United States. This cable, however, lasted only seven weeks.
Further attempts were postponed until 1864 when Brunel’s steamship, the `Great Eastern,’ set forth. This powerful ship did the whole job by itself, but again the messages could not travel freely because the cable developed a fault. While it was being mended, it broke and 2111 kilometers of it lay on the ocean floor. But two years later, the `Great Eastern’ completed a highly successfully journey and since then, it has become possible to send messages to all parts of the world.
Written by madugundu krishna
Madugundu Krishna English and Telugu writer. Yemmiganur, Hyderabad, India