The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-29 00:00:00

ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.

Our readers will recollect that a few weeks since
we mentioned that the plan of the new paying-out
machine to be used in the next attempt to submerge
this gigantic cable was in course of construction at
the works of Messrs. Easton and Amos, and likely
to )Lie brought to a successful completion. We are
glad to say that it has now been perfectly finished,
and during the last day or two has been in full ope-
ration, and fitted with a short length of the coil
to illustrate practically its mode of working, the
facilities which it affords for paying-out the rope,
,and the simple but efficient manner in: which the
jerk on the wire, caused by the sudden rise of the
vessel to a heavy sea, is almost entirely obviated.
During the short time that it has been at work in
the yard of Messrs. Easton and Amos it has been
daily inspected by the chief -engineers and me-
chanists in the kingdc m, wboce criticisms and sug-
gestions for improvement were freely invited by the
board of directors of the Atlantic Telegraph Com-
pany; but, up to the present time, no suggestion
affecting either the principle or working of the
machine has been made, and it is generally con-
sidered that, as far as the rather limited experience
on the subject of laying down deep sea cables ex-
tends the whole apparatus may at present be re-
garded as perfect.
Ordinarily in matters of this kind it is useless
attempting to convey to the general jreader by mere
verbal description an accurate impression of the
principle of a machine by describing in technicalities
its many and complex fittings. In this instance,
however, the main feature, and upon which all else
in a paying out machine entirely depends—the
" brake"—is pretty generally known, and the other
portions of the apparatus are of so simple a character
as scarcely to need more than mentioning. The
whole of the important part of the machine, then,
may be said to consist of Appold's self-regulating
brake, which is so adjusted and so cmstructed as
always to exert a certain amount of resistance (which
can be regulated) by the revolution of the wheels
to which it is applied. More thin this fixed amount
of resistance, whatever it may be, it cannot pro-
duce, no matter whether the machine is hot or dry,
or covered with sand, and neither can it be worked
at less than this amount, no matter to what extent
all the friction surfaces of the wooden brake itself
may be oiled. This well-known broke was first ex-
hibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851 in the new

labour machine constructed for prisons, in order to
insure a certain amount of work from each convict.
For this hard-labour purpose the brakzt is still
extensively employed. It is made of bars of wood
laid lengthways across the edge of the wheel, over
which it laps down firmly, and on to which it is
held with massive weights fixed to the eLds of
levers. It is the number and size of these weights
which regulate precisely the degree of r. sistance to
the revolutions of the wheel, and which, of ceurse,
enable those in charge of the machine to fix the
pressure of Urn brake a►t what they please, and
when once so fixed nothing can alter it. In the
present paying-out machine this brake is attached
over two drums connected with the two main

grooved wheels round which the actual cable Asses
in running out. These latter are simply broad,
solid iron wheels, each cut with four very 'deep
grooves, in which the cable rests, to prevent it fly-
ing up or " overriding." It passes over these two
main wheels, not iu a double figure of eight, as in
the old ponderous machine of four wheels, but

simply round over one, on to awl round the Other,
and E.O on four times, till it is finally paid down
into the water. Thus, then, the wire will be wound
up from the hold of the vessel, pass four times
over the double main wheels, which, as we have
said, are each connected with the brake or friction
drums, past the register which indicates its rare of
paying out and strain upon the cable, and then at
once into the deep. The strain at which the cable
brakes is 62cwt., and to guard against any chance of
mishap not more than half this strain will ever be
put upon it. The brakes, as a rule, will be fixed to
give a strain of about 16cwt., wad the force re-
quired to keep the machine going, or about Bcwt.
more, is the utmost that will be allowed to
sever
upon the wire. Thus the force required .
tdoe nt or
the cable can never be exerted even
mishap, no matter who may be in
grind roll.
bcybarac ef
the
machine nor how the vessel may
pitchused on the
The brake of the paying-out machete,,,,able, by a
occasion of the last attempt was r
movement of the hand, of exaitingf
tbtleiewmbetetslt, parood-
digious resistance to the turning of
with so little
this formidable invention was
care that not until the injury
beauty, however, of
is was irreparable was
the danger seen. The
chief
the new machine that, while nothing cam add t o
the fixed strain of the brakes, anyone, no matter
moment ease them an much as he
who, can i" a until, in fact, there •
thinks necessary, and
sistance at all, beyond the Bcwt. strain Ott the wire,
which, as we have said, is required to keep the
machine turning. So simple is the operation, too,
by which this important relief can be effected that
a child could even remove the whole resistance of
the brake and put it on again as often as 20 or 30
times in the course of a single minute. For this
purpose, at a few feet from the paying-out ma-
chine, the cable passes over a wheel which registers
precisely the strain in pounds at which the coil is
running out. Facing this register is a stt ering
wheel, precisely similar to that of an ordinary yes•
sel, and connected in the same way with compound

levers, which act upon the brake. Thus the officer
in charge of the apparatus stands by this wheel,
and, watching the register of strain 'or pitch of the
vessel, opens the brakes by the slightest movement
of his hand, and lets the cable run freely as the
stern rises. The same officer, however, cannot by
• any possible method increase the actual strain on
tae cable, which must remain always according to
the friction at which the brake is first adjusted
by the engineer. During the last two or
three days that this machine has ben at work
the value and simplicity of the whole appratua
have been made out so manifest that it is evi-
dent, as far as the paying-out machine is concerned,
all that mechanical skill can effect in aid of the
great undertaking bas been accomplished. Too
much praise cannot be given to Mi. ApPold.for the
manner in which he has thus overcome-tile difficul-
ties he had to contend against. Both tha Niagara
tahnedie paying-out the Agamemnon on
machines,w i will each
which,e
fittedfee
nwithr ee one of
connected with and turned by steam; can be used
for the purpose of under-running or drawing back
the cable in case of any Bitch rendering such a,
rather dangerous operation necessary.
As we intimated some time since;a preliminary
expedition—if we may so term it—wilt start froth
this country about the middle of next month, when
both the Agamemnon and Niagara will steam away
into deep water, and then try a variety of expert-
ments connected with submerging the cable, with
a view of ascertaining practically the value of this
new apparatus, and also how far seine kwgeestiona
which have been made wi;h regard to buoying•it at
intervals can be carried out. During this brief ex-
perimental cruise every known test which eau be
attempted to prove the efficiency of the paying-out,
m.chines, and those for under-running, 40., will
be resorted tl, and the result of the
,experience
thus obtained. applied to improving , any little de-
fects which may exist iu the apparatus. before the
final starting of the expedition in June next.

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

Orders were yesterday received at Chatham Gar-
rison, directing the volunteers from the three bat-
talions of Infantry for .the Royal Canadian Rifle
Regiment to be forwarded, with their familial, to
Cheater, where the whole--of the non commissioned
officers and men who have volunteered for that
curls will be formed, previously to their embarka-
tion for Canada. As soon as the, volunteers from
the several 'districts have arrived-Kt, Chester they
will embark at Liverpool for their '*destination.
Each man who has volunteered from a British regi-
ment will, on the completion of his term of ser-
vice, be granted two acres of land by the-Govern-
ment of Canada.

His R_Tal Highness the Commander-in-Chief
has given directions for a certain number of officers
selected from each of the regiments serving at home,
to proceed to Chatham, where they are to be at-
tached to the .I;:dian depot battalions, for the pur-
pose of undergoing a course of instruction at that
garrison in all the branches of their profession.
The Goliath, 80, having been lengthened for a
screw steamer, and completed her repairs at Chat-
ham dockyard, will be put out of do; c this day.
She is intended for the steam reserve. _

The G fowler, steam gunboat, has been towed
from Chatham to Portsmouth by the Adder steam-
vessel, to be placed on the steam reserve at that
port.
The Rochester, freight-ship, Heather, master,
has commenced ahippiug war stores at Chatham for
D.!vonport dockyard.
By intelligence from her Majesty's ship Cumber-
land, 70, Capt. Dickson, flag (,f Vice-Admiral
Wallis, Commander-in-Chief of the South-East
Coast of America station, dated the 7th ult., we
learn all were well on board at that date, although
the yellow fever was committing sad ravages in
other ships on the e'ation. The Admiral had not
then heard of the appointment of Rear-Admiral
Sir S. Lush ington, K.C. 8., to succeed and relieve
him, but would do to by the mail expected at
Monte Vid.o, where Admiral Wallis then was,
about the 20th of that month. The promotions
consequent on the de ,th of Commander Haggard
had been conferred by Admiral Wallis on most de-
serving and meritorious officers :—Lieutenant B.
S. Pickard (1843), first of the Cumberland, to be
commander, and appointed to the Virago steam
sloop ; and Mr. B. W. Bax, mate of the Cumber-
land, to be lieutenant, vice Pickard. Admiral
Wallis is not expected to arrive in England, before
Use middle of May or the beginning of June.
Her Majesty's steamers Banshee and Vivid were
yesterday ordered alongtdde the coaling barge off
Woolwich dockyard to prepare for sea, so as to be
ready to sail at the shot-test possib'e notice for
Ostend, in the service of the Princess Hohenzollern,
about to visit her Majesty at Osborne. In conse-
queues of the Vivid having flooded and exhibited
other awkward seagoing propensities on her last
special voyage from o.tend, the Banshee had cn
this occasion been ordered to embark the Princess,
and the 'Vivid to follow with the baggage and suite.
The Hannibal, 91, screw, Captain the Hon.
George Fowler Hastings, will pick up the guard
ship's moorings off Gosport as soon as the Arrogant
leaves for Southampton.
The Orion, 90, screw, in the steam reserve at
Dtvonport, will proceed to the Eddystone on Wed-
nesday next, for a trial t. ip to test her machinery.
This vessel is rigged, and supposed to be ready for
sea in 48 hours' notice, being in the first-class steam
reserve.

The Procris and Shamrock, steam gunboats, bay-
ing bad defects made good, were taken out of No.
1 dock, at Devonport, on Tuesday, and the Charon
and Jackdaw taken in the same tide.

The Renown, 91, screw, at Devonport, was
practising at target filing on Tuesday, when some
excellent practice was performed; the flag being
several times shot away.
The Rinaldo, 17, screw corvette, had her first
futtock timbers placed yesterday morning in No. 6
dock at Portsmouth, and derricks are rigged along-
side to put this ship in frame within a tew months.
The vessel will be built by convicts, under the
superintendence of a foreman of shipwrights and a
f:•w leading hands. Her timbers, as before de-
scribe I, are already bolted together in masses, and
only require to be slung into their place and
, dowelled.

The Victory, flag ship, Captain George Henry
Seymour, C. 8., will have completz7d rattling down
to-morrow. She will haul out of the fitting basic
alongside her berthing hulk, Bellerophon, in Ports-
mouth Harbour, and on Monday, the 3(1 of May,
she will be placed at her old moorings, off the Hard
Portsea.

MALTA, APRIL 20.
The squadt on under the command of Admiral
Lord Lyons took its departure from Malta harbour
on Wednesday morning last. The steam corvette
Swallow, under sail, was the first of the ships to
leave the port. At about half-past 9, that noble
ship the Royal Albeit set all plain sail, including
royals, and as she cast off from her mcorings re-
ceived a parting salute from the Dutch frigate Ad-
miral Wassailer, which the gallant Admiral Lord
Lyons returned from the flag ship-ou passing Fort
St. Angelo. The screw liners Princess Royal, Cen-
turion, and Conqueror followed iu her wake, under
all sail, the wind being light from the southward.
The squadron was shortly af‘er joined by the Me-
dina, which in the evening parted company, and
steamed to the eastward, to follow up her hydregra-
phicoperationsintheGrecianArchipelago. Thesteam
tug Hearty was in attendance on he squadron,
to ren6er any assistance that' night be necessary,
in case of the ships getting any fla* of wind under-
the battlements at the entrance of the harbour, and
she returned to her moorings -in the afternoon.
The steamers Coquette and harpyleft port with
the admiral, and returned in the coarse
ofday
with despatches. Afterwards the Coquette followed
the admiral, the Harpy remaining in harbour to
take letters to the squadron on the arrival of the
next mail. The -Upper And Lower Batraccas, and
the walls of the fortifications affording a view of
the Great Harbour, wore lined with people of all
classes, who had a-sembled some time previous to
witness the departure of the squadron—a sight
which always attracts large numbers of spectators.
During
night the ships must have got
an offing,
othing was seen of them on the
thea s n
following morning.* In the conflicting reports
Its to their destination, we are inclined to believe
a cruise for a few weeks extending as far as Tunis
and Bona to the westwat d and Corfu to the eastward,
is the most probable, which will keep them within
telegraphic communication, in case the rumoured
junction with the French and Russian squadrons
in the Adriatic to interfere in the Montenegrin
question, should require their attendance. Among
the rumours afloat is one that by a telegram from
the Admiralty, received on the evening previous to
their departure, Lord Lyons has orders to look in
at Naples, which, however, may have been given
prior to the knowled_,e of the fact that Park, the
English engineer of the Cagliari, had been sot at
liberty, and had b-en put ft. tori causa, through the
eFonerreggietnicAffs
air,remonstrancesL_ of the new Minister of
by the presence, orrdinMtahlempersbogurreys,saobf thlyseupported
du
trial,
of
Mr. Lyons, son of Logrd Lyons, and aided, by the
activity and ability displayed from beginning to
end in this matter by Mr. Lewis Barbary our
acting consul at Naples.
The following appointments were made paler!
day at the Admiralty :
Captain G. Goldsmith, C. 8., to the Wellesley,
recommissioned ; Lieut. D. Reid and Lieut. S. J.
Brickwell, to the Wellesley.

* A day or two after the departure of Lord-Lyons, the
squadron was seen to the westward of Gozo. We under-
at and that despatches left for Lord Lyons on Saturday by
a French steamer to KNOW%