The Eagle and the Atlantic Telegraph
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THE EAGLE AND THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.—
The Eagle's1 course in relation to the Telegraph2 must have been exceedingly amusing to the readers of that sheet. Its editor seems to have been obstinately determined, from the outset, to throw cold water on teh great enterprise, and up to the very moment of its triumph obstinately denied that it could be accomplished. When the first paragraph of Queen's3 Message arrived, and all the journalistic world pronounced it unduly bried unsatisfactory, and not at all up to the public expectations, the Eagle, with its usual pig-headed propensity for running counter to public sentiment, says:
To our mind it is distinguished by that brevity which is appropriate on such an occasion, and by a sobriety of expression as becoming to the taste of its author as a lady as to her position as a queen.
The very number of the paper in which this was published, contained in its telegraphic column a correction of the huge blunder made by the Electricians at Trinity Bay and gave the Queen's Message, as she wrote it, in full, thus stultifying that sagacious sheet's editorial remarks.
Another ridiculous instance of the same kind was furnished in the "Organ" of yesterday, In a "leader" entitled "Where is the Farce to End," the "Organ" dogmatically say in commencing:
The message of Mayor Tiemann4 to the Lord Mayor of London, which was transmitted to Newfoundland a week ago, has not been sent to Trinity Bay as yet, and will not be.
At the bottom of the notice we find a P.S., as follows:
It will be seen that a telegraph dispatch in our usual column states that Mayor Tiemann's message has been sent on.
The "Organ" may as well give it up and not stultify itself further in its own columns. It is useless to "kick against the pricks."
Notes:
1. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle was the leading daily newspaper of the independent city of Brooklyn for much of Whitman's adult life. Founded in 1841, it became the main organ of the Democratic party in town. Whitman had been the Eagle's editor between 1846 and 1848 and still occasionally contributed to the paper into the late 1850s (see Amy Kapp, "A Long-Lost Eagle Article Puts Walt and Jeff on the Map," Walt Whitman Quarterly Review, vol. 40 [Winter/Spring 2023]: 140–49). For more information on Whitman and the Eagle, see Dennis K. Renner, "Brooklyn Daily Eagle," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
2. The Transatlantic Telegraph was the first cable connection between the United States and Europe, built by Cyrus West Field and the Atlantic Telegraph Company. It sent its initial message—a note from the British Queen—in 1858 and, although the cable spanning from Canada's Trinity Bay to Ireland was only in operation for three weeks, had a major impact on transatlantic relations of the antebellum period. [back]
3. Queen Alexandrina Victoria (1819–1901) was the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837–1901. She had the second longest reign of any British monarch. Whitman had a somewhat positive view of Victoria. On the occasion of her seventy-first birthday, he had a congratulatory poem published in British newspapers, which credited the Queen with intervening against British recognition of the Confederacy during the Civil war. [back]
4. Daniel Fawcett Tiemann (1805–1899) was mayor of New York City from 1858 to 1860. He won against ousted Democratic mayor Fernando Wood on a fusionist ticket (Independent Party), supported by Republicans and Know Nothings. [back]