A cable, eighty-five miles long, was laid between Cape Breton and Newfoundland (22).

Field then came to England and floated an English company, which amalgamated with the American one under the title of the Atlantic Telegraph Company.

The story of the laying of the Atlantic cables of 1857 and 1865, their success and failures, has often been told, so we need not go into any details.  It may be noted, however, that communication was first established between Valentia and Newfoundland on August 5. 1858, but the cable ceased to transmit signals on September 1, following.

During that period, ninety-seven messages had been sent from Valentia, and two hundred and sixty-nine from Newfoundland.  At the present time, the ten Atlantic cables now convey about ten thousand messages daily between the two continents.  The losses attending the laying of the 1865 cable resulted in the financial ruin of the Atlantic company and its amalgamation with the Anglo-American.  In 1866 the Great Eastern successfully laid the first cable for the new company, and with the assistance of other vessels succeeded in picking up the broken end of the 1865 cable and completing its connection with Newfoundland.

[Illustration:  MAP SHOWING MAIN CABLES FROM EUROPE AND THEIR CONNECTIONS WITH CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES.

Reference to places—­A, Heart’s Content; B, Placentia; C, St. Peter Miquelon; D, North Sydney, Cape Breton Island; E, Louisbourg; F Canso, Nova Scotia; G, Halifax; H, Bird Rock; I, Madeline Isles; J, Anticosti; K, Charlotte Town, Prince Edward’s Island; LLL, Banks of Newfoundland.]

The three cables of this company presently in use and connecting Valentia in Ireland with Heart’s Content in Newfoundland, were laid in 1873, 1874, and 1880; and (1) are respectively 1886, 1846, and 1890 nautical miles in length.  This company also owns the longest cable in the world, that namely from Brest in France to St. Pierre Miquelon, one of a small group of islands off the south coast of Newfoundland and which, strange to say, still belongs to France (6).

The length of this cable is 2,685 nautical miles, or 3,092 statute miles.  It was laid in 1869.  There are seven cables of a total length of 1773 miles, connecting Heart’s Content, Placentia Bay and St. Pierre, with North Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Duxbury, near Boston, belonging to the American company.  Communication is maintained with Germany and the rest of the Continent by means of a cable from Valentia to Emden 846 miles long (7); and a cable from Brest to Salcombe, Devon, connects the St. Pierre and Brest cable with the London office of the company (10).[1]

[Footnote 1:  Cables not fully described in the text, Map B. Eight cables at the Anglo-American Company:  7, Heart’s Content to Placentia, two cables; 8, Placentia to St. Pierre; 9, St. Pierre to North Sydney; 10, Placentia to North Sydney, two cables; 11, St. Pierre to Duxbury; 18, Charlotte’s Town to Nova Scotia; 19, Government Cable, North Sydney to Bird Rock, Madeline Isles, and Anticosti; 21, Halifax and Bermuda Cable Company’s proposed cable to Bermuda.]