9 a.m. on the 20th of October
And yet the very same evening he wrote to the firm of Breadwill and Co. begging them to suspend the casting of the projectile until fresh orders . Now how can the emotion be described which took possession of the whole of America ? The effect of the Barbicane proposition was surpassed tenfold ; what the newspapers of the Union said , the way they accepted the news , and how they chanted the arrival of this hero from the old continent ; how to depict the feverish agitation in which every one lived , counting the hours , minutes , and seconds ; how to give even a feeble idea of the effect of one idea upon so many heads ; how to show every occupation being given up for a single preoccupation , work stopped , commerce suspended , vessels , ready to start , waiting in the ports so as not to miss the arrival of the _ Atlanta _ , every species of conveyance arriving full and returning empty , the bay of Espiritu-Santo incessantly ploughed by steamers , packet-boats , pleasure-yachts , and fly-boats of all dimensions ; how to denominate in numbers the thousands of curious people who in a fortnight increased the population of Tampa Town fourfold , and were obliged to encamp under tents like an army in campaign -- all this is a task above human force , and could not be undertaken without rashness . At 9 a.m. on the 20th of October the semaphores of the Bahama Channel signalled thick smoke on the horizon . Two hours later a large steamer exchanged signals with them . The name _ Atlanta _ was immediately sent to Tampa Town . At 4 p.m. the English vessel entered the bay of Espiritu-Santo .