Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-01-27 00:00:00

PROPOSED NEW ATLANTIQ TELEGRAPH.
A numerously attended fleeting was held at the Under-
writers' Room, Exchange Buildings, 'yesterday afternoon,
for the piirpose
.of hearing from Mr. Allen, C.E., of
London, an explanation of, and information, with regard
to, his system for establishing a company to carry out
the work of laying down a new telegraph cable between
this country and the American continent. Mr. W. Brown,
M.P., was unanimously called upon to preside.
The Chairman said, he was very, happy to take part
in any meeting where the object contemplated was, the
accomplishment of the means of carrying out a system
for conveying messages between this country and America.

He was chairman of the first undertaking of the kind,
when the company availed itself of the advice of
sea-faring men —the most eminent electricians—
and others ; but great difference of opinion existed as to
which was the proper kind of cable to be used. They
had been unfortunate, but had solved a great problem.
He had looked more to carrying out a national under-
taking than to realising any pecuniary gain. He should
be glad to see another effort made to carry the project
into effect. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. Allen produced specimens of his patent cable,
which is much lighter than that recently laid across the
Atlantic. The core is a copper wire of tolerable strength,
over which is immediately twisted a fine iron wire ; and
this is insulted by three distinct layers of gutta-
percha, the external one—of peculiar manufacture
being very • hard and strong. The advantages
which would be offered by this cable were these : " First :
Conductors so formed need only weigh half a ton per
mile, instead of tivo, four, or six, as those at present laid,
thus bringing the items of weight, as well as cost,
according to circumstances, within a comparatively small
amount. Second : This conductor being in fact an iron
rope, merely of sufficient strength to meet the circum-
stances of the .case, enclosed in a material which will
perfectly insulate, and, at the same time, protect it from
the action of the water-scan be easily handled and laid
in one continuous line, both with less hazard, and at a
comparatively small cost to that of the ordinary descrip-
tion of . cable. In addition to these advantages, the
fact of no metal being used outside, renders the con-
ductor in a great degree independent of absolutely
perfect insulation, as there is neither that tendency to
charge the wire—which disturbs the working of the
instruments—nor to making the, short circuit, in the
event of the insulation becoming imperfect, which, in
submarine conductors on the present plan, -is a defect that
is always increasing." Mr. Allan then gave a fuller
explanation of his proposal. He had, he said, had great
experience with regard to telegraphy, having, in 1852,
been concerned in laying the line between Holyhead
and Dublin, which, as they were aware, gave
way the morning after it was laid, in the same way
that the Atlantic cable failed. He had long seen the
desirability, and believed in the practicability of laying a
cable across the Atlantic, and now that the thing had
been accomplished, though in one sense a failure, the
great, object was to remedy the defect that had been
found to exist. In the. Atlantic cable that had failed, the
construction of the rope was an error, awl was contrary
to the laws of mechanics and natural philosophy, so that
when it came to be laid in d

considerable

eep water, ana a
"length of it was in a spiral, for it
,o stretch, and the effect of stretching

vas bound

upon that cable was to destroy or break the conductability
or insulation. The strength of the cable being outside
was a mistake. This defect he avoided by putting the
strength in the middle, and, as it were, followed nature,
by placing the bone in the centre, and the external
covering outside the bone. The Atlantic cable was of
excessive weight, involving about two tons per mile,
whilst the cable he proposed would not be more
than 10 or 12 cwt. per mile. The subject 'of heavy rope
was discussed last spring, at the Society of Engineers,
and the Atlantic cable was taken as a type of the heavy
class, and from these discussions, and actual tests, it was
satisfactorily established that lighter ropes far the purpose
required, would have had greater strength to bear the
strain that would come upon them, in great
depths, than heavy ones. Any cable for a Icing
communicator must have a light specific gravity and
a certain amount of strength in the proper place, that
was, in the centre. The problem they had to solve was,
how to get what they had manufactured to the bottom
without injury to itself, for if .it were destroyed by
submergence it was' of no use when they got it to the
bottom. In 1853, he applied tests which satisfied him
that it was practicable to telegraph a distance of 2,000
miles, and in that year he published a scheme for the
Atlantic Telegraph, but the war arising compelled the
project to be postponed. In 1856, he conversed with
some American parties on the subject, and his argument
was this—if we can o right through, from one point to
another, with the minimum number of stations, we shall
be able to transmit our messages at the smallest
cost and get a better profit than could arise
from having a number of intervening stations. But to
rush into medial res, the .rope was the- basis of the whole
thing. With a rope of light specific gravity, they would
be able to do what was desired ; and he proposed that.
there should be a line from the Land's End to Halifax,
which , would only be one interruption, and this.
would be a great .advantage over the late attempted.
line, which would have had six or eight stations,
thus causing great interruption and expense. A
scheme through the North of Scotland, and by
way of Greenland had been suggested, but that he looked
upon it as out of the question. He ..did not wish to say
anything against the late company, but they acted under
a mistaken notion, and the result had shown it—a result
which the limes repeatedly predicted, from the fact of
the cable being manufactnred on a wrong principle. The
conductability and insulation of the late cable were
greatly too small for the distance ; it was enough for
1,000 miles or so, but no more. The £5O
or £6O a-mile spent on the iron encasement,
of the late cable, he looked upon as a useless expenditure,
because it was not one of • the essentials. He then
explained the nature of his own cable, its specific
_gravity
was 1.35 to 1.37, and would reach about ten cwt. a
mile in weight, and the core covered with steel wire
would sustain seven miles of the cable hanging vertically
from the ship, a strain which would never be likely
to be upon it. 'The whole or nearly' so of the
failures hitherto had been from the stretching of the
.cable, but this he provided against (in a manner which
he explained at length). His cable was what he might
call a semi-floating one, as it sunk but slowly—as much
in twenty hours as the late cable sunk in twenty minutes ;
but its specific gravity was enough duly to sink it and
keep it in its position ; and instead of its being strained
and stretched by being hauled out of the ship, and held
back by cumbrous machinery, it could be hauled out by
men, and there would be no danger of its sinking too
rapidly. The quantity of this cable required could all
be taken aboard one ship, and this would be looked upon
as a great advantage.. This cable had a conductability
of 120 per cent. more than the previous one, and was
free from many obvious defects which the previous
one had been proved to possess. The great
point should be to get as much conductability
as possible, and as much insulation as possible. By
electro dynamics, they knew that the sectional area must
be equivalent to the distance. This cause would effeot a
saving of 40 per cent in the cost of construction, and a
saving of 50 per cent in working, as compared with the
late undertakings in such places as the Red Sea, with
superior couductability and insularity ; but, for 3,000
miles, as across the Atlantic, he did not think it would be
less costly than the late cable. The cost of a message to
Halifax would be 40s, and this would pay probably 40 or
50 per cent on the outlay; but, if there was a multipli-
city of stations they caused great expense. He defended
the route he proposed, as the very best that could be
selected; and said he thought there were many objections
to adopt the route now proposed by Lieutenant Maury,
by the Azores and through the Gulf stream, so
that one end of the cable might be in the United States,
the Americans being anxious that one end should be in
their country, and if that should be so, they might agree
to give the same subsidy as before. Heat would melt
the gate percha, and destroy the insulation. Hav-
ing alluded to the best methods of laying cables,
and various reasons why defects had existed in many
that had been laid, Mr. Allen said he would refer
, any body to Mr. It. Stevenson, Mr. Brunel,
and Mr. Locke, the most eminent engineers of the day,
who would say that it was the only kind of cable most
likely to answer. He should be glad to answer any
questions.
Questions were then put by the Chairman, Mr.
Mondel, Mr. Bushell, Mr. Heath, &c. ; and, in his
answers, Mr. Allen said this cable could be run out at
the rate of eight or ten miles an hour, and too
great a quantity of slack could be easily
avoided, though of course every care would be required
in the submergence. He thought soundings of the route
would be undertaken by Government, with whom he had
been a good deal in • communication lately, when a com-
pany was formed, and he did not doubt they would again
get a subsidy. He should prefer the undertaking
being carried oat entirely from this side of the
Atlantic. The route would be 2,400 miles, and he'
would have 3,000 miles of cable. Each ordinary message
would, he should say, occupy about five minutes.. He
knew the failure of the Candle cable, about which there
was a good deal of mystery just now. The line he
. proposed could be better underrun than the other
i aescriptions of cables. The conversation continued
,e iliac time longer, and concluded by Mr. Allen
sou-
-I,is nreseW; object was to draw re `it, attention
saying .-- K.
to the matter.