The Press.
London, England, 1858-08-28 00:00:00

this gentleman, we understand, ranks among the
electricians rather than the engineers. His cable,
es proposed to the Great George-street Institution,
certainly has the merit of reducing the specific
gravity, compared with the Atlantic cable ; but
the mode of accomplishing it appears to us objec-
tionable. This cable, we understand, is composed
of a large iron wire in the centre, which is to
perform the double duty, first of bearing all the
tension necessary for submerging the cable, and
then to act as the electric conductor. This large
iron wire is to be covered with gutta percha of
considerable thickness, that it may be perfixtly
insulated.
No one can deny that the arrangement is
simple. But we fear there are several fatal ob-
jections to such a cable : first, the iron wire
must be large to secure the amount of electric
power which is practically found in the use of a
very small copper wire ; the quantity of gutta
percha required to insulate such wire would be
so great as to increase the expense seriously ; and
a thick, stiff iron wire would be difficult to keep
in its place in the gutta percha when coiling it
away, and still more so when running out from
the ship under a tension of from five to ten hun-
dred weight. But a gutta percha cable, with a
heavy iron centre coiled away upon itself, we
fear, would stick together and press the lower
tiers of the coil into strange shapes, especially in
high temperature, which, in summer or passing
through tropical climates, could not be avoided.
To protect the gutta percha, therefore, there must
be a covering of some fibrous material which
would not only make the cable already very
costly still more so, but also too bulky and
cumbrous for any description of ship to carry.
Another important difficulty lies in the necessary
tension for submerging the cable being applied to
the very wire on which the entire success of the
enterprize depends, and in lengths which count
by hundreds, if not thousands of miles, it would
be unreasonable to expect perfection in the wire ;
hence the necessity for it to be submerged under
a small degree of tension. In other words, we
think the electric wire should be separate
and independent of the means employed to
carry it to its resting-place. A cable made
on Mr. ALLEN'S plan could not possess the
flexibility that a seaman would require for
coiling it away into proper compass, or for its
safe running out during dark and tempestuous
nights. Its cost is a secondary consideration, if
it could only be shown to be the best. Mr.
ALLEN'S contrivance deserves the merit of being
ingenious, and, as we before said, is a step in the
right direction, by reducing the specific gravity.
Hut, though we are willing to admit his great
abilities as an electrician, he has not hit upon the
provision for some nautical circumstances that
may arise in submerging an electric cable in ex-
treme deep water and over long distances.

We are bound to form our judgment by what
is placed before us and before the world, regard-
less of every individual interest; and, after de-
liberately examining the semi-floating cable pro-
posed by Mr. WILLIAM Rowlirr, preserved as
w•e find it would be, according to the remarkable
tests to which it has been subjected and which
we have taken pains to examine, we should be
doing violence to our convictions if we did not
say it deserves the especial attention of those who
may have the direction of ocean telegraphy,
which is now elevated to the highest national
importance.

The unanswered, and we think unanswerable,
pamphlet he has published on the subject will
best explain the nature of his plan. But, whilst
we must defer comment on it in detail, we may
say that he appears to us to master every con-
ceivable difficulty, and renders the question
simple as well as easy of accomplishment, at
small comparative cost. If better and more con-
sistent means should be devised, from whatever
quarter such improvement iray come we shall
hail its advent with sincere approval ; but in the
absence of such, we are bound to direct attention
to what we firmly believe will meet the present
necessities of the public.
There are, however, other important considera-
tions in this question besides the selection of the
most efficient and economical cable. Now that
it is proved, beyond all cavil, that neither the
deep water nor the extreme distance the electric
current has to pass beneath it impede its shock,
wires have only now to be laid across any and
everY ocean, as they doubtless will be, for