Come, listen all unto my song;
It is no silly fable;
‘T is all about the mighty cord
They call the Atlantic Cable.

Bold Cyrus Field he said, says he,
I have a pretty notion
That I can run a telegraph
Across the Atlantic Ocean.

Then all the people laughed, and said,
They’d like to see him do it;
He might get half-seas-over, but
He never could go through it.

To carry out his foolish plan
He never would be able;
He might as well go hang himself
With his Atlantic Cable.

But Cyrus was a valiant man,
A fellow of decision;
And heeded not their mocking words,
Their laughter and derision.

Twice did his bravest efforts fail,
And yet his mind was stable;
He wa’n't the man to break his heart
Because he broke his cable.

“Once more, my gallant boys!” he cried:
“Three times!–you know the fable,–
(I’ll make it thirty,” muttered he,
“But I will lay the cable!”)

Once more they tried,–hurrah! hurrah!
What means this great commotion?
The Lord be praised! the cable’s laid
Across the Atlantic Ocean!

Loud ring the bells,–for, flashing through
Six hundred leagues of water,
Old Mother England’s benison
Salutes her eldest daughter!

O’er all the land the tidings speed,
And soon, in every nation,
They’ll hear about the cable with
Profoundest admiration!

Now, long live President and Queen;
And long live gallant Cyrus;
And may his courage, faith, and zeal
With emulation fire us;

And may we honor evermore
The manly, bold, and stable;
And tell our sons, to make them brave,
How Cyrus laid the cable!

I’d like to think I’m destined for some sort of greatness because my first name is Cyrus. I mean, Cyrus Field, Cyrus McCormick, Cyrus the Great, and Cyrus MacAvity, how many other Cyri are there in the world? Last names don’t count.

Umm, First post from me, Hi all :)

It starts of explaining how there was a need to communicate better, then jumps right into talking about how the project works, without actually covering WHAT the project was. I found it confusing.”[/quote]

And yet, you managed to figure it out. ALL by yourself. Gold star for you.

It starts of explaining how there was a need to communicate better, then jumps right into talking about how the project works, without actually covering WHAT the project was. I found it confusing.

I’ll answer a few of the questions that were raised:

Cyrus Field died bankrupt, but not a pauper. He died in his country home where he had lived for many years, and still had possessions to leave to his family. Here are the details of his will:

http://www.atlantic-cable.com/Field/fieldwill.htm

The design of the cables stayed essentially the same from the 1850s until the introduction of amplified telephone cables in the 1950s. The cables used a single insulated copper conductor with iron or steel armoring for protection; the return path was via the sea. Many techniques were used to speed up the transmission, the major breakthrough being “loaded” cable in the early 1900s.

Very few cables were ever picked up from the ocean bed – it just wasn’t economical, as the stress of picking up from several miles down would almost certainly damage the armoring or insulation of the cable. My friend Tom Perera has recently recovered sections of the 1920s cables from Florida to Cuba:

http://www.atlantic-cable.com/Cables/1921KeyWestHavana/index.htm

http://w1tp.com/mcable97.htm

The copper conductor is intact, but the armouring is badly deteriorated. Modern cables use a steel core for strength, with the outer covering being polyethylene or other modern plastics.

Tiffany and Company bought the leftover 1858 cable and sold it as souvenirs; pieces come up on eBay fairly regularly and sell in the $200 -$300 range. The piece mentioned by USNSPARKS above came from the Smithsonian; here’s an article on how they got them:

http://www.atlantic-cable.com/Article/Lanello/index.htm

I’ll be happy to answer any further questions, and there’s a vast amount of information on my site.

Bill Burns

Thanks, ChickenHead. You picked it up.

I have in my hands something that might interest you. First a little background on why I have it. Back in the 1970’s I served aboard a cable layer/repair ship, USNS Albert J. Myer (T-ARC 6), as a USN radioman. Because of this my father bought and sent this to me. It’s a 4 inch length of armored cable. Is attached to a wooden base with a tag underneath “The Transatlantic Cable 1858″. Short blurb on the back mentions this is from the first TA cable that only worked about a month. Looks like 6 conductor copper in the center surrounded by armored cable which is itself surrounded by yet another layer of armored cable. Is approximately 11/16 inch in diameter. The back mentions two places you may be able to get some info.
National Museum of History and Technology Smithsonian Institution, and Award Crafters 9709 Lee Highway Fairfax, Virginia 22030 Phone 703-591-5401

Hope this helps! No other info on the back about how the cable was acquired.

Here’s two pics:

http://img425.imageshack.us/img425/2633/1sttransatlanticcable1858sideah4.jpg

http://img393.imageshack.us/img393/7526/1sttransatlanticcable1858topgc2.jpg

P.S. I was aboard her when an earthquake cut a USAF undersea cable and we were
directed to fix it. We did so, quite an interesting operation, one I’ll never forget.