Field, Cyrus

WEST, whose name is identified with submarine telegraphy, was born in Stock bridge, Ma ., in 1819; became a clerk and afterward a merchant in New York city, and grew prosperous in busine . In 1853 he became interested in the work of a company which was engaged in building a telegraph line acro Newfoundland, with the purpose of making submarine connection with the mainland. Conceiving the larger purpose of connecting America and Europe by telegraph, F. organized, in conjunction with Peter Cooper, Moses Taylor, and other capitalists, the New York, Newfoundland & London Telegraphic Co., and in 1856 the Atlantic Telegraph Co. Devoting himself entirely to the work thus projected, he cro ed the ocean nearly 30 times in its prosecution, and in 1857 made the first effort to lay a cable under the Atlantic. This failed, as did a subsequent attempt in the spring of 1858, but in August of that year a cable was succe fully laid, and for the first time man sent his thoughts beneath the веа. This cable ceased to work while its succe was being celebrated in New York, but F. continued his exertions during the American civil war, and in 1865 a new attempt to lay a cable was made. This failed through the parting of the cable in mid-ocean. In 1866 the effort was renewed, as before with the aid of the steamship Great Eastern, and this time with succe . The result was received with the greatest enthusiasm on both sides of the Atlantic, and F. received a gold medal at Liverpool, a vote of thanks from the Congre of the U. S., and marks of honor from various European institutions. In 1871 he was one of the originators of a company which proposed to lay a cable acro the Pacific, via the Sandwich Islands, to Japan and China. He became afterward earnestly engaged in the rapid transit problem of New York, and worked with energy in promoting the building of the elevated railway system in that city. He died in New York, July 12, 1892.