September I, 1858 , was an eventful day in the municipal history of New York, for on that day the city celebrated the landing of the first Atlantic Telegraph Cable, by which the long-talked of and eagerly-desired electric communication was effected between America and Europe, between the New World and the Old.
The popular enthusiasm, which had been increasing from day to day, after the wondrous tidings had reached New York and had been flashed over the wires to the utmost boundaries of the Republic, that "the Impracticable Enterprise," as it was stigmatized, had become a reality, culminated in one of the grandest of popular demonstrations that had ever taken place in the Empire City. All classes united in the celebration. As for the press it surpassed all previous efforts. It was indefatigable in the collection of the minutest items, and its headlines were marvels of composition and typographical display. Thus it was announced, in the biggest of capitals, that "the Cable Carnival" had attracted "Half a Million of Visitors from Afar and Near,"--a vast multitude for that day;--that the "Metropolis was literally overwhelmed with the huge crowds ;" that the celebration was a "Glorious Recognition of the Most Glorious Work of the Age ;" and so-forth through the column or more following the laudatory captions.
As to the public procession, the metropolis never saw anything comparable with it before. It was the largest, the most