[telegraph] ALS from Cyrus Field to Professor J[ulius]. E. Hilgard
New York: self published June 2, 1880. ALS on laid paper (8 7/8 x 5 3/8 inches) signed by Cyrus W. Field to Professor Hilgard (Washington). Writing is clear and readable with signature bold (noting one small stain at the extreme end of the C in Cyrus). Folded as if for mailing, likely trimmed at the edges with no loss of text.
Text as follows:
"New York, June 2nd 1880.
Dear Professor Hilgard.
With this I send you a proof of the Chart showing the proposed telegraph lines across the Pacific Ocean with the soundings filled in, from the maps you were so just[?] as to send me. Will you kindly have the same examined + corrected where required. You will observe that the soundings 'along the line' between the Sandwich Islands + Japan are wanting. Can you furnish them?
With great respect,
I remain, very truly your friend,
Cyrus W. Field.
Professor J. E. Hilgard
Washington" Very Good. [29795]
Letters written by Cyrus W. Field (November 30, 1819 – July 12, 1892) are generally available, but ones with cable content are difficult to find. This example, discussing not only a possible track for a Pacific cable, but revealing who is helping him with technical details (Hilgard from the U.S. Coast Survey), is a nice find.
Cyrus Field advocated for a Pacific cable throughout his lifetime. A Hawaiian newspaper reported in May 1870 that the U.S. Congress received a petition from Cyrus W. Field proposing laying 8,500 nautical miles of undersea cable in the Pacific Ocean. (The Pacific commercial advertiser, May 14, 1870). A letter sold as part of an archive records a letter from Field to Mr. Sumner in Boston in 1871 about their shared view of the importance of the cable. In the year before his death he was still advocating for it:
"In a few years I feel certain that a cable will be stretched across the Pacific, connecting San Francisco with Japan. It will run from the California coast to the Sandwich Islands, and from thence to Japan, with a branch line to China. As soon as this line is established it will give an immense impetus to our Asiatic trade. The Atlantic cable lines have made possible for us a commercial development in the European markets that would never have been attainable without telegraphic communication. We would have remained isolated to a large extent, and our national progress would not have approached its present dimensions for many years to come." (Cyrus W. Field quoted in "The Submarine Telegraphs of the World" by Niven in 1891).
It was not installed and working until (we believe) around 1902, and not by the route he notes in this letter. A nice piece of history for those interested in the history of communications.
FURTHER READING:
Bill Burns' research on the Atlantic Cable is very thorough and a great read. It pointed put to us the article above by Niven. Highly recommended reading.
Price: $1,750.00