news in America and Europe,
and transmitting it between the two continents with greater dispatch
than was possible in the then existing mode of communication between the
two countries. The scheme of Mr. Gisborne had commended itself to Mr.
Matthew Field, and he urged his brother to meet that gentleman and hear
his statements. Mr. Cyrus Field at once declined to undertake any share
in the enterprise, and said that it would be useless for him to meet Mr.
Gisborne; but his brother was so urgent that he at last consented to
grant Mr. Gisborne an interview, and at least hear what he had to say.
At the appointed time, Mr. Field received Mr. Gisborne at his house, and
was there made acquainted with the proposed plan of operations of the
"Electric Telegraph Company of Newfoundland." This company had gone into
bankruptcy a short time previous, but Mr. Gisborne hoped to be able to
revive it by the aid of American capital. The scheme which he laid
before Mr. Field, can not be better stated than by quoting the following
extract from the charter which the Legislature of Newfoundland had
granted the bankruptcy company:

"The telegraph line of this company is designed to be strictly an
'Inter-Continental Telegraph,' Its termini will be New York, in the
United States, and London, in the Kingdom of Great Britain; these points
are to be connected by a line of electric telegraph from New York to St.
John's, Newfoundland, partly on poles, partly laid in the ground, and
partly through the water, and a line of the swiftest steamships ever
built, from that point to Ireland. The trips of these steamships, it is
expected, will not exceed five days, and as very little time will be
occupied in transmitting messages between St. John's and New York, the
communication between the latter city and London or Liverpool, will be
effected in _six days,_ or less. The company will have likewise
stationed at St. John's a steam yacht, for the purpose of intercepting
the European and American steamships, so that no opportunity may be
lost in forwarding intelligence in advance of the ordinary channels of
communication."

Mr. Field listened attentively to his visitor, but declined to commit
himself to more than an expression of sympathy with the enterprise.
After the departure of his guest, he took the globe which stood in his
library, and turning it over, began to examine the proposed route of the
telegraph line and the distance to be traversed by the steamers