Diaries of Sir Daniel Gooch, Baronet (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1892 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER IV. THE ATLANTIC CABLE-LAYING EXPEDITION OF 1866. 1866.--The cable scheme occupied very much of my thoughts in the commencement of the year. All means of raising the capital by the Atlantic Company had failed, and I saw no hopes of doing anything through their powers. Mr. Cyrus Field came over from America to work at it, and came to my house late one Sunday night in despair. I then proposed to him that we should start a new company, under an agreement with the Atlantic to find the capital and lay the cables, paying them any profits we might get beyond a fixed amount. This scheme was at once acted upon, and the Anglo-American Company was formed in March 1866; but the difficulty was still to raise the 600,000 required. I proposed to our board at the Construction Company, that each director should put his name down for 10,000 on a sheet of paper at once, to show the public that we had confidence in our scheme. This made some long faces, but I began the list with my name, and nine others added theirs, so that we had 100,000 round the table. This good start had the required effect, and we succeeded in raising the capital, the Construction Company taking a good deal of it, and set to work in earnest to fit out the Great Eastern and complete the new cable. Great consideration and attention was given to the machinery for hauling in the cable. Nothing could work better than our payingout machinery had done; but we required entirely new machinery for hauling in, with good and powerful engines to work them. We also put one of these machines to work in connection with the paying-out gear, so that, in case of a fault showing itself, the cable could be at once hauled back, without cutting or disturbing it, from the paying-out...