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BACK REFLECTION: A SHIP IN THE NIGHT
BACK REFLECTION: A SHIP IN THE NIGHT
BY PHILIP PILGRIM
Our industry is based upon light.
We have mastered this wonderful energy and can create it at our leisure using lasers and LEDs. We organize it into packets of useful information; over a trillion in one second. We mix it and send it on its way through hundreds of millions of kilometers of interconnected glass pipe that links the planet. We take all of this for granted; but for one little girl in the mid 1800’s, light eluded her, however her spirit brought about the most touching footnote in the story of the 1866 Atlantic Cable.
Landing sites for the first three Atlantic Cables
To better understand this extraordinary footnote, lets review a few important points and enjoy a digression or two:
TWO ATLANTIC CABLES IN 1866
Nine years prior, Cyrus Field attempted to lay the first transatlantic cable in 1857 however, technical and meteorological misfortunes struck and foiled his endeavour. Determined to succeed, the lay was resumed in the summer of 1858 and was completed in August. Its success was short-lived as the cable failed after only one month of service. This setback, and the American Civil War (1861-1865), delayed the United State’s entry into international telecommunications. During this period, submarine telegraph communications exploded worldwide and the British lead the way connecting their empire, and the world.
Immediately after the war ended, in 1865, a new transatlantic cable attempt was made by Field but as in 1857, the cable broke while being laid and could not be recovered. History does repeat itself for Cyrus Field. In 1866, he succeeded in laying a completely new transatlantic cable and he also recovered the broken end of the 1865 cable. Field’s determination resulted in the completion of the two cables in 1866. The 1866 Atlantic Cable was operational in July, and the recovered 1865 Atlantic Cable was operational in September.
July 27th Landing Hearts Content, painted by Robert Charles Dudley (Cyrus Field is standing in the punt)
Marshall Lefferts (Merchant, Operator, and Motive Force in Early Telecommunications in the USA)
The Great Eastern
THE BIG SHIP
One of the key components in the 1866 project’s success was the behemoth cable laying vessel, The Great Eastern. This ship was the largest in the world and could carry the full Atlantic Cable in its belly. The previous 1858 cable lay required two ships and involved a very complex maneuver. These two ships had to rendezvous in the mid-Atlantic, splice their cables together, then travel away from each other. The Great Eastern was launched in 1858 as a 692-foot passenger ship (4000 passengers, 400 crew) and could steam from England to Australia without refuelling. Due to its size and teething problems, the ship did not return significant revenue to its investors in its early years, so it was auctioned off. The new purchasers leased it to Cyrus Field in 1865 and 1866 for shares in the Atlantic Cable project.
NEWSPAPERS & TELEGRAPH (THE VIDEO MONITORS AND INTERNET OF THE 1800’S)
Another July 27th Landing Hearts Content, lithograph by Robert Charles Dudley (The cable is pulled up the path towards the USA flag)
In 1865 and 1866, the Atlantic Cable project(s), and the largest ship in the world, were topics in many newspapers and garnered interest worldwide. The region around the small town of Heart’s Content was especially interested in both subjects as the Great Eastern and the two new Atlantic Cables would be bearing down on this town. Although the 1858 Atlantic Cable had bypassed Heart’s Content and landed further up
Another July 27th Landing Hearts Content, lithograph by the same Robert Charles Dudley (Cyrus Field is standing in the water. This fact is verified by a writer’s account)
Trinity Bay at Bay Bulls Arm (Sunnyside), The town of Heart’s Content would have witnessed the cable ships passing as they laid. By 1866 all on the Avalon Peninsula were well acquainted with telegraph and submarine cables as the local newspapers covered the work of Gisborne in the region since 1849, and these papers also covered the Gulf of Saint Lawrence Cable project of 1855/1856, and the first Atlantic Cable project of 1857/1858.
Another July 27th Landing Hearts Content, painted by the same Robert Charles Dudley (Cyrus Field is standing on a boulder)
GROUND ZERO (THE PLACE TO BE IN THE SUMMER OF ‘66)
Heart’s Content had a population of 654 and was selected as a landing site based on hydrographic surveys. It’s harbour was deep enough and wide enough for the Great Eastern to anchor and manoeuvre with out the risk of running aground. In 1866, with news of the Great Eastern approaching Heart’s Content to land the cable, people from far and wide trekked there to see the historical event. It was equivalent to the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. Record’s show that even Colonel Marshall Lefferts, NYC’s pioneer supplier of telegraphic materials (who supplied Morse, Colt, F.O.J. Smith, and Gisborne) travelled to Heart’s Content to witness the landing. Leffertswas also an officer of the Atlantic Cable Company and Western Union at that time. The minister of the only church in Heart’s Content, Rev. George Gardner held a service immediately after the cable landed on Friday, July 27. He was accompanied by visiting ministers Rev. Phelps, and Rev. Wood. Rev. Gardner said in his sermon: “There shall be no more sea!”.
September 1866 Celebrations of the Resuscitation of the 1865 Atlantic Cable by Robert Charles Dudley (Engineer Mister Canning is on the chair behind the cable house. It is reported that Cyrus Field was also “Chaired” earlier in July)
Pre-July 27th Landing Hearts Content, by Robert Charles Dudley (The future cable path towards the flagpole)
Pre-July 27th Landing Hearts Content, by Robert Charles Dudley (The cable future cable path towards the UK flag)
RECORDING THE EVENT IN OIL
As with most of Cyrus Field’s projects, he hired artists and writers to document the events in situ. Their works supported publicity and the interest of investors when published in newspapers, magazines, and books. In some cases, an artist or even an engineer with great enthusiasm, would hastily make a rough sketch at the event. These sketches would later be used as a subject for works by more professional/renowned artists who were not at the event. “Lost in translation” certainly applies here, especially when the artist takes licence to embellish or even add details that are not correct. This certainly makes “Time Teaming” (as Janet calls our explorations of landing sites) very difficult when geographical references such as the locations and height of hills have been altered.
The Great Eastern in Heart's Content 1866 (Photograph)
The original cable station circa 1900. By then the enterprise had outgrown the house and was moved to a purpose-built facility nearby.
Here are some paintings and etchings of the landing activities and celebrations. Once can certainly see the “artistic licence”. The interchanging of the giant flag above the cable station seems to be for the appeal to both British and American audiences.
Please note that the painter Robert Dudley was aboard the Great Eastern, so it is interesting to contrast his various works on the 1866 landing.
RECORDING THE EVENT USING THE COLLODION PROCESS
The Great Eastern had been photographed since its construction in the 1850’s. There is only one public domain photograph of the ship at Heart’s Content in 1866. It is in the collection of Norma Godden, of Harbour Grace. One would have expected more photos to be available however, its remote location and perhaps an affinity to tradition is why we see more paintings than photographs. One could also argue that for publicity, paintings could be “photoshopped” to impress.
THE LITTLE BLIND GIRL John C. Deane diary entry: Saturday, July 28th
Mary Piercey “The Blind Girl” Portrait at Age 55
Here is a more detailed excerpt from the “Book of Newfoundland”. This book was compiled by Joseph Smallwood in 1967 from nearly 150 source books covering a wide range of historical topics. The chapter is entitled “Newfoundland: A Center of World Communication” by Melvin Rowe.
On a misty and foggy morning with a light west-to-southwest wind blowing the Great Eastern hove in sight off Heart’s Content, just as dawn was breaking on July 27. Even months before she was to make her appearance, there was tremendous excitement building up in all the towns in Trinity Bay as well as in other parts of the Island. The great event which was being conjured up in the minds of the people reached its fever pitch at Heart’s Content as thousands of people from scores of towns in the Island and as far away as Canada and the United States arrived in town by all types of conveyances. Some came by horse and carriage, others in steamers, vessels, punts and dories to make it the greatest assemblage of ships and people ever to visit the town. Accommodation was so difficult to obtain that many people were compelled to sleep in hay lofts and even in box carts. Tents were pitched on almost every vacant piece of land and along the road leading to Carbonear.
Mingling with the vast crowd that day was a special visitor. She was a blind girl having been brought from a nearby cove so that her fond wish of being present when the Great Eastern dropped anchor in port would be fulfilled. When asked why she had undertaken the six-mile journey the girl replied: ‘While I will not be able to see the ship, I would like to be able to say to my children and people in years to come that I had touched the greatest ship ever built.” Of all the thousands of people who visited the town, none received greater publicity and newspaper coverage than this sightless young woman.
John C. Deane, secretary to Cyrus Field, kept a day-to-day diary of the movements of the visitors to the Great Eastern and the social which took place while the ship was in port. In one of the editions of the St. John’s Public Ledger for August 1866, Mr. Deane’s diary gave the account of the blind girl.
An unusual painting of unknown source with a Newfoundland dog and a young girl awkwardly placed in the foreground. She is staring at the dog rather than the cable activity. (Perhaps the artist is portraying Mary?)
The writer (Melvin Rowe) often heard this story of the blind girl, but he could never establish her identity until quite recently. He had the opportunity to be interviewed on a C.B.C. television programme entitled “Fireside” about the arrival of the Great Eastern and her cable laying mission to Heart’s Content in 1866. During the interview mention was made of the girl in the hope that someone viewing could identify her. A few days later he received a letter from an elderly man at Heart’s Content, Mr. George Piercey, who said that the woman in question was his grandmother, Mary Piercey (née Piercey) of Scilly Cove (now Winterton). In his letter, Mr. Piercey said that he had a large portrait of his grandmother and should the writer visit Heart’s Content he would show him the picture. The writer had the opportunity to see the portrait and considering that it was taken about eighty years ago it is in excellent condition. As Mr. Deane so vividly describes the visit: “It was touching to see the radiant smile on that poor girl’s face as she listened to the boy, who told her of the wonders he saw.’
FUN FACT #1
Once these two Atlantic cables were commissioned, it was clear their capacity of far exceeded their terrestrial backhaul capacity on both sides of the Atlantic, so a terrestrial upgrade was executed in the following spring of 1867. We will soon enjoy this same demand as new high-capacity Spatial Division Multiplexed cables (SDM) are installed over the upcoming years.
FUN FACT #2 The cable ship Ellen Gisborne was delegated to passenger and mail service in the vicinity of Heart’s Content at the time of the 1866 landings. It was stated that a regatta of small vessels filled the harbour to observe the landing. These can bee seen in paintings and in the photograph of the Great Eastern. Below is a newspaper ad taken out days before the landing where a ship, similar to the Ellen Gisborne, was part of a planned excursion for observing the event. The Gisborne was involved in the 1852 PEI cable, the building of the 1853 backhaul to NYC (where the 1858 Atlantic Cable would terminate), and the 1855 Gulf Cable lay festivities. If it was somehow part of the 1866 observations, then that ship would have been associated with all significant cables laid in North America. STF
Philip Pilgrim
PHILIP PILGRIM is the Subsea Business Development Leader for Nokia's North American Region. 2021 marks his is 30th year working in the subsea sector. His hobbies include "Subsea Archaeology" and locating the long lost subsea cable and telegraph routes (and infrastructure). Philip is based in Nova Scotia, Canada.
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