The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-25 00:00:00

- •
braces no less than 400 loads of tiiii*sliVirkk4ii,•:,
consumed. Every part of the tanks thelnieli,fWlg6
is braced with wrought iron tie-rods to ate Bidets of ti
the ship. In fact, unless the vessel meets with such
a heavy sea as would break her back, there seems to
be no possibility of danger arising from the stowage
of the cable. The mere cable, however, is but an
item in the mass of heavy weights the Great Eastern
will have to carry on this occasion. Her draught
of water will be rather over than under 30ft., and,
all told, her weights, when starting from Valentin,
will come near the stupendous mass of 18,000 JOBS.
They are al], however, stowed high, and so placed
throughout from end to end as to counteract as much
as it can be encountered the Great Eastern's un-
pleasant tendency to roll in a beam sea.
The first part of the ship to which his itoyal iligh-
ness paid a visit was to where the cable was being
wound inboard from the little frigate alongside.
From this point, where nothing new or more un-
usual was to be seen than on board any vessel taking
in a heavy hawser, the visitors passed to where the
centre coil was being wound away. Here there was
nothing more to see, nor nothing less, than when
the cable will be really sunk in the depths of the
Atlantic. here was the same order, the same silence,
and, we might add, the same unpleasant heat and
gloom as reigned in the hold of the Agamemnon
when, fathom by fathom and mile by mile, the first
wire was successfully laid across the ocean. The
only difference was that on this occasion the cable
was coming slowly down through the hole in the desk
and was being stowed away by the men and pressed
carefully down in regular circles, instead of as
when " paying out ;" the rope rises with the same
speed, and the men have only to watch that one
portion does not stick to and lift another, and
make a " kink" that would be as fatal, if it once
occurred, to the " conductivity" of the cable as if
it were broken. From the midship coil his Royal
Highness went to see the manner in which the great
weight of the foremast mass of cable was supported
and shored up from underneath. A message was
then sent through one of bile coils, which represented
in its length the distance from the Great Eastern to
Valentia. The signals transmitted were only four
words, " God save the Queen," yet they were re-
ceived at the other end of the coil in the course of a
few seconds, a speed which speaks as highly for the
" conductivity" and insulation of the cable as it
does for the commercial prospects of the company, •
if they can only maintain the same high rate of
signalling throughout the wire for any length of
time. A section drawing of the Great Eastern was
laid before the Prince showing the position of the
coals in regard to the structure of the ship, the place
'here the paying-out machines were to be fixed, and
the drawings of the machines themselves. The
latter will be of the lightest possible construction
consistent with great strength. They are being made
entirely of wrought iron. A reserve drum is attached
to the machine in case of anything occurring to that
which has to bear all the heat and burden of the
work. The breaks are similar to those invented by
Mr. Appold for use during the memorable trip of the
Agamemnon. The paying-out machine itself moves
easily with a strain of 2201 b, and it is intended to
keep It working by means of an endless band turned
by machinery for at least a fortnight before th© de-
parture of the expedition, in order to test, not only
the rate at which the cable can be run safely out,
but the strain to which it can be subjected in the
machine. The dynamometer for testing the strain
is to bo of the same kind as those which have of
late been almost exclusively used in the sub-
marine work. It was during the course of his long
inspection of the vessel that most of these particu-
lars were explained to his Royal Highness, either
by Captain Anderson, or some one among the
many scientific gentlemen to whom the different
branches of the great enterprise have been intrusted.
Among other things, it was stated that the shore
ends were to be sent round in different vessels, the
end required for Valentia being about 25 miles
long, that for Newfoundland only 10, the length
being in proportion to the depth of the water, which
off Newfoundland is as shallow and still as that off
the west coast of Ireland is deep and stormy. These
shore ends are the strongest and heaviest ever made,
weighing no less than 18 tons per mile.
According to present arrangements it is believed
that the Great Eastern will start in the_very early
part of July, and certainly, if possible, not later than
the 10th. With her will also sail her Majesty's ship
Terrible, and another paddle steam frigate of great
power, not yet chosen, but which, like the Terrible,
will give towing aid to the Great Eastern in case of
mishaps to her machinery, either screw or paddle.
Every care has been taken to get these engines into
the highest state of good working order, but it can-
not be denied that the very possibility of their break-
ing down is looked upon with something like anxiety.
They will certainly not be overtasked, as it is in-
tended, if possible, not to let the vessel go beyond a
speed of six knots, a minimum of velocity which it
will be difficult to keep to if steerage way is wanted
quickly, and which will, we think, be found abso-
lutely impossible to retain in a seaway. On this
occasion, however, the middle of July is chosen as
being thought even more favourable in point of
weather than the middle of June, when the
last Agamemnon cruise was commenced. Cap-
tain Anderson, we believe, is in favour of
starting towards the early part of July,
and his long experience in command of the China
has very properly induced the directors to
give every weight to his opinion. In addition to
Capt. Anderson, all the officers connected with the
ship, with the exception of the chief engineer, have
been chosen from the Cunard service. With ordi-
narily fair weather, and steaming at tho rate of six
knots, it is expected that the voyage from Valentia
to the Bay of Heart's Content in Newfoundland will
occupy from 12 to 14 days, during every hour of
which regular communication will be kept up with
England.
After the Prince had visited every part of the ship,
and accepted specimen pieces of portions of the cable
in various stages of manufacture, his Royal High-
ness returned on board the boat which had been
placed at his disposal by Mr. Eborall, and at once
returned to Stroud. From Stroud to London the
distance was accomplished within an hour, and at
Charing-cross Station the Prince drove away as
quietly as he came, and the party separated after a
most pleasant and interesting day.

The Malta-Alexandria Telegraph.

MALTA, May 1).

The screw steamer Fanny Lambert arrived on the 15th,
with Mr. Temple, engineer, Mr. Saunders, electrician, Mr.
Gibson, Government inspector, and a staff of the Telegraph
Oonstruction and Maintenance Company, after completely
restoring the communication to Alexandria.
We understand that the line is now in perfect working
order, and that no less than six separate fractures, caused
by friction and abrasion on the rocks Whore the cable had
crossed thoso patches which exist along every coast, have
been repaired, and a much larger cable substituted, pro-
tected by thick wires.

Where the small cable was recovered from deep water—
owniscatiet Was as perfectasrit-wasmuch dowsthroeynefidrs;
obutve n
scarcelyr lOsohf
shallow
ltlho first submerged,
thisbmer egtmed,
create surprise when it is remembered that it was
gina y designed for laying between Falmouth and Gibral-
tar, in from 100 to GOO fathoms depth of water; but, owing
to the exigencies of the public service, it was laid along a
shore where the depth varies from 20 to 200 fathoms, with
a very irregular and in many places rocky bottom, totally
unsuited for so small a cable ; and until all these places are
renewed by a larger cable it will bo liable to interruption.
We hear that the Telegraph Construction Company aro
about to make very extensive renewals on this line, and to
extend it down tho Red Sea by Aden to Bombay, so as to
give direct telegraphic communication with India, and with
a view of ultimately carrying it to China and Australia.
Had the telegraph been working during the late catton
crisis in Alexandria, it might have prevented some of tho
commercial failures which have taken place there, and we
hope that it will be placed upon as permanent a basis as
possible without any unnecessary delay.
' The repairing steamer has been on the coast since early
in January, when the lino broke down--over four months,
during the worst winter wo have had in the Mediterranean
for many years—and wounderstand that she has only been
able to work at the cable 28 days. She left England on the
17th, and a more suitable and powerful vessel is to be sent
out in the autumn.
Her Majesty's corvette Pelican, Liontenant-Command-
ing Bowden Smith, arrived yesterday, having been sent by
the Commander-in-Chief to assist in the operations, and
bile contributed greatly to tb, SucceSs 01 the expeditiot.