The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-04 00:00:00

I

win...A...N..1e. pa,

N°. 185419.]

[PRICE SD.

THE SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH.

.iss.
Some very loose and inaccurate statements having
appeared in several journals respecting the submarine
telegraph, it is desirable that a few facts should be
brought prominently before the public, to enable them
to form a correct opinion of the present condition
and future prospects of an enterprise of such import-
ance to both the commercial and scientific world.
On the 19th of July last Mr. Crampton undertook
to construct and lay down a cable containing four
electric wires, each insulated in two coatings of gutta
percha, and the whole protected by ten strands of
galvinized iron wire, on or before the 30th of Septem-
ber. The electric wires, covered with gutta percha,
in length 100 miles, were turned out by Mr. Stat-
ham, at the works of the Gotta percha Company,
and nothing can be more perfect than the manner in
which that order was executed. The wire covering
was ordered from Messrs. Wilkins and Weatherlev,
but unfortunately r dispute respecting the patent for
making wire ropes occurred between that firm and
Messrs. Newell, which seriously delayed the progress
of the work, as an injunction was served by the lat-
ter to prevent Messrs. Wilkins and Co. from proceed-
ing with the order.
This was eventually compromised, and the rope
was made conjointly by the workmen of the two firms
on the premises of Messrs. Wilkins and Weatherley,
The
at Wapping.
manner b
ad into
bbe which
aoo
accomplished
s bed
this,
pre
--
foreseen
vented that close attention that ought to have been
given to any fracture, however small, of the wire,
and in consequence the outer casing,vedrey layh)urtrbieed work
strength and solidity, was not made
exquisite nicety and care that
had been bestowed on
the core of the cable. -
thoughwi o f great
the same

On Wednesday, the 24th, the coiling of the cable
in the h2li,cf tlie Blazer was completed, and at mid, ,
day abe,yvoilytix,At.gani-tugs, and at
three o'clock oily mag anchored off the
South foreland.

About six o'clock the engineers and gentlemen in-
terested in the experiment were brought off to the
South Foreland in her Majesty's steamer Fearless,
Captain Bullock, and in half an hour's time the tele-
graph rope was landed, and safely secured at a con-
siderable elevation above high-water mark, at the
South Foreland, immediately under the upper light-
house, and at the bottom of a shaft that descends per-
pendicularly from near the lighthouse to a level with
the beach. Through this shaft it is proposed to carry
the electric wires, and then from the summit of the
cliff to run them under ground into Dover.
The point fixed for the debarcation on the French
coast was Sangatte, a small village situated about
three-and-a-half miles, by the coast, from Calais, and
about five by the public road.
The distance from Sangatte to the South Foreland
is '2l miles, and the length of rope on board the Blazer
was 24.

Shortly after seven o'clock the fastenings at the
end of the cable at the Foreland were completed, and
the Fearless started to point out the exact course to
be followed by the Blazer, which was towed by two
tugs, one alongside and the other ahead of her.
A third tug belonging to the Government was
also in attendance.

The arrangements for paying out the cable con-
sisted simply of a bar fixed transversely above the
hold, over which the rope was drawn as it was un-
coiled from below, and a series of breaks acting by
levers fitted to the deck, in order to arrest the passage
of the rope in the case of too rapid a delivery. On
reaching the stem the cable passed overboard through
a " chock" of a semicircular shape, lined with iron.
On starting the steam-tugs proceeded at much too
rapid a pace (from four to five knots an hour), and
consequently one of the fractured wires (before al-
luded to) caught in the friction-blocks, and, before
the way of the vessel could be checked, one strand of
the iron wire was, for a length of about 18 yards,
stripped from the cable. The steam-tug towing
ahead was then ordered alongside, when the speed
could be better regulated, and the rate was reduced
to about one and a-half to two knots an hour. About
six miles from shore it was determined to test the
wires ; but, from a misapprehension of instructions,
the telegraph instruments at the South Foreland were
not joined up with those on board the Blazer, A.
steam-tug, with one of the engineers and directors on
board, immediately returned to the Foreland, when
communication was ny-' by telegraph and fusees
fired from the vessel totlghore, and from the shore
to the Blazer.

At about mid-Channel, in the midst of a heavy sea
and a strong wind from the S.W., an accident oc-
curred, but for which the enterprise -would have
been carried out with the most perfect success ; this
was the snapping of the tow-rope (an eight-inch cable)
and the consequent drifting of the Blazer from her
appointed course to the length of a mile and a half.
Notwithstanding the delay caused by this untoward
incident the Blazer arrived off Sangatte at about six
o'clock. The evening was, however, too far advanced
and the weather too stormy to attempt a landing; and,
after embarking most of her passengers on board one
of the steamers that ran into Calais, she was anchored
for the night about two miles from the shore.

O❑ Friday the wind blew a strong gale from the
westward, which rendered all near approach to the
shore impracticable ; but the Blazer was towed to
within a mile of the beach, when, it being considered
dangerous to leave her at anchor, the remainder of the
rope was made fast to a buoy and hove :overboard.
The steam-tugs then returned with the Blazer to
England.

On Saturday the weather continued unfavourable,
but Captain Bullock proceeded with the Fearless to
the buoy off Sangatte, and having hauled up the end
of the rope he towed it some hundred yards nearer
the shore, and then again moored it.
On Sunday the wind shifted more to the south-
ward, and moderated. Accordingly, the engineers
and managers of the Gutta Percha Company took on
board the Fearless a large coil of gutta percha roping,
and, after hauling up the end of the telegraph cables
the first wires were carefully attached, and at half-
past five in the afternoon a boat landed them on the
beach at Sangatte. The moment chosen for landing
was low water, and the coil of gutta percha ropes was
immediately buried in the beach by a gang of men in
attendance up to low water-mark, and even to a short
distance beyond it. Thence to where the cable was
moored did not much exceed a quarter of a mile.
The telegraphs were instantly attached to the sub-
marine wires, and all the instruments responded to
the batteries from the opposite shore. At six o'clock
messages were printed at Sangatte from the South
Foreland, specimens of which Captain Bullock took
over to Dover the same evening for the Queen and
the Duke of Wellington.
On Monday morning the wires at Sangatte were
joined to those already laid down to Calais, and two
of the instruments used by the French Government
having been sent to the South Foreland, Paris was
placed in immediate communication with the English
Court.

Experiments were then tried by firing a cannon on
the ramparts at Calais by means of electricity passed
along the submarine wires from England, all of which
were perfectly successful.
On Monday evening, at six o'clock, the Mayor
and Corporation entertained the gentlemen connected
with the submarine telegraph at dinner at the Hotel
de Ville, and on Tuesday morning the French man-
of-war steamer Ariel, Captain Arpin, took them back
to England.
On Tuesday afternoon Mr. Wollaston, civil engi-
neer, accompanied by Sir James Carmichael and Dr.
de Hamel, of the Academy of Science of St. Peters-
burgb, proceeded to the South Foreland, where, in
sub
-marine
with
gentlemen, Mr. Wollaston
galvinometer, and
tt
eh set ed presencethe s
u
pronounced their insulation to be perfect.
The telegraphs used on this
occtrion have been
those of the French Government, invented by M.
Foy, Henley's magnetic,R "d' et s double needle, and
13rett's pri • nting telegraph. In spite of much
knock-
ing about and rough work, both
oth on board and on
shore, the instruments have 11 a world admirably.
The gentlemen
legraph Company, who gave their aid on this occasion,
were Mr. Crampton, C.E., Mr. Wollaston, C.E., Mr.
Statham, manager of the Gutta Percha Company, and
Mr. Branton, his assistant, to whom the concession
was granted by the French Government for establish-
ing the telegraph, Mr. John Brett and Sir James
Carmichael, Bart., directors.
h` oy, the director of telegraphs in
France, and Professor Jacobi, were also present during
the first part, and Dr. de Hamel, of St. Petersburgh
during the latter part of the work.
char'n ge of
Messrs. Reid and Henley attended
their respective telegraphic machines..
ess of starting
Much has been said of the foolhardiness
during the prevalence of the equinoctial gales and the
period perm • dof the strongest tides to lay down the sub-
marine cable. This, however, was inevitable, as the
company were under engagement to the French Go-
vernment to establish a communication between the
two coasts by the Ist of October, and as the cable was
not shipped on board the Blazer until the 24th of
September, there was but little time to carry out so
novel and so difficult an undertaking.
The communication is now d
ma e, and when the
short distance of gutta percha roping
at Sangatte is
replaced by a properly protected cable, it will, we

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AL INTELLIGENCE.
REAR-ADMIRAL TANCOCK.--Mll3 dt
tinguished veteran officer's death has been reporter
Ho was one of the few remaining relics of the severe,
periods of the war, having served 21 years afloat. L
1846 he accepted the retired flag rank, and if not ern-
blazoned with decorations beyond his modal with five
bars, he has departed this life full of years, honours,
O'Byrneis sketch of
his careerrespect.and:—
The following is

" This officer entered the navy in January, 1793,
as midshipman, on board the Crescent, of 42 guns and
257 men, Captain James Saumarez ; and on 20th of
the following October assisted at the capture, after a
close action of two hours, of La Reunion, of 36 guns
and 320 men, 120 of whom were either killed or
wounded, without any casualty whatever to the
British. He next accompanied an expedition sent
under the orders of Earl Moira and Rear-Admiral
M.Bride, to co-operate with the French Royalists on
the coasts of Normandy rind Brittany ; and on June
8, 1794, he was present when the Crescent, by a hold
and masterly manceavre, effected her escape from a
French squadron, consisting of two cut-down 74's,
each mounting 54 guns, two frigates, and a brig.
Following Sir James Saumarez (who had been
knighted for the canture af La Reunion), as
master's mate, into the Orion, 74, Mr. Taucbck
was afforded an opportunity of sharing, in that
ship, in Lord Bridport's action, June 23, 1795; in
the battle fought off Cape St. Vincent, Feb. 14,
1797; and in the victory of the Nile, August 1.1798.
Ile also, in command of the Orion's launch, afforded
very gallant support to Sir- Horatio Nelson in an
attack made upaa the Cadiz flotilla, July 3, 1797.
Having, through the recommendation of Sir James
Saumarez, been ordered to act as lieutenant of the
Orion immediately subsequent to the St. Vincent
action, he was confirmed in that rank March 9, 1799.
After nerving at Sheerness an 4 in the North Sea and
Baltic in the Rosario fire-ship and Iris frigate, in
one of whose boats he assisted in the capture of a
Danish. privateer of 10 guns and 30 men, he was
appointed in January, 1801, to the Caesar, 80, bear-
ing the flag, off Cadiz, of his friend and patron, Sir
claJamesasenrsdbisignal
z:ua6S:4a,
lieutenant
ertaeennzads,
DI with
Doiotpniii
themwG her
Diomede again,
homepa
ghuesa.station
otf
r,o continued employed
onmi Diomede,
18t hOe2 u nZ 5e
tall-
an.a. A •

, into the St.

Jsueyfy:::6 7nrd,
11820,
31801,114111111111"ILSIVig"in the'sedem&uoleef,Alge-
ciras and in the gut of Gibraltar; he co-operated, in
the Cerebiee, in the bombardment of Granville in
; and while attached to the other
ships he commanded for a short period the Sylph
brig, an
i d effected one recapture. During his servi-
tude n the St. Christopher, Captain Tancock
made prize, .on the West India station, of several
small Spanish vessels, detained a Danish ship
which was condemned as a drolt of Admiralty,
and re-took a British merchantman, laden with bale
goods, from Glasgow, bound to St. Thomas's. He
was also, Dec. 25,1807, present at the surrender of the
Danish island Ste. Croix to the nellitary and naval
forces under General Bowyer and Sir Alexander
Cochrane. An attack of yellow fever obliging him,
in 1808, to invalid, he next, for a few months in 1809,
obtained command of the Curlew, 10, in which vessel
he was very actively employed in the Sound in
affording protection to the trade between Malmo and
Gottenburg. In) May, 1810, and November, 1811,
he was !appointed to the Mereury troop-hip, and
Griffon
alnBdl4h,eins be
the
vgee
d; h
Bann,
afterwards—ine attained2 ci fifitting
np izo s rank
August
at
tu ht
haanFeb.,r
db
s t,
me lSm 0
cbler2t
1, 1814, until September, 22, 1816, in the Conway,
24 ; and from the latter date until February, 1818, in
the Iphigenia, 42. While commanding the Conway
he escorted a srge convoy to a certain latitude, was
for some time senior officer at Madeira,, and, after
cruising in the Channel for the interception of Napoleon
Bonaparte, sailed for India ; where, on his removal, as
above, to the Iphigenia, he was for several months
employed at Bombay in superintending the equip-
ment of the Melville, a new 74. He brought the
Iphigenia home in December, 1817, and left her, as
stated, in February, 1818. He accepted his present
rank Oct. 1, 1846. The rear-admiral married, in
August, 1805, Elizabeth Catherine, eldest daughter
of Samuel Goodwin, Esq., merchant, of the island of
Guernsey, by whom he has issue."
Dauntless, 33, steam-frigate, Captain Halstead,
sailed from Spithead under steam, yesterday, at noon,
for Lisbon. She hoisted the blue peter at ten o'clock,
and fired several guns, one of her officers being on
shore. He got on board, however, before she
weighed.

Rattler screw-sloop, Commander Mellersh, left
Woolwich yesterday en route to the East Indies,
calling at the ports down channel.
Vulcan screw troop-ship, Master-Commander
Penn, having embarked a detachment of the 12th
Lancers, went out of harbour on Thursday and an-
chored at Spithead, where she remained on account
of the bad weather till yesterday evening, when she
proceeded under steam for Cork en route to the Cape.
Victoria and Albert, Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence,
G.C.H., left Portland Roads on Thursday for Liver-
pool.

PORTSMOTJTH, FRIDAY.— The Sutlej Indianian,
outward bound, is at anchor at the Motherbank.
Wind variable from the southward, with unsettled
weather.

DEVONPORT, THURSDAY.—We have had strong
wind, with a heavy sea, for some days. A few mer-
chant vessels have arrived, but none sailed. No move-
ments amongst commissioned ships. No accidents
have occurred at this port ; all vessels have held on
well.

PRESERVED MEATS FOR THE NAVY.—The agent
of the late contractor for preserved meats has removed
from the Royal Clarence Victualling Yard upwards
of 17,0001b5. of meat, on account of ite being putrid
or likely to become so. This is the preserved meat
for which the Captain-Superintendent and the Store-
keeper were summoned to appear before the magis-
trates of the Alverstoke bench, for keeping on the
premises, as being injurious to the health of the inha-
bitants.

~~c.
c
~_

The following official circular has also been pro-
mulgated :
" ISSUE OF PRESERVED MEATS, &c.—My Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty are pleased to direct
that the issue of preserved meat, preserved potato,
and rice, as a naval ration, shall for tile future be
limited to ships employed in the Pacific, on the coast
of Africa and at the Cape of Good Hope ; and that so
soon as those articles which are now on board her
Majesty's ships and vessels, or in hired vessels vic-
tualled from her Majesty's stores or in charge of the
respective storekeepers at other stations than those
above-mentioned, shall have been expended, such ships
and vessels shall commence the issue, alternately, of
salt pork with peas and salt beef with flour, when
fresh meat cannot be obtained."

APPOINTMENTS.
WooLwicn, OCT. 3.—Lieutenants Charles D. B.
Kennedy (1846), from the Excellent gunneryship, at
Portsmouth, to the Fox, 42, on the East India station ;
John W. Pike (l 648), to study steam at the factory
at Woolwich Dockyard.
FisSgeacrodndfl-aMgsahstiper,
atA lwberotoiwCioclbli,erto(lBß42:9:o,nngafr,roemhß,
Bart.,
guardship of ordinary, Sheerness.
Master-Assistant C. G. Johnston to the Rattler
andori Captain Alexander Milne—Lords of the
FstierTasmtheL-
tSyLveyor of the Navy, Houston Stewart,
godphcotf.fßoHetr
b.
aot;epnht.R.ea Eiensaa sirr.tsAlFi
dnrrdmainai
rßeai
Baldwin
station.ld Tw i.
Admiralty; Rear-Admiral F. M.
n W. Walker,
Godfrey Thomas Greene, Director of Engineer-
, and Lieutenant-Co-
lonelliACßn . eßemr
Berkeley,
l . daesi Right
Architectural Works, arrived at Woolwich
Dockyard at 11 o'clock Lat. to-day, and were received
by Commodore-Superintendent Henry Eden, accom-
panied by Commander Arthur Mellersh, of the
Rattler steam-sloop; Lieutenant Robertson, of the
steam department afloat; Flag-Lieutenant G.
.K.
Gore, of the Fisgard ; Mr. Bean, Master of the Pis-
nisßter:
gCaormd'maannddearctrinegtlerny
Bir.asteor-
berts, Master of the Blenheim ;
.Mr. Lang,e
minas.
r.
,asotfe master-attendant en d
Blackant on
E asghloe7 ;
shipwright ; Mr. Chatfield,
. assistant
.to_!rh.
Morgan,te
shipwright; Mr. Gottlieb, storekeeper bl
Mr. John Frickett, assistant toketh
the
Their Lordship'
and Mr. Bernays, clerk of Nyowr
ihe Lady s
immediately proceeded to viem lc ed under Franklin
store-receiver ; Mr. Charles
. Atherton,
and Sophia, vessels recently e
I) y Captain
Penny in the Arctii? Expedition, and . witnessed the
excellent condition inwhich
they . arrived from that
hazardous service, without having sustained. the
least injury from the ice
. in the Polar regions.
These vessels are now entirely dismantled, and ready
chief chief
engineer engineer
.;
to be towed to Chatham to be laid up for the winter.

,-r,4avasibtaM

MRS. MATHEWS ; OR FAMILY MYSTERIES. 'BY
Mus. Titom.orE.—A novel from the pen of Mrs. Trollope is
hailed with eager
pleasure in almost every circle. The ex-
cellent story of Mrs. Mathews, however, will, we venture to
predict, be an especial favourite. The pungent humour, the
caustic satire, the keen knowledge of socie:y and the world
exhibited in this most agreeable production mast oven extend
the wide field of Mrs. Trollope's fame. If we see our foibles,
our weaknesses, our indiscretions (for " Family Mysteries "
touch on very tender subjects) too roughly handled, we
must acknowledge that it is done with the best intentions,
and in a manner to make us laugh at our own infirmities.
The love scenes are worked up with Mrs. Trollope's usual
power and address, and the interest of the story is sustained
to the last.— United Service Magazine.
GORHAM V. EXETER.—From a list privately CIT.
culated of contributions to the Brampford Speke fund, for
defraying the expenses incurred by the Rev. Mr. Gotham in
this celebrated cause, we learn that the total expenses oftile
contest were 3,6041. is. Bd., and the total cntributions3,Bs7l.
9s. 10d. leaving a balance in the treasurer's hands of 2531.
2i. 2d. The auditors, in presenting their statement, ob-
serve, "We have no hesitation hi paying the balanci of
2531. 2s. 2d. into the private account 01 Mr. Goiluma.".
Eric: 'Standard.

6'441M-14
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