On July 27, after a voyage of fifteen days, the “Great Eastern” finished her work, and her part of the cable was attached to the American shore-end, which had been laid by another vessel.  Some of you will remember the rejoicings in the United States over the event.  It surpassed all other achievements of the age, and equaled the invention of the telegraph itself.

Thus, after infinite labor and repeated failures, the brave men who undertook the work accomplished it.  A year before, their third cable had broken in mid-ocean, and it was now proposed to “grapple” for it.  The “Great Eastern” was fitted out with apparatus, which may be likened to an enormous fishing-hook and line, and was sent to the spot where the treasure had been lost.  The line was of hemp interwoven with wire.  Page 328 shows a section of it.  Twice the cable was seized and brought almost to the surface.  Twice it slipped from the disappointed fishermen, but the third time it was secured.  It was then united with the cable on board, which was “paid out” until the great steamer again reached Newfoundland, and a second telegraph-wire united the two continents.

The scene on board as the black line appeared above water was exciting beyond description.  It was first taken to the testing-room, and a signal intended for Valentia was sent over it, to prove whether or not it was perfect throughout its whole length.  If it had proved to be imperfect, all the labor spent upon it would have been lost.  The electricians waited breathlessly for an answer.  The clerk in the signal-house at Valentia was drowsy when their message came, and disbelieved his ears.  Many disinterested people, and even some of the promoters of the cable, did not think it possible to recover a wire that had sunk in thousands of fathoms of water.  But the clerk in the little station connected with the shore-end of the cable of 1865 suddenly found himself in communication with a vessel situated in the middle of the Atlantic.

The delay aggravated the anxious watchers on the ship, and a second signal was sent.  How astonished that simple-minded Irish telegraph-operator was!  Five minutes passed, and then the answer came.  The chief electrician gave a loud cheer, which was repeated by every man on board, from the captain down to his servant.

There are now four cables in working order, and the cost of messages has been reduced twenty-five per cent.  The New York newspapers now contain nearly as much European news as the London newspapers themselves.

THE CANARY THAT TALKED TOO MUCH

BY MARGARET EYTINGE.

Annette’s canary-bird’s cage, with the canary in it, was brought into the library and hung upon a hook beside the window.

Out popped a mouse from a hole behind the book-case.

“Why, what are you doing here, canary?” she said.  “I thought your place was the bay-window in the dining-room.”