Morses electrical telegraph existed since 1837.
Whole Europe had a quiet large telegraph network , and America either.
But those two continents were connected only through mail. Boats transmitted important messages , but with a 12 day delay.
Message from Moscow reached ,London in 10 minutes. Message from London reached New York in 12 days.
But who , and how , solved this problem ?
Who?
Cyrus West Field.
Cyrus Field was an businessman . He founded his own company , and soon became one of the 3 richest people in New York. Once one of his friends came to ask him , if he would finance a telegraph from New York to another city. Field got an idea of a telegraph path from New York to London.
He wanted to connect two separate continents. He needed a satisfying project. Now he got one. Field knew , this is a big deal , and he couldn't finance a project of that format on his one. But he knew people who could help him , and he was willing to engage them in his project.
Field , including John Watkins Brett and Charles Tilston Bright founded the Atlantic Telegraph Company in 1856.
Field didn't know anything about electrotechnics , so he hired Edward Orange Wildman Whitehouse as chief electrician. He claimed , that the cable will work only if used high-voltage. Electricity wasn't known very well that days, so it was very risky. None really knew , if the cable's going to work properly.
In fact, Field's company ran out of money very soon , so he needed more help. He went to London , and gained 2 ships sponsored by the government. The Cable was so long and heavy , one boat could not carry it properly. Even the cable was special. It was a thick copper wire isolated with special plastic material, and covered with iron.
Two boats carried the cable. In the center of the path where the cable should be laid , they connected the two parts of the cable , and both boats started laying the cable. They communicated every hour , to check the proper functionality of the cable. This was the first time two boats stayed in touch even when lost horizon.
But an error occurred. A lot of metallic material caused , that the compass had a 2 degree failure , and it seemed , that the cable would not reach the coast. Luckily , they fixes this problem , and the cable was laid successfully. The first message told, that they succeeded.
However , the cable had a great resistance, which caused , that the next week the cable wasn't working properly.Words and sentences didn't make sense. Whitehouse came with an idea , that higher voltage should solve the problem. The voltage he used was about 2000 Volts , which destroyed the cable.
Field had and his company had several problems. Nevertheless , he didn't give up. He had no money , so he went to London , and convinced people, that the idea is good ,and gained money. Coincidently , the largest ship on earth (that days) was for sale , and for only 2% of it's old price. It was the only ship on earth , which could carry that amount of new cable.
Field laid a new cable , now more precisely , and a cable of higher quality. In the half , the ship suddenly lost contact with the second side. Field decided to get 40km back , get the cable on board, check it , and continue. The plan worked. The isolation of the cable was damaged. The cable was fixed , and successfully brought to the coast.
From that moment , America and Europe never lost contact. In a few years , the Atlantic Telegraph Company earned a fortune , and in a few years dozens of cables were laid on the ocean bed.
Field bankrupt at the end of his life due bad investments
(this article should be fixed in future)(if you are intresed in this article and you want me to write more , I will extend this article , just let me know)
Pseudoblog
Komentuj
Komenty k blogu
Napíš svoj komentár