[PHOTOGRAPHY] [TELEGRAPH CABLE] [NEW ENGLAND] Group of 77 photographs, mostly depicting the laying of the telegraph cable between Block Island (or Jamestown?) and Newport, Rhode Island by [Photographer unknown] - 1919

[mostly Block Island, Rhode Island], 1919. Very good +. Group of 77 photographs, nearly all measuring about 3.5" x 5.5" (including white borders). Photographs mostly in excellent condition, some with a few corner chips, but mostly clean and bright. Perhaps a dozen of the images have captions on the verso, most of which read something like, "June 1919. Under running Block Island submarine cable with U. S. S. Palmer." The U. S. S. Palmer was renamed U. S. S. SP-319 that very year, but likely its crew still called it the "Palmer." Initially built as a fishing vessel, it began working on and laying cables in 1917. The photographs herein mostly document in close-up detail the various activities involved in moving, splicing, and laying cable. A number of the photographs may date to slightly later than the "Palmer" photographs (which are the only ones with captions). Nevertheless, they seem to be in the same or a very simliar area. A torn envelope that once housed these photographs reads, in manuscript: "Bob- These are pictres taken when the submarine cable was being put in between Newport and Jamestown." While the captions read "Block Island," it's possible that there are photographs representing both cables in this grouping. A striking and admirably rich group of photographs from this important period in the development of long-distance communications.