Ex-Gov. W.A. Gorman and ex-Gov. Alex. Ramsey were the orators of the
occasion, and they delivered very lengthy addresses. It had been
arranged to have extensive fireworks in the evening, but on account of
the storm they had to be postponed until the following night.
It was a strange coincidence that on the very day of the celebration
the last message was exchanged between England and America. The cable
had been in successful operation about four weeks and 129 messages
were received from England and 271 sent from America. In 1866 a new
company succeeded in laying the cable which is in successful
operation to-day. Four attempts were made before the enterprise was
successful--the first in 1857, the second in 1858, the third in 1863
and the successful one in 1865. Cyrus W. Field, the projector of the
enterprise, received the unanimous thanks of congress, and would have
been knighted by Great Britain had Mr. Field thought it proper to
accept such honor.
* * * * *
Some time during the early '50s a secret order known as the Sons of
Malta was organized in one of the Eastern states, and its membership
increased throughout the West with as much rapidity as the Vandals and
Goths increased their numbers during the declining years of the Roman
Empire.
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