CYRUS FIELD (1819-92)
The businessman Cyrus Field, who had entered the paper business when he
was 2 1 , and who retired at 33 with a fortune, promoted the laying of the first
transatlantic telegraph cable. He had no technical knowledge to qualify him for the
task, but he was a brilliant and persuasive organizer. He also had a determination
that helped him overcome repeated failures. The idea of laying a transatlantic cable
was not new, but because of the great depths and distance involved, no one had
promoted it. In 1854 a Canadian engineer interested Field in laying a cable from St.
John's, Newfoundland, to the Canadian mainland. This would speed the receipt of
European news by several days. While studying a globe, Field decided that the
cable should be extended to Ireland. Laying the Canadian cable took two and a half
years. By that time Field had organized companies in the United States and Great
Britain to raise funds for an Atlantic cable between the two countries. The first four
cables broke, causing heavy losses to investors. The fifth was completed on August
5, 1858. On August 15, Queen Victoria and President James Buchanan exchanged
messages on the new cable. Soon, however, the signals became unintelligible, and
in October they ceased. Undeterred, Field raised additional funds. After another
failure in 1865, the fight was finally won on July 27, 1866.
E X E R C I S E 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
COLUMN A COLUMN B
a) encourage to exist
b) put (something) in a particular place or position
c) able to influence or convince people
d) the state of being very eager to accomplish
something
e) defeat [verb]
f) an instance of being unsuccessful
g) the land area of a country without its islands
h) move along fast; make faster
i) obtaining something sent
j) an object like a ball, used as a model of the
Earth
k) a sum of money raised for a cause
I) person who puts money into a business or
businesses
m) give and receive
n) unable be understood
o) not discouraged
Dostları ilə paylaş: