The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-17 00:00:00

Yesterday the first instalment of the Atlantic
Telegraph was despatched on its way, and thus a
most important step forward was taken in the means
of providing a telegraphic communication between
England and America. Her Majesty's ship
Amethyst, an old sailing corvette, which for some
years past has lain at moorings in the Medway, had
received in the iron tank which has been constructed
in her hold a coil of 279 miles of the cable, and was
duly towed down to the Medway, where she will be
laid alongside the Great Eastqrn to deliver up this
first instalment of the Atlantic cable. Ten years
will have elapsed since the first agreement was en-
tered into with a view of carrying Out this great in-
ternational work, and before six months have
elapsed there is every reason to -believe that the
great ship will be on its way to the Atlantic to de-
posit in the depths of the ocean a second submarine
cable. Never, perhaps, was any work taken in
hand which attracts to itself more readily the best
wishes on the part of the public for its perfect and
complete success. The events which imparted so
much interest to the short-lived success of the un-
dertaking in 1858 still exist with even greater,force
at the present time. It was on thp-Pld of, AVlst,
1858, that her Majesty e,ongratulated the Pr&u.id.ent
of the United States upon the successful comple-
tion of .the great international work, and ex-
pressed her conviction that " the President will
join with her in fervently hoping that the electric
cable. which now already connects Great Britain
with the United States will prove an additional
link between the two nations, whose friendship is
founded upon their common interest and reciprocal
esteem. The Queen has much pleasure in thus
directly communicating with the President, and in
renewing to him her best wishes for the prosperity
of the United States." The President, in reply,
sent a message which would certainly be as appro-
priate now as it was some years ago, and, referring
to the success of the enterprise, he said—" It is a
triumph more glorious, because far more useful, to
mankind than was ever .won by a conqueror on
the field of battle ;" and he went on to hope that
" the Atlantic Telegraph might, under the blessing
of Heaven, be a bond of Perpetual peace and friend-
ship between the kindred nations, and an instru-
ment destined by Divine Providence to diffuse re-
ligion, civilisation, liberty, and law throughout the
world. In this view," he said, "will not all the
nations of Christendom spontaneously unite in the
declaration that it (the Atlantic Telegraph) shall be
for ever neutral, and that its communications shall
be held sacred in passing to the place of their des-
tination, even in the midst of hostilities." Strange
commentaries upon all this desire of neutrality,
this sacredness of telegraphic messages in the midst
of hostilities ; this depreciation of the victories
of the conqueror on the field of battle ; this de-
sire for the diffusion of liberty, civilisation, and
law have been offered in the contest now being
waged on the American continent since first the in-
fant telegraph carried those words of mutual con-
gratulation between the Old and New World. There
is every probability that the first messages which the
line now about to be laid will bring to us will be of
some fresh victory or some addition to that useless
slaughter and wholesale destructiOn Of life and
property which have marked the progress of. the pre-
sent civil war. Nevertheless, the work is one of im-
mense national importance, and it is not possible to
value too highly the enterprise, the perseverance,
and the untiring energy of the men who, in the face
of unparalleled difficulties, have once more set on
foot the project of an Atlantic cable, and brought
ch.,,ct rip. communication betwet,n Anacritia and Bator:: -
within the range of possib;lity.
Up to last night there had been manufactured at
the works of the " Telegraph Construction and
Maintenance," formerly Glass, tlliot, and Co., 902
miles, or about 100 miles more than one-third of the
entire length required to be laid between Valentia
and Newfoundland. The form of cable which has
been adopted was only decided upon after very ma-
ture and careful consideration on the part of a com-
mittee consisting of Capt. Galion, Mr. W. Fairbairn,
Mr. Whitworth, Professor Wheatstone, and Profes-
sor Thompson, and the cable is now being made ac-
cording to the conditions and in the manner recom-
mended by the committee. In connection with the
present undertaking, neither the Government of
this country nor that of the United States affords, as'
was the case in the first attempt, any assistance to
the enterprise in the shape of vessels for carrying
the cable across the Atlantic, but her Majesty's
Government have lent to the company the Amethyst
and the Trio, two old sailing ships, for carrying the
cable in sections, as it is manufactured, from East
Greenwich to the Medway. Our own Government,
as well as that of the United States, however, still
give to the company a grant of 4 per cent. each on
a capital of 350,0001. while the cable continues in
working order, and of this sum 20,0001. per annum
is to be considered as an actual payment on the cost
of Government despatches. With no other public
aid than this the Atlantic Telegraph Company has,
however, succeeded in getting the work fairly in
hand. The amount of capital subscribed on the
part of the public is not more than one-half of that
which will be actually expended ; the remainder is
undertaken at the risk of the contractors, who, hav-
ing so large a portion of their remuneration con-
tingent upon success, must naturally do all in their
power to achieve such a result.
The present cable has a centre or core formed of
seven copper wires—six laid round one. The
weight of copper in these wires is, however, 300 lb.
for each nautical mile, as against 1061 b. in the first
cable. This is in itself an important point of dif-
ference, the weight of copper for the conducting
wires in the whole length being more than 200 tons
greater than in the first cable. The gauge of the
wire used_ is that known as No. 18. These con-
ducting wires are insulated by four layers of gutta
percha, laid on alternately with four thin layers of
the material known as Chatterton's compound, the
diameter of the core thus covered being rather less
than half an inch, the exact figures being -464
inches, and the circumference F 392 inches. In
the first cable the core was protected by three
coverings of gutta percha, weighing 2611 b. per
nautical mile—the difference between the nautical
and geographical mile is in the proportion of 2,126
to 1,760 yards—the weight of the insulator in the
first cable was 2611 b., in the present one it is 400 lb.
per mile. For the protection of the core and the
insulating portions there is a " padding " or coat-
ing of a soft jute yarn, saturated with a pre-
servative mixture, which is wound round and
next to the insulating outer surface of gutta
percha. This will help to resist the strain
brought to bear upon the cable when a great length
is paid out in deep water. Outside of this
.pad-
dinge is the coating employed only for protective
purposes, purposes, and forming, of course, no part of owires,
telegraph proper. This consists of 10
of the gauge -095, drawn from homogeneous
Each of these wires is surrounded separately
of these 10
five-strand tarred manilla. The wholeround
the padded
strands are then laid
spirally such a manner twill
when and they are formed in s
withrn
it the wires will
when a heavy strainh ctoo
the cable.eawa:lriskoteibige:f
wires,
give greater strength
charcoal •
ncotrhre
18 strandsf e
a iron wire,
round and upon the core.
be
elegreffaepeltet
effected
ebypro teocsteido noofztelovi
fe
each strand comp
ircaallblYe the whole strain came upon
portion, and not upon this outer
g 01.1
t Theselhnepean ren, were
n r laid
itn tnheserp
coating of wire, which really served only to in-
crease the specific gravity without giving addi-
tional strength. The line now in hand has a vast
superiority over the former one in regard to its
specific gravity. The first weighed in air 20 dwt. ;
this weighs 34 cwt. to the nautical mile ; in water,
however, the weight-of' the first was 13.4 cwt, per
mile; the specific gravity of the second, notwith-