Mr. Patenôtre to Mr. Sherman.
Washington, June 8, 1897.
Mr. Secretary of State: The representative of the French Telegraph Cable Company, by a letter dated June 7, acknowledges the receipt of the communications which you requested me, by your notes of June 4 and 5, to transmit to him. Mr. Lurienne informs me that [Page 166] these communications reached him so late that it was impossible for him to modify or stop the performance of the work of the vessel which brought the cable, which work the company thinks that it did in an entirely legal way, after complying with the usual formalities.
It was not until the 5th instant that your note of the 4th (which was not delivered to me until evening) reached the agent of the company. The Dacia, which had finished work of landing the cable, had then left the coast.
As to your note of June 5 (which was left at the embassy Saturday evening) directing the company to stop work, it could not be delivered to the company’s representative at New York before Monday, June 7, inasmuch as there is no postal service in the United States on Sunday. The Dacia, having finished laying the cable, was then out at sea.
In compliance with Mr. Lurienne’s wish, I have the honor to bring this information to your notice, as a sequel to my dispatch of June 6. Be pleased to accept, etc.,