Submarine cable 1Contract and laying of the cable
Submarine cable
Original title: Cabo submarino
Describes the laying of the submarine telegraph cable that linked Madeira with mainland Portugal, opened to the public on 26 September 1874. The cable was laid by an English company under a 99-year concession granted at no cost to the Portuguese state.
1Contract and laying of the cable
It was on 26 September 1874 that this archipelago was at last endowed with a most important and long-desired improvement: its connection to mainland Portugal by electric telegraph. An English company, under a contract concluded with our government, laid the cable and set up the telegraph installations, with the right to operate them for a period of 99 years at no cost whatsoever to the Portuguese state. The contract was signed on 12 November 1872 between the Portuguese government and Mr Jules Despecher, representative of the Mainteneuse and Falmouth and Malte companies. The cable was to be landed near the mouth of the Tagus, in the city of Funchal and on one of the islands of Cape Verde, and was to begin operating before 30 September 1873.
On 22 August 1874 the English steamer Seine left Lisbon, charged with laying across the ocean the submarine cable that was to link this island to the European continent. After 11 days at sea spent laying the cable, it broke some 100 miles from Madeira. The steamer then headed for Funchal to land some passengers and take on coal and provisions, arriving in our harbour on 3 September. After the necessary delay, the Seine sailed out to resume the interrupted work, returning to Funchal a few days later and at once landing the cable ashore.
2Opening of the service
On 24 September a few private telegrams were exchanged with the capital, but the public service began on the 26th, when the first telegraphic dispatch was sent to King Luís I. The first telegram received in this city was the monarch’s message to the civil governor of the district, congratulating him on the completion of so important an improvement.
That day saw various celebrations, with brilliant illuminations at the entrance to the city and in the former Praça da Constituição, music, fireworks, etc.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 03-
The Portuguese government signed the contract with Jules Despecher for the submarine cable linking Funchal.
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Contractual deadline for the submarine cable to Funchal to begin operating.
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The English steamer Seine left Lisbon to lay the submarine cable and reached Funchal after the cable broke about 100 miles from Madeira.
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The first private telegrams were exchanged between Funchal and Lisbon.
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Public telegraph service between Madeira and mainland Portugal opened by submarine cable laid by the Brazilian Telegraph Company, with Sir William Thomson present; the inauguration was celebrated in Funchal with illuminations.
Place
Places mentioned · 05
Abroad
- Cape Verde
One of the Cape Verde islands was to be a cable landing point.
Cape Verde is an archipelago and Portuguese colony that served as a place of exile and deportation for Madeirans, including liberals in the 1820s, protesters against the dairy decrees and the 1936 rioters. Lowe visited it in 1864 and 1866. It shares one flowering-plant species with Madeira.
- Funchal
Landing point of the cable in Madeira.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Lisbon
Portugal. Port from which the cable ship Seine departed and the capital linked by the cable.
The Portuguese capital, seat of the Relação court and of the Misericórdia whose privileges and statutes were extended to Funchal. Henrique Franco de Sousa studied at its Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and Luiz José Baiardo moved there in 1821.
- Praça da Constituição
Funchal. Square in Funchal illuminated during the celebrations of the cable's opening.
The Praça da Constituição was a former square in Funchal, earlier called Passeio Público, named after the liberal constitution proclaimed there on 28 January 1821. It was called Praça Real under D. Miguel, became Praça da República in 1911, and disappeared in 1914 when the Avenida Oeste was built. It adjoined the Municipal Garden and was a terminus of the tramway.
- Tagus
Portugal. The cable was to be landed near the mouth of the Tagus.
The Tejo (Tagus) is the river where the Azamor fleet assembled. From it a French frigate took the expelled Sisters in 1862, and the submarine cable was to be landed near its mouth.
People
People mentioned · 02-
Representative of the Mainteneuse and Falmouth and Malte companies, who signed the cable contract with the Portuguese government on 12 November 1872.
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King of Portugal who received the first telegraphic dispatch from Madeira and sent congratulations to the civil governor in 1874.