"wet-cured" fish for the French market. This enterprise was supported by a vigorous trade with Newfoundland for bait and other goods. Although there were three large fires in St. Pierre, the islands prospered. A post office was created in 1854, a bank in 1889 ("Banque des Îles") and in 1866 the island administration began a newspaper, Feuille Officielle. The shore areas of Newfoundland were increasingly frequented by French fishermen for drying their catch. Although the British had intended that the French not erect any permanent structures or live on Newfoundland, the terms of the treaty were ambiguous. French settlements sprung up on the northern coast of Newfoundland, which came to be known as the French Shore, as well on the southern and western coasts. Changing times The increasing French presence on the French Shore led to tension between the French and British inhabitants, and extensive negotiations between France and Britain. These negotiations resulted in a convention in 1857 in which Britain agreed to allow French settlements on the French Shore and eventually their exclusive use of this territory. The Newfoundland legislature reacted very negatively to this agreement, and Britain reconsidered. France abandoned its rights as part of the Entente Cordiale agreement of 1904. One of the aggressive actions taken by Newfoundland was the passage of the Bait Act in 1887. This reduced the amount of bait available to fishermen on Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Also, the market for "saltfish" peaked in 1886 and went into decline. The introduction of steamships meant that fishing vessels were able to return to France with their catch without stopping at Saint Pierre and Miquelon for supplies. These all hurt the economy on Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Submarine trans-Atlantic telegraph cables from France in the 19th century typically were routed from the French mainland through stations on Miquelon or St. Pierre, and then on to Nova Scotia or the United States. The first was laid in 1869 from the lighthouse at Le Minou on the north side of the entrance to the narrows leading to the Brest harbor in France to St. Pierre, and then on to Duxbury, Massachusetts. Of the 12 French trans-Atlantic submarine telegraph cables laid between 1869 and 1897, 6 of them passed through Miquelon or St. Pierre. The islands were becoming more closely connected to the outside world. In 1903, American Senator Henry Cabot Lodge advocated that the United States should