the locomotive, and Cyrus Field bound Great Britain to the United
States by telegraph.

Early in 1854, Mr. Field's attention was drawn to the scheme for a
telegraph between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, in connection with a
line of fast steamships from Ireland to call at St. John's,
Newfoundland. The idea struck him that if a line were laid to Ireland,
lasting benefit would result to the world. So he called together some
of his intimate friends, including Peter Cooper, Moses Taylor, Chandler
White, and Marshall O. Roberts, and they joined him in organizing the
"New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company," which was the
pioneer in the movement to connect the two continents by a telegraph
cable, and without whose aid its consummation would have been
indefinitely delayed.

The work was costly and difficult. The first part consisted in
surveying the bottom of the sea for a route. This was done by taking
"soundings" and "dredgings." As some of you are aware, "sounding" is
an operation for ascertaining the depth of the sea, while "dredging"
reveals what plants and living creatures are at the bottom. After much
patient labor, a level space was found between Ireland and
Newfoundland, and it seemed to be so well adapted to the surveyor's
purposes that it was called the "Telegraphic Plateau."

[Illustration: THE GRAPNEL.]

Two or three large vessels were next equipped, and sent out with
several thousand miles of cable on board, which they proceeded to lay.
But the fragile cord--fragile compared with the boisterous power of the
waves--broke in twain, and could not be recovered. A second attempt was