Great Americans and their noble deeds; containing the lives of almost fifty of our nation's heroes and heroines .. . ust the grapplingmachinery and searchfor the lost treasure. Atfirst the iron sank butslowly, but soon thepicking-up machinerylowered length afterlength over cog-wheeland drum, till the ironwires, warming withwork, heated at last soas to convert the waterthrown upon the ma-chinery into clouds ofsteam. Still the ropedescended, and the greatstrain was diminished,when at fifteen thousandfeet the grapnel reachedthe bed of the Atlantic ; and as the ship drifted across the course of th
Great Americans and their noble deeds; containing the lives of almost fifty of our nation's heroes and heroines .. . ust the grapplingmachinery and searchfor the lost treasure. Atfirst the iron sank butslowly, but soon thepicking-up machinerylowered length afterlength over cog-wheeland drum, till the ironwires, warming withwork, heated at last soas to convert the waterthrown upon the ma-chinery into clouds ofsteam. Still the ropedescended, and the greatstrain was diminished,when at fifteen thousandfeet the grapnel reachedthe bed of the Atlantic ; and as the ship drifted across the course of thecable, there was just a surmise that the grapnel might catch it. In the search from August 3d to August nth the cable was grappledthree times; it was lifted each time a considerable way from the bottom,but the grapnel, ropes, and lifting machinery were not sufficient to bringit to the surface. Nearly twelve hundred miles of the cable now layalong the bed of the Atlantic Ocean; one end attached to the shore atValentia, the other submerged under fifteen thousand feet of water, andresting on a soft, oozy SUDDEN BRRAK OF CABLE ON THE GREAT EASTERN. 02 CYRUS FIELD. A length of fifty-five hundred miles of cable altogether had beenmade for this great Atlantic enterprise from 1857 to 1865, and nearly fourthousand miles had been swallowed up in the ocean; a million and aquarter had been sunk; but the grand hopes were not crushed. Thevarious telegraphic companies interested in the completion of the under^taking wisely concluded to resume operations forthwith. The storms of twelve months had passed over the cable before thepreparations were complete; that it had not drifted was thoroughlybelieved. The naval commanders had made accurate observation of theexact latitude and longitude of the spot where the end of the cable finallydisappeared in August, 1865 ; and, as the same instruments, applied inthe same way, would find the same spot again, this was the test, and theonly test re
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