The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-25 00:00:00

2'HE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.

We are indebted to Mr. George Saward, the indefatigable
secretary of the Atlantic Telegraph Company, for the follow-
ing report of Mr. C. T. Bright, the engineer-in-chief of
the Company, in reference to the proceedings during the
paying out of the cable from the Agamemnon

"Atlantic Telegraph Company, Aug. 19, 1858.
"TO TIIE DIRECTORS OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH

COMPANY.

" Gentlemen,—On arriving at Valentia on the morning
of the sth inst., I forwarded to you by telegraph a brief
report of the success which has attended the company's
endeavours to place Newfoundland in electrical communi-
cation with Ireland, and I have now the honour to lay before
you fuller particulars of the operations carried out on hoard
H.M.S. Agamemnon, which I have been unable to do sooner,
owing to the pressure consequent upon the return of the
expedition.

" After our departure from Queenstown, at 2 a.m., on the
18th ult., we proceeded towards the rendezvous, which we
reached on the night of the 28th, having been delayed by
contrary winds and a Mai swell ; we found the Niagara,
Valorous, and Gorgon, which left Queenstown on the 17th,
waiting for us, and on the morning of the 29th, the sea
being smooth and the barometer standing at 30.50, the
Agamemnon and Niagara were connected by a hawser stern
to stern. The end of the cable on board the latter ship was
then brought by the boats of the Valorous to the Agamem-
non, where the splice was finished by one o'clock local
time, our position then being lat. 52 deg. 8 min. N., lon.
32 deg. 27 min. W., distant 938 2-10 statute, or 815 nau-
tical, miles from the'White Strand Bay at Valentia.
" Having veered out a sufficient length to bring
the splice into the centre of the curve formed by the cable
hanging between the ships, the hawser was released, and
we proceeded on our course slowly, paying out slack freely
for the first three hours, after which the speed of the ship
was increased to four, and at 7 p.m. to five knots per hour.
" All went on well until 7.45 p.m., when, immediately
after passing from the outside to the centre of the coil in
the main hold, the beginning of the first tarn of the flake
'next below that in process of delivery was seen (on being
exposed by the uncoiling of the cable above it) to be squeezed
between the side of the cone in the eye of the coil, and the
• end of the piece of wood by which the leading in part of the
coil was defended.

"This injury occurred through the extent to which the
coil was distributed during the gales encountered in our
previous voyage. Although the whole of the upper part of

.he coil which had been displaced to such an extent as to

promise any difficulty in paying out was removed, and coiled
upon the upper deck abaft the foremast, it would appear
that all the new cable which had been lately placed on the
top of the main coil had shifted somewhat in the heavy
weather, for it was necessary to rectify another defect
arising from the same cause at a similar part of the coil soon

after.
" The old cable, which had been coiled for a longer time,
and was more thickly coated with a mixture of tar and
pitch, was not in the least degree dis'urbed.
" When the defective piece had been passed under some
of the turns of the flake then paying out to the outside, in
order to allow of more narrow examination than could be
made in the centre of the coil where the cable was passing
out of the hold, Professor Thomson reported that continuity
had ceased.
" On the cessation of signals, I requested Capt. Preedy to
stop the ship, having placed Mr. Clifford to superintend the
machine, so that as little cable might be payed oat as was
consistent with safety. Mr. Canning taking charge of the
reinstatement of the injury,while Mr. Hoare attended to the
dynamometer.
" It is in great measure owing to the care of these gentle-
men that no ill resulted from this critical mischance.
" At 9.15 the fault was repaired, and shortly afterwards
signals were again reported from the Niagara. We bad at
this time payed out 46 nautical miles of cable from the
Agamemnon.
" The depth of water at the time of this stoppage was
2,030 fathoms according to the nearest seunding.
" By noon on the 30th we had payed out 135.8 nautical
miles, being then in lat. 52.24, long. 29.50 by observation,
and 718 miles distant from Valentia, the Niagara having
laid 130 miles of cable.
" After this the wind freshened, and a heavy swell got up,
increasing the motion of the ship very much, and at mid-
night it was blowing hard from S.S.E., the consumption of
coal required to keep up the speed which I desired to main-
hin being so great that some apprehension was felt in regard
to the sufficiency of our supply of fuel.
" At noon on the 31st the Agamemnon had paid out 280
miles, and the Niagara 285.
" The weather did not allow of any observation, but our
run by dead reckoning made us about 605 miles from Va-
lentia, and in the locality where the depth of 2,400 fathoms
(the greatest in our route) was obtained by Capt. Dayman,
in H.M.S. Cyclops last year.
" During the day the wind continual to blow heavily, the
sea I unning very high; by imia.,;(o-it the bad
fallen to 29.50, and everything Inatome a change for worse
rather than for better weather; we had then payed 350 miles
of cable, the Niagara 365.
" At noon on Sunday, August 1, we were 4781 miles from
Valentia, our position, by observation, being lat. 52 deg.
26 min. 30 sec., long. 23 deg. 16 min. 30 sec., 434 miles
having been payed oat from the Agamemnon, and 448 by
the Niagara.
" During the morning the wind had changed to S.W.,
and the weather gave signs of amendment, but a heavy
swell remained, and in the afternoon the breeze freshened,
squalls followed each other in rapid succession, and the
ship pitched as much as before.
" By noon on the 2d we were in lat. 52.35, long. 19.48,
351.6 miles from Valentia, 605 miles of cable having been
laid from the Agamemnon and 615 from the Niagara.
" In the afternoon the force of the wind decreased, and
the motion of the ship was much easier. At three p.m. we
had to alter our course for a few minutes to avoid a three-
masted schooner which passed us on the port bow, so closely
as to make it a subject for congratulation that she did not
cross our path astern. The cable grew out very much to
the starboard side during the change, but I caused an addi-
tional amount of slack to be payed out at the time, so that
no undue strain came upon it.
" During the evening the weather was squally, and by
four in the morning of the 3d the wind bad got round to the
N.W., and a long slow swell from the S.W. caused the ship
to pitch and roll as much as before. At this time some ex-
citement was caused by a barque bearing down upon our
starboard beam ; we increased speed to clear her, but she
hove to on being intercepted by the Valorous.
" At noon on the 3d we had payed out 776,miles of cable,
acing then in let. 52 deg. 26 min., long. 16 deg. 7 min. 40
sec., 202.2 miles from Valentia, the Niagara having laid
780 miles.
" After this, the depth of water, which bad averaged
2,000 fathoms since the Ist instant, began to lessen, and at
five p.m. the greatest variation in our track (from 1,750 to
550 fathoms within about 10 miles) occurred, an extra per
centage of slack being laid to provide for any irregularities
which might there exist in the bottom ; by midnight the
depth had further decreased to 216 fathoms.
" At four a.m., on the morning of the 4th, the large coil in
the main hold was exhausted, and we commenced paying
out from the upper deck coil.
" By noon the water had deepened again to 400 fathoms.
We were then in lat. 52deg. llmin., long. 12deg. 40min.,
only 891 miles from Valentia, having laid 924 miles of cable,
while the Niagara had laid 925.
"During the day the wind and sea dropped, and at eight
p.m., in having reduced our distance from Valentia to
50 miles, the Valorous steamed ahead to make out the
land.
"The water now shoaled gradually. At 8.30 p.m., having
finished the second coil a change was effected to the cable
oa the orlop deck.
" At midnight we were in company with the Valorous in
sight of the Upper Skellig Light ; and at dawn on the
morning of the sth abreast of the Blasquets, steaming slowly
towards Valentia.
" At 6 a.m. we anchored in Doulas Bay, 2,022 nautical
miles having been paid out between the two ships, and pro-
ceeded
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into
"The wind freshened in the course of the morning, by
which the landing of the end was somewhat delayed, the
swell becoming so great that Capt. Preedy got up steam in
the Agamemnon, ready to put out to sea at any moment.
" At 3 p.m. the end of the cable was safely brought
to the beach, and passed into the company's station at
Knightstown.
" The strain upon the cable varied (luring the paying out
under different circumstances of weather, depth of water,
and speed of ship, as will be seen py the accompanying tabu-
lar log,* which furnishes details recorded several times in
each hour of the indicated strain, weight on breaks, angle of
cable, rate of paying out, rate of ship, revolutions of
screw, distance run according to Massey's log, distance
made good by observations, and a journal of all the events
worthy of note in each watch ; an entry is also made of
Greenwich time, so that the electricians' diary and the log
kept on board the Niagara may be more readily compared
with it.
" Some inconvenience was experienced by the great
accumulation of pitch and tar, a second coating of which
was laid on the cable when coiled away at Keyham for the
winter to prevent it from rusting; but this had else its ad-
vantage in keeping down the cable leading from the coil,
which had, if too dry in any place, a tendency to fly out
when running at a high speed.
" The paying-out machinery (consisting of the addition
of Mr. Appold's brakd to one of the two machines fitted on
board each ship last year, as recommended by your com-
mittee, with the dynamometer for indicating the strain) has
worked exceedingly well, in a manner which reflects the
highest credit upon the manufacturers, Messrs. Easton and
Amos.
f! The handwheel for lifting the weights when required,