The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-18 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 18G5.

The return of the Great Eastern has at length
set finally at rest the various conjectures and

anxieties to which the mysterious stopptge of tele-

graphic communication had given rise. The news
of the breakage of the cable can hardly be said to

have occasioned any disappointment, since it had
become palpably evident that some failure had oc-
curred, but the particulars which the Great Eastern
has now conveyed to us are calculated to encourage
rather than to depress the hopes of ultimate success.
The feasibility of laying a submarine cable across
the Atlantic may now be considered to be fully
established, the very difficulties and hindrances
which have been encountered showing that the
obstacles are by no means insurmountable. The
great ship was actually within six hundred miles of
her destination; that is to say, having accomplished
in safety two-thirds of her momentous voyage. The
experience of the trip has been highly satisfactory
in several important particulars. In the first place,
there can be no doubt that the Great Eastern is
admirably qualified for the office of laying the cable
from her size and consequent steadiness.

In a sea

which washed over the Terrible scarcely any motion
was perceptible on board the Great Eastern, her
greatest roll being only 7 degrees to her greatest
pitching, Ito 11 degrees. The unanimous opinion
of those engaged in the expedition is that, having
to this steadiriess of the great ship and the better
control obtained over her by the use of both the
paddles and the screw, it is possible to lay an At-
lantic Cable in any weather. This is very encour-
aging, and the general approval of the Cable itself
and of the paying-out machinery is not less so.
The story of the catastrophe is very simple ; and
although the expedition has resulted in comparative
failure, it does not the less reflect honour on those
who had the management of it. Every one remem-
bers that the very day after the Great Eastern was
lost sight of came a stoppage of the communications,
which was subsequently explained as having re-
sulted from the perforation of. the gutta percha
by a piece of wire cut -off in the splicing. A day
and a half was lost in recovering the necessary
length and cuttings and the part affected. For
four days and a half there was no further diffi-
culty ; but another defect in the insulation,
again occasioned by a piece of intruding
wire, arrested the progress of the vessel
once more. It was again rectified, though it is
worthy of notice as evidencing the extreme diffi-
culty of hauling in the cable from such a depth,
that it took nineteen hours to recover the part
affected, though it was only two miles and a quarter
from the ship. Four days passed, and, as we have
have said, the vessel had only a third of her journey
to accomplish when the last disaster occurred. The
hauling in of the cable was begun again, and two
miles of the cable were recovered, which, however,
was no more than the distance from the ship to the
bottom. Unfortunately, the cable in coming in
chafed on the hawse-hole of the ship, and broke
about ten yards in board of the wheel at the bow.
It seems the more to be regretted, as the damage
was inside the ship, that the loss of the cable could
not have been prevented, but the original flaw was
still at the bottom of the Atlantic. The managers
of the expedition, hoirever, were not going to be
daunted even by the loss of the cable, and accordingly
they made repeated efforts to recover it. The cable
was hooked on the 3d, the accident having occurred
in
on the 2d, and 2,200 yards of rope wer e hauled
when a swivel gave way and 2,Booyards of rope
were lost. A second attempt produced the same
result, but both efforts proved the possibility of
re-
covering the cable, since on the first occasion it was
lifted 1,200 yards, and on the second 1,000. Two
more attempts were made by the persevering engi-
neers, but in vain, and the stock of rope becoming
exhausted they were obliged, unwillingly, to aban-
don further efforts, and to return for a larger and
stronger supply of tackle. Those engaged in the
affair declare their belief that if the Great Eastern is
supplied with sufficiently strong tackle and hauling-
in machinery for depths of 4,000 or 5,000 yards, there
is little doubt of the possibility of recovering the
lost end of the cable, and completing the line al-
ready two-thirds laid.
We have now to consider what precautions it
may be desirable to take to guard against future
misadventure. In the first place, we should strongly
recommend the careful inspection of all cable now
on board the Great Eastern. It should be over-
hauled scrutinisingly foot by foot, that any defects
or injuries may be detected before it is paid out.
The previous flaws were evidently in the cable
when it was laid, and the first piece a wire ,