The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-11 00:00:00

TIIE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.

The general programme of the second and, as we
trust, final attempt to submerge this gigantic hue
of ele trical communic ttion between the New and

Old Worlds is, we believe, decided on, and all the
prepara, ions necessary to secure a successful plan of
operations ace rapidly advancing towards comple-
tion. Since our last notice of the progress of this
g' eat undertakitie the machines at Glasse and
E liot's manufactory have been working day and
night to complete the 400 additional miles of cable
ordered before last Christmas, and intended to re-
place the 384 miles which were submerged and lost
last autumn off Valentia. This additional length
has now been completed. It is of precisely the same
kind of cable as the rest, which we have already
described—flexible, strong, small, and light ; it has
been tested and retested to insure its perfect insula-
tion, and its completeness being thus definitely as-
cm-tained, the last miles of it were shipped last
night on board the Adonis screw steamer for con-
veyance to Plymouth, where it will arrive on Mon-
day next. In the dockyard there, at Keyham, the
mein bulk of the cable, to the length of 2,200 miles,
has been stowed away in gicgatitic coils during the
winter, and a full staff of electricians, under the
directions of Mr. Whitehouse, have been engaged
in working messages throughout its entire length,
and generally proving the electrical fitness of the
cable to the fullest extent. The result of those ex-
periments, we are informed, has been in the highest
degree satisfactory. Most of those acquainted with
the first efforts which were made to send messages
through the entire length of the cable know that
the retarding influence, or whatever other name
electricians may now choose to call it, which exists
in a long conductor exercised a most serious influ-
ence upon the rapidity with which it was found
possible to transmit words through the full ex-
tent of the wire. Constant experiments, joined
with practical skill in working the wire
daily, have enabled Mr. Whitehouse to over-
come so much of this resistance that five words
per minute can now be sent through the 2,200
miles of cable at present at Keyham, and it is
fully expected that before the time conies for
its second submergement eight words will
he transmitted with ease and certainty. To many of
our readers unacquainted with the practical work-
ing of submarine lines only eight words per minute
may appear to be but a poor result after all though
we can assure them that if ever attained it is such
an improvement in the rate of transmission as not
many ventured to anticipate who saw the cable
worked for the first time last summer. At the same
time such a result seems to show with most con-
vincing clearness that, though 480 words per hour
through this line, if it is successfully laid down,
might doubtless amply remunerate the company,
it would still be almost as far as ever from accom-
modating the business messages between Europe
and the New World. If, therefore, this line is
submerged this summer it will follow as a matter of
course that three or four others must be laid as well
and there seems no reason why if one can be laid
down there should not be as many telegraphs under
the Atlantic as there are now under the Channel.

When the Adonis, with the 400 recently
com-
pleted miles, arrives at Plymouth on Monday next
rho additional length wilt be itnene,lietely landed
and joined on to the coil already at Keyham. This
will raise the entire length of cable already mauu-
, factured to nearly 2,650 miles, or some 150 miles
or thereabouts more than the entire length with
which the expedition started last autumn. There is
no doubt, however, but that the first attempt was
arade with too small an allowance for casualties,
and that consequently when the cable parted, and
about 380 miles were lost iu the depths of the At-
lantic, it so reduced the length of wire remaining
at the disposal of the engineers that further perse •
verance in the attempt became impossible. To
guard againsea recut rence of this mishap it has now
been determined to manufacture an additional 300
miles of cable beyond the 2,650 miles which we
have stated is already completed. This additional
quantity will be commenced at Glasie and Elliot's
works on Friday next, and will be completed in a
month or so, and forwarded to Keyham to be
joined to the main coil, which will then measure
nearly 3,000 miles in length. The Niagara
and Agamemnon are again to be the vessels
employed in the attempt of this year. The
former was to leave New York, we believe, on the
Ist of this month, and is expected at Plymouth
about the 12th or 13th. On her arrival at that
port she will instantly commence taking on board
her share of the immense wire, which this time will
amount in length to 1,500 miles, instead 1,200 as
on the last occasion. On board the Agamemnon
the cable will not be coiled away in one prodigious
mass amidships, but be distributed equally on the
fore, midship, and after part of the vessel, in three
o ills of about 500 miles each. By this arrange-
ment, of course, the weight of the wire is equally
distributed and the ehip well trimmed. The very
reverse of this was the case last autumn, when the
weight of the whole mass was concentrated amid-
ships, and, thus balanced on the principle of a
Chinese toy, the poor Agamemnon rolled on the
least swell till her yards almost touched the water.
The attempt to lay down the cable will be made
this year at a much earlier period than on the last
occasion. As soon as the coils, with all the neces-
sary apparatus and appointments are stored away
on hoard the Agamemnon and Niagara (which will
be about the beginning of May), both vessels will
leave for a short trip into deep water, when a num-
ber of experiments will be made with the paying
out machinery, and to ascertain practically if any
difficulties exist in the proposed plan for sub-
mevging the wire from the centre of the Atlantic.
These experiments will be brought to end in a few
days, and any alterations which their results may
suggest in the machinery or manner of paying out
the wire having been adopted as soon as possible
the expedition will finally start about the begin-
ning of June. All the best authorities and most
experienced seamen have been consulted on behalf
of the company as to the state of the weather in
the Atlantic in the month of June, and we believe
the result of an immense mass of testimony goes
to prove that there are some five or six con-
secutive days in that month during which
a gale in the Atlantic was seldom or never
known to occur. The expedition will leave
these shores so as to arrive in the centre of
the Atlantic at about the commencement of these
halycon days, and the object will be, of course, to
get over the deep sea part of the undertaking before
the weather changes. The line will be joined and
laid from the centre of the ocean, the Niagara bring-
ing her end to England and the Agamemnon con-
veying he. s to America. Communication by electric
signal will, of course, if the wire holds, be kept up
between the two vessels the whole way.
All these new arrangements and precautions are
the result of the experience of last year's at-
tempt, and, of course, all improvements conduce
towards the chances of ultimate success. But it is
no exaggeration to say that there is one portion of
the apparatus upon the fitness and proper manage-
ment of which the success or non-success of the
whole plan must ultimately depend, and that is
upon the paying-out machinery. That this ma-
chinery was bad last year, and that it was made
still worse by the most absurd mismanagement, no
one now denies ; but we trust and believe that
there is no chance of a repetition this year of such
blunders. How the new machinery is constructed
we c tnnot at present say, further than that a new
self-acting brake has been devised, which is said to
be perfect ; that all the alterations have been made
under the superintendence of Mr. Everett, chief
engineer of the Niagara, and Mr. Appold, and that
Mr. Penn, Mr. Lloyd, and Mr. Field have, we
believe, been from time to time consulted about it.
So far, then, it ought to be all that can be wished,
but we hope to be able to speak more positively!on
this point in a few days. Our readers may recollect
that when the attempt failed last autumn 380 miles
cf the cable were safely deposited at the bottom
of the sea. Since that time, to the astonishment
of all who know the west coast of Ireland and the
depth of water in which the cable lay, it has been
underrun, and no less than 52 miles of it recovered.
When the last mile was raised it lay at a depth of
1,000 fathoms, and, as it was in that depth it broke,
the remaining 330 miles are still in the bed of the At-
lanfic, where they will stay till the end of time, a pe t-
=neat source of wonder and amusement to its ma-
rine inhabitants: It may, perhaps, be worth men-
tioning, as an instance of the credulity of human
nature, that there are persons who think that this
330 miles is still to be recovered and utilised again.
It is, however, but fair to state that these persons
are in no way connected with either the company
or its officers, all the latter of whom have too much
experience in these matters ever to entertain such
a hopeless idea. Tho portion of the cable recovered
was in as perfect astate as when first laid down, as
regarded its electrical condition. It showed signs,
however, of the outer covering of spiral wires hav-
ing stretched considerably, though by no means to
an extent to affect the insulation of the conductor.

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NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

The Lords Commissioners ef:.!the Admiralty have
been pleased to appoint Captain William H. Ken-
nedy as additional captain to the Pembroke, and
, deputy comptroller general of coast-guard.
The following General Order, in reference to the
gallant coaduct f the offLers and men of the 54th
Reiment when on board the Sarah Sands steam-
ship, on the occasion of the partial destruction of
that ship by fire on the 11th of November last, has
just been issued from the Horse-Guards :
"Horse-Guards.

" His Royal Highness the General Commanding-
in Chief has great gratification in making known
to the army the substance of a report received from
Major-General Breton, commanding the troops at
the Mauritius, recording the remarkable gallantry
and resolution displayed by the officers and soldiers
of the 54th Regiment on board the ship Sarah
&Inds, on the 11th of November, 1857,
under cir-
cumstances of a most trying nature ; namely, when
that vessel took fire at tea, having at the time a
large quantity of ammunition on board.
"It is under such emergency that presence of
mind, high courage, and coolness—qualities which
are the attributes of British soldiers—are conspicu-
ous and are rendered particularly so when attended
by the maintenance of that discipline which was
evidently observed ois the occasion.
" Major. General Breton state,, in his report that
the first con4deration acted upon was to throw the
powder overboard—a most hazardous and danger-
ous duty, which was effected (with the exception of
a very trifling it ortim of it) by volunteers at the
risk of their being suffocated by the smoke below.
" The boats were got ready, the women and
children placed in them,
and the greatest degree of
emulation evinced by the officers and men in the
performance of all that could be required of them.
"For the lengthened period of 16 or 18 hours
the ship was in extreme peril, until the fire was
subdued and the hold cleared of water, which was
thrown in for the purpose of extinguishing it, or
which had rushed in through the openingn the
stern caused by the explosion of the last of the
powder.
" The following non-commissioned officers and
privates are specially named by Major Butt (upon
whom the command devolved) as having particu-
i
larly distinguished themselves on the occasion :
"Sergeants.—Robinson, Page, Doyle, and
Houston.

"Privates.—Warren, Doyle, Hopkins, Fitz-
patrick, Dodd, Gallagher, Wiles, Walsh, Holland,
Glenny, Limb, Carmichael, Folland, Hall, Buck-
ingham, Denton, Canavan, and Byrnes.
" Lance-Corporals.—Westby, Stevenson, M'Cal-
lum.

" The colours of the regiment appear to have
been saved by Private W. Wiles, 54th Regiment,
and Richard Richmond, one of the Quartermasters
of the ship, at the hazard of their lives.
"Major Butt exerted himself to the atmost,
and is entitled to the highest praise for his conduct
throughout.
"He reports of the officers generally that their
oonduct was admirable, and gives great credit to
Captain Gillum, Lieutenant and Adjutant Hous-
ton, and Lieutenant Hughes.
"By extraordinary exertions the ship was saved
i
from destruction and enabled to reach Port Louis.
" His Eoyal Highness is pleased to observe that
the
behaviourofthis 54thodfistttrieessiha
Regiment during the
occurrence was most
praiseworthy, arid, by its results, must render
manifest to all the advantages of subordination and
course
strict obedience to orders under the most alarming
and dangerous circumstances in which soldiers can
be placed.
" By order of his Royal Highness the General
Commanding in-Chief.
" G. A. WETHERALL, Adjutant-General."

Several cases of smallpox and scarlet fever have
lately broken out among the troops quartered in
the south wing of Brompton Barracks, lately con-
verted into a hospital for the sick and wounded
troops from India. The barracks at Brompton
are in a very crowded state, which renders it the
more deirable that prompt measures should be
immediately taken to remove the men of the
Royal Engineers, either to Plymouth or Wool-
wich,og the troops.
to prevent thecontagion spreading
aealmmediately
the smallpox
and fever made their appearance Col. Sandham and
the medical officers devised all possible precautionary
measures to prevent the spread of disease, whieb,
there are many reasons for believing, are mainly to
be attributed to the overcrowding of the troops in
the barrack rooms ; and as soon as the symptoms of
a case aro observed the patient is instantly removed
to the garrison hospital for treatment.
Yesterday reinforcements to the number of up-
wards of 500 men of all ranks left Chatham garrison
for the purpose of embarking for Kurrachee to join
the service companies of their respective regiments
in India :--7th Royal Fusileers, 55 men ; 27th
Euniskillens, 41; 52d Light Infantry, 28 ; 61st
Regiment, 23 ; 70th Regiment, 8 ; and 94th Re-
giment, 30, under the command of Capt. Jackson,
70th Regiment, with Ensign Cobbs, 27th Regiment;
and Ensign Nugent, 61st Regt. The whole of the
above detachments, together with 3 officers and 53
men of the 7th Dragoon Guards, 12 men of the 87th
Royal Irish Fusileers, and 30 men of the 98th, who
arrived at Chatham from Canterbury, proceeded to
Southampton, and embarked on board the Peninsu-
lar and Oriental Company's new steamer Malabar,
1,080 tons burthen, for Alexandria, whence they
proceed by the overland route to Kurrachee. The
following drafis embarked yesterday iu the Ante-
lope steamer for Knrrachee, vie.-61 men of the 7th
Royal Fusileers, 16 of the 52d Light Infantry, 29
of the 61st Regiment, 13of the 73th Regiment, 10 of
the 81st Regiment, 17 of the 94th Regiment, and 30
of the 1)8t11 Regiment—the whole under the com-
mand of Major A. Ormsby, 80th Regiment ; Lieut.
R. Swift, 81st Regiment, Ensign C. M. Prender-
gast, 52d Light Infantry, Ensign M. Murphy, 61st
Regiment, and Ensign P. H. Dobbs, 98th Regt.
Reinforcements for the 43d Light Infantry will
leave Chatham this day, and embark at Gravesend
on board the Tweedside for Madras.
Letters from India, received by the last mail,
inform us that the European and American
Company's steamship Lady Jocelyn,
Captain Bird,
which took out troops to India, arrived at Gallo on
her way back to England with passengers and cargo
on the sth of February, and after coaling was to
leave on the 7th. Captain Brown, Commander of
the Hy daspes steamer, belonging to the same com-
pany, had been presented by the officers of the
Roy :d Artillery who went out in his vessel to Cal-
cutta with a silver salver, accompanied by a vfTy
handsome note from Lieut.-Colonel C. J. B. Rid
dell, in which he thus expresses the feelings of
himself and brother officers:--
" We shall all have the recollection of a pleasant
voyage of the Hydaspes,
undone on your part to promote the comfort of the
officers and men on board and make their voyage
pass as pleasantly as psssible."
mender Mscd 'Dahl, arrived at Spitload
in which nothing was left
The salver bore a suitable inscription, with the
names and ranks of all the officers.
Her Majesty's steam troopship Urgent, 6, Corn-
from Malta with Ordnance stores and the wives and.
yesterday.
children of the men of the 71st Regiment. She will
Malta, whether the head-
take in the remainder of the 2c/ battalion of the 2d
Royals at Pot tsmouth in a few days, and return to
proceeded.
To-day the depot of the 79th Highlanders will
remove from Dundee to Stirling, Captain Sam-
son in command. quarters have already

To-morrow the depot of the 42d Royal High-
landers will remove from Dundee to Perth, Capt.
Webber in command.

The Russell, 60 guns, screw' steamship,
Captain
Henry A. Storey, saluted the flag of the Co mman-
der-ineOhiefyesterday, at 2 p
• rn • , at Sheerness, and
left under steam for Plymouth, and thence to Fal-
mouth for Coastuard service there.
511
,spt wear repairs
depar t merits)
pa
The Sou'hampton, --grin ehip, Capt. Edward P.
Charlewood, from Harwich, remains moored over
on the west shore at Sheerness. No fresh cases of
fever have occurred since the 24th ult.
An Admiralty order has arrived at Sheerness,
staying the fitment of ships for the Channel station.
The transportirsa
t
WoolwichDee having
ving undergone con-
siderable in the engineer
and sh ehts
and having been sup-
plied with new bulwarks, sponsion9, &c.,
com-
menced shipping steam gear yesterday morning for
bdeeren reconfisttrteudetiwonithint western yards. The
Dee superheating steam-
pipes, and is under orders to
ships
hasu n
make a trial of the
ordinary steam during her approaching voyage to
the west, to be mixed with that SUpplied by the
patent superheating apparatus.
The freight ship Glentilt is moored off Woolwich
arsenal, and has commenced shipping guns and
military stores for Bermuda.
The freight ship Jane, taken up by the War
department, is under orders to embark military
stores from Woolwich for Sr. Helena.
Colonel Brown having recovered from his late
indisposition has resumed his duties as Comman-
dant of the Royal Marines at Woolwich,
DOCKYARD BRIGADE. -411 consideration of the
services rendered by the staff of different battalions
of this corps, the Admiralty have been pleased to
make an additional allowance of 2s. per day half-
pay to the adjutants, and a proportionate increase
to the drill-serjeants' pensions,
The following appointments Were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :
Benjamin D. Connor, second master, to the
Renown ; J. F. Burns, C. Bayfield, W.
E. Filmier,
and G. P. Roberts, master's-assistants, to the
hapriwukkle.