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Nearly all of the capital of this company was subscribed by
Washington people. Baltimore and Philadelphia furnished only a few
hundred dollars, while New York contributed nothing. Slow progress was
made toward the construction of the line on account of the difficulty of
obtaining the right of way either upon railways or highways, and it was
not until January, 1846, that the line was completed to the west side of
the Hudson River, which formed an impassable barrier to further progress
for a considerable period.
No method of insulation had yet been devised that would permit the
operation of an electric conductor under water, and it was doubted
whether a wire could be maintained for a span sufficient to cross the
river overhead. Finally however high masts were erected on the Palisades
near Fort Lee, and on the heights at Fort Washington on the New York
side, and a steel wire was suspended upon them. This plan was
successful, except that occasionally the wire was broken by an
extraordinary burden of sleet in the winter season.


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