BookRix

The Russian-American Telegraph Company, Otherwise Known As The
"Western Union Extension," Was Organised At New York In The Summer
Of 1864. The Idea Of A Line From America To Europe, By Way Of Bering
Strait, Had Existed For Many Years In The Minds Of Several Prominent
Telegraphers, And Had Been Proposed By Perry Mcd. Collins, As Early
As 1857, When He Made His Trip Across Northern Asia. It Was Never
Seriously Considered, However, Until After The Failure Of The First
Atlantic Cable, When The Expediency Of An Overland Line Between The
Two Continents Began To Be Earnestly Discussed. The Plan Of Mr.
Collins, Which Was Submitted To The Western Union Telegraph Company Of
New York As Early As 1863, Seemed To Be The Most Practicable Of All
The Projects Which Were Suggested For Intercontinental Communication.
It Proposed To Unite The Telegraphic Systems Of America And Russia By
A Line Through British Columbia, Russian America, And North-Eastern
Siberia, Meeting The Russian Lines At The Mouth Of The Amur (Ah-Moor)
River On The Asiatic Coast, And Forming One Continuous Girdle Of Wire
Nearly Round The Globe.