The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-10 00:00:00

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH EXPEDI-

TION.

PLYMOUTH, JUNE 9.
The wire squadron, as it is termed in nautical
circles here, is still anchored in the Sound, and only
waiting now the signal which will permit its clear-
ing out to sea. As far as preparations are con-
cerned, every vessel was in a position to start yes-
terday evening, and the only cause assigned for the
continuance of the delay is that Professor Hughes
has not yet completed those electrical experiments
through the coil which, we are told, will result in
a greatly improved rate of speed in transmittingtabtthe
words. At present the arrangement is
Agamemnonday) is
evening,btuot get n
it
ude r w
would e
er
tay ai
nt ol
y-
e morrowsurprise
e( Tn uo
er:e
here to find this still further delayed, and it is not
beat allpu thattinaepffrobtadbilesezteunrdnaoyw morning. Everything,
the starting will
however, is completed for going at a moment's
notice, and within an hour after the signal is
hoisted all four vessels could be clear outside and
going down the Channel. Since the return, both
the Agamemnon and the Niagara have each re-
ceived
an additional length of 50 miles of wire, and
every spot on which coals could be piled, and on
very many where, as it turned out, they could not,
the vessels have been crammed choke full. This,
as we have before remarked, makes very little dif-
ference iu the trim of the Agamemnon, but the
poor Niagara seems as if the provocation of another
ton or two wouid send her to the bottom. It is
impossible for any one to look now at her heavy
water-logged aspect and believe she is of the
enormous tonnage stated. The Himalaya, which
anchored near her, though five shorter, has a finer
shape, and looks in every way a fair match for the
Transatlantic frigate. It has been erroneously
supposed by some that, as during the experi-
mental trip the cable was broken two or
three times in rapid succession on board
each ship, the trial was therefore a failure, and
that the path to success with the undertaking
itself is still as obscure and difficult as ever. These
opinions, however, have no foundation in fact.
The experimental trip was decided on for the pur-
pose of putting the cable and the various apparatus
for laying it to the most severe tests, and, in fact,
to make mishaps, in order that the value of the dif-
ferent machines for remedying such disasters might
be practically ascertained.
From the beginning it was intended to lose or
expend the cable with which these experiments
were made and fur this very purpose the Agamem-
non and Niagara were each provided with some 20
miles of coil which had been condemned as worth-
less by the company's engineers. We have already
informed our readers in what manner this was ex-
pended in the Bay of Biscay ; let us now see the
results which have been achieved from such trials.
Every step in the whole course of the experiments
was watched with the moat jealous care, and at the
time of the first fracture of the cable it was re-
marked with surprise on beard the Agamemnon
that the rope had parted in the machine in-
stead of, ashes always been the case in submerging
cables, at the last wheel going over the stern. The
second, third, and fourth fractures also taking
place between the wheels of the paying out appa-
ratus, and in precisely the same spot as the
first break, endeavours were made to account
for these unpleasant coincidences. The cause was
soon ascertained. In the process of paying out, the
cable passes over two large wheels, each of which
has four very deep V shaped grooves. Before
the present improved paying out apparatus was de-
signed, the great difficulty in sinking cables had
been their liability to surge when an attempt was
made to check their speed--that is, the rope slipped
over the wheels without turning them. In the pre-
sent machine, to obviate this serious danger, each
of the eight grooves in the wheels was made with a
regularly increasing circumference of one-eighth of
an inch, so that the slack rope, if any, would ba
absorbed entirely in the continued stretching the
rope underwent in passing round. Apparently the
increase of circumference was so trifling as to be of
no importance either one way or the other, but a
moment's reflection shows that, in reality, it effected
such a chauge in the condition of the rope as would
render it little short of an impossibility to submerge
it without breaking. The increase of one-eighth of
an inch in each groove stretched the piece one inch
and one-eighth in passing through the machine.
The whole length of the wire in the machine at one
time is 120 feet, but 30 feet makes a complete cir-
cumference of the two grooved wheels, and, of
course, as there couldtheu be no surging or slipping
back, it amounted to a stretch of one inch and one-
eighth in each 30 feet for every fresh length of 30
feet, so to speak, " went through the mill,", and
was stretched to its gradually increasing diameter,
coming out at last 30 feet 1/ inch long. If the
whole length of cable was thus paid out, it would
stretch it some 11 m'les longer than it is now. A
weight of one ton suspended GO feet of the wire
stretches it one inch, but it would require nearly
three tons to stretch 30 feet 1!,. inch longer. What
made this strain the worse was that it was one of
which the dynamometer indicated but a small share.
Therefore, when the cable broke between the wheels,
wi 11 the dynamometer standing a certain strain,
it only gave the amount of force required to
overcome the resistance of the machinery and
brakes, with the addition of the strain exerted at a
powerful leverage to stretch the wire between the
wheels. f n truth, therefore, there is no knowing
the actual weight at which the coil broke, and it can
only be presumed that, as the company have made
many huudreds of experiments on its strength, and
have never yet met even with a faulty piece which
broke at less than four tons, while very many have
stood as high as eight, none of the ropes broken
during the experimental trip gave way at a lower
strain than the lowest we have mentioned. Directly
the trip was over and the squadron anchored in the
Sound there was a general meeting of all the engi-
neers and others in charge of the machinery on
board both the Agamemnon and Niagara, and what
ever doubts remained as to the risk incurred by
the iucreasing diameters of the wheel grooves were
at once done away with when it was found that the
Niagara's cable had on all occasions also broken in
the machine, and at precisely the same spot as the
same accident occurred on the English vessel. This
was regarded as conclusive, and accordingly it was
resolved to land the wheels at Keyharn and have
all the grooves planed down to the same diane ter s,
which was done forthwith. Mr. Amos and Mr. Ap-
pold objected to this operation as unne in-
asmuchunnecessary, as the wire was not stretched 1 inch in 30
feet, but only 1 inch in 120, and that in fact the
stretching was required to prevent the coil surging
or paying back. At the same time, however, they
distinctly expressed their opinion that though un-
necessary the planing down would do no harm.
There can be no manner of doubt but that this al-
teration is a most important and valuable improve-
ment. There is not the least possibility of the cable
surging, as the tar prevents it. When the action of
the machinery was reversed for hauling in, of course
the cable was wound in at the largest wheel and off
at the smallest, and the cable, if ever, would have
surged then, but it never did, though the strain at
one time was at its highest point.
As far as other matters went on board the
Niagara the experiment was perfect. At no time
did the dynamometer indicate a higher strain upon
the wire than 51 cwt.—about 6 cwt less than that
on board the Agamemnon. The greatest speed at
which the coil was run out was at the rate of 100
fathoms in 64 seconds, or rather less than 6 nautical
miles an hour ; about the same (within a few
fathoms) of the greatest speed of the Agamemnon.
The Niagara not only cast loose her large buoy and
buoyed four miles of cable, but she also attached
one of her small buoys at about a mile from the
largest. Both answered the purpose in everyrespect.
Shortly after buoying with the smallest the coil
parted from the Niagara, mad the sudden jerk caused
it to
the same break away from both the buoys in precisely
manner as it occurred with the Agamem-
non's wire. Aenexamination into the cause of this
the cable to the buoys showed at one that the fastenings used to secure
grip or strength, inoys were not sufficient either in
have accordingly beeenase-otf any sudden pull. These
tahltrer.ed, and made capable of
enduring ten times the
of
theain the wire can ever put
orfralom a semicircle. to a slight meg-
solnigthhtelymm. Thedifiedf,
splice also has been
ment of a circle, and by this the chance of the wire
still further guarded
untwisting in its descent is
against. Thus, every precaution -vhich skill and
foresight. aided by practical experience, Can su ge t
has been adopted, and all the apparatus may now
be regarded as perfect. Some doubt still exists
whether the Agamemnon will sail or be towed to
her destination in mid ocean. Captain Hudson
of the Niagara, is determined on steaming ; but
the Agamemnon is already so full that it is no
longer doubtful that she cannot take the coals ne-
cessary for 18 days' steaming. Though the sacks
are stowed in temporary 'Junkets along the main
deck, it has nct been found possible to cram more
into her than 480 tons, or, at the most extreme
computation, only coal for 15 days. Under the
most favourable circumstances this is the time
she must occupy in the voyage ; but if even
a single day were lost _ in making the splice
she would be unable to steam at the most critical
part of the voyage, namely, when approaching the
coast of Ireland. How this difficulty is to be got
over is not yet decided, though most probably it
will be arranged by giving the Agamemnon, towed
by the Valorous, a couple of days' start of the Nia-
gara. This would do all that is wanted. The Por-
roiantiety Bay,
Por-
cupine surveying vessel has already been despatched
to Newfoundland. She will wait for the Niagarna
and pilot her carefully through its
navigation to the Bay of Bulls, where, if

Fall goes well, the wire will be landed and the latest
advices from New York and Washington instantly
transmitted. During the paying out no messages
are to be sent through the wire from ship to ship,
but merely constant currents to show that the insuq
latiou and electrical continuity are perfect.
The rendezvous in mid ocean for which the
squadron steers on leaving is 52 deg. 2 min. north
latitude, 33 deg. 18 min. west longitude. Where
the American side of the cable will bo landed is in
47 deg. 49 min. north, 54.0 west, and the telegraph
house at Valentia is in 51 deg. 56 min. north, 10
deg. 25 min. west. The precise distance between
the two points is 1,720 nautical miles. The length
of wire in both veseels amounts to 2,966 nautical
miles, so that there is at least 80 or 90 per cent.
allowed for slack and contingencies. In our account
of the experiment trip we stated that Mr. Wood-
house went on board the Niagara as electrician.
This was a mistake. Mr. Woodhouse went as
superintending engineer, and Professor Whitehouse
was electrician.

THE BALLOT.

(From the Daily News.)

In the division of Tuesday night there voted for
the Ballot : all the Members for the Cities of Lon-
don and Westminster and the Metropolitan Bo-
roughs, except two who voted against it, and two
who were absent ; the Members for Birmingham,
Manchester, Salford, Sheffield, Southampton, Edin-
burgh, Glasgow, Paisley, and Dundee. There is
scarcely one of these gentlemen who is not a man
of mark in the Liberal ranks, independently of
the importance reflected upon him by the con-
stituency he represents. There is not one of them
that can fairly be called a man of extreme opinions
—for even Mr. Roebuck will be allowed to be no
mob-flatterer, and Mr. Bright is an intensely
" middle-class man." An immense majority of the
gentlemen who supported Mr. H. Berkeley's mo-
tion with their votes are quite asinfluential leaders
of public opinion as those we have specified. Thera
can be no doubt that the 222 members of the House
of Commons—voters, tellers, and pairs—who on
Tuesday night recorded their votes in favour ofthe
Ballot constitute the substantial strength of the
Liberal Party, and they constitute one entire third
of the representative branch of the Legislature.
It is rather ominous, therefore, to find opposed
to this phalanx such a large proportion of those
whose claims to office are mainly based upon the
belief that they enjoy the confidence of the Liberal
Party. Let us run over this dispiriting muster-roll :
Members of the late Cabinet—Lord Palmerston,
Sir G. C. Lewis, Sir G. Grey, Mr. Labouchere,
Sir C. Wood, Mr. Vernon Smith, Mr. M. Talb
Baines.
Members of the late Government—Mr. R. Lowe,
Sir A. Ramsay, Mr. J. E. Elliott, Mr. W. F.
Cowper.
Liberal Leaders not in the late Government.—
Lord John Russell, Sir. F. Baring, Lord Melgund.
Peelites.—Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Sidney Herbert.
In vain would we attempt to shut our eyes to the
fact. A gulf is opening between the official Li-
berals and the elite of their party, across which ere
long it may be impossible for either to pass to the
aid of the other. The Ballot is only one question ;
but it is one of many which mark the distinction
between the existing generation of Liberals, and
the survivors of a past generation of Liberals, or
those who have inherited its traditions. In 1830 2
the advocates of the Ballot were a minority among
the already enfranchised, perhaps even among these
whose enfranchisement was contemplated by E arl
Grey's Reform Bill. It was easy, therefore, for
the Whig leaders to persuade public meetings—.
except in the case of open-air meetings in the mann-
facturingdistricts—to keepsilence about the Ballot,
lest dissension should be introduced into the Re-
form ranks. It was still more easy for them to
suppress all mention of the subject in Parliament.
Nearly thirty years have elapsed since that time.
Since then a new generation of politicians has
emerged into active rife, who take their opinions
from the circumstances and discussions of the time
in which they live. Events have taught men who
startled at the idea of Vote by Ballot as a novelty,
and men who thought nothing about the matter,
to recognise it as an urgent necessity. The lan-
guage they hold upon the subject is the first that
has been heard by the younger generation of poli-
ticians; it has been incessantly dinned into their
ears until it has become part of their political creed.
The third part of the House of Commons who vote
for the Ballot represent the existing opinion of
liberal progressive England. The other two-
thirds represent the opinions of the masters of
counties and close boroughs. The official Liberals
we have enumerated above must make up their
minds to choose between the two parties.
Whatever their choice, we have no wish to deny
that it will be made in good faith. We know how
difficult it is for men strengthened and confirmed
in their opinions by the conflicts of well nigh
half a century to unlearn the lessons of their
youth. But while we shall respect their consistency
we must admit that it relegates them to political
inaction. The adherents of tie political creed of
an extinct generation cannot possibly be the leaders
of a new generation which has abjured that creed.
We entirely concur in the complaint made by
Mr. Bright of the manner in which this question
has of late years been discussed in the House of
Commons. While the votes recorded in favour of
Vote by Ballot have been steadily increasing, the
interest of the debates has been proportionally de-
creasing. A few of the supporters of the Ballot
have made it the groundwork of jocular and telling
addresses ; the far greater number have merely
made tame duty speeches in its favour, in order
that they might be able to say to their constituents
that they had spoken for it. But the deep and
growing earnestness with which the great mass of
the community yearn for this boon has found no
adequate echo in the Legislature. In the House
of Commons the supporters of Vote by Ballot
argue in its favour as coldly and calmly as they
would demonstrate some abstract proposition 7n
Euclid. They are met, not by arguments, but by
trivial jokes, or by haughty declarations that no
concession will be made. Honourable members
complain of the pertinacity which bores them with
such a discussion year after year ; and the Times,
and their other flatterers in the press, echo the
complaint with exegg!rated foppishness. But eut
of doors the craving for the Ballot is a burning
passion. Every supercilious denunciation of it—
every silly jest at its expense—is recorded and
treasured up as an insult to be avenged. The
tenant, the cloth, the working man, the poor man
in embarrassed circumstance., compelled to vote
so•ainst their conviction ; the intelligent artisan,
who longs for the franchise as a recognition of his
full right of citizenship, and yet shrinks from it
lest its exercise should become a badge of slavery ;
all these are almost as little edified by the wit
of their advocates as by the insolence of
their opponents. In what temper are such
men likely to read a remark that fell from
Mr. Sotheron-Estcourt ? " Since the last general
election, he fell in with a constituent of his—a
farmer. He asked him what he thought of the
Ballot. His reply was that he was all for the Bal-
lot, for at the last election he had to vote against
his conscience, having been solicited for his vote
both by his landlord and the parson's wife. He
(Mr. Estcourt) did not see of what use the Ballot
would have been to such a person except to cover
his delinquency." What does Mr. Estcourt mean
by " delinquency ?" Doss he mean that it would
havelbeen "delinquency" in a farmer to act!accord-
ing to his conscience ? or does be scorn the man
who had not courage to assert his conscientious
conviction at the risk of ruin to himself and family ?
Mr. Estcourt has a keen eye for the cowardice of
the unconscientous voter ; but he is blind to the
ruthless tyranny of those who intimidated him.
He sees the mote in the farmer's eye ; he cannot
see the beam in his own. Ho and his class make
cowardly rascals of their tenants-at-will; and then
taunt them for being what they have made them.
Our squirearchy are using their wealth as the
Barons of old used their arms : first they degrade
their weaker neighbours, and then they jeer openly
at their degradation. What the consequences of
Beronial oppression were, may be read in the in-

surreetions of communes, in the jacqueries of
peasants, in the French Revolution. The self-will

of our squires way in its turn produce like bitter
fruits.

But we are wandering beyond the subject to
which it was our object to call attention. One-third
of the House of Commons support the principle of
secret voting. This third of our representatives
speaks the wishes of nine-tenths of the out-of-doors
speculativeiil \7. iv Vivian
community. Read over their names, you will find
the list to be composed for the most part of men
like William Scholefield, Aspinall Turner, \Val-
oyster Which t
Wal-
ter Buchanan, Adam Black. These are not wild
Gray, look
; they are not men who,
entertain for any consideration. look upon " the world as their
would
with sword will ope ;" they ate
Vote by Ballot is thnes'raceffisUeltt
not me who
oofip)irnoitorraisetetdheaynicilocinooset
'deration. Their advocacy of
observation ; it is the consequence of rooted con-
viction. They cannot'
principle will not
p•vvett otft the handful of
even if they could, their constituents their minds, and
threelt
the Lwi
change their s. The
secret voting is
What h
for the Party of Progress
leaven of the Parable was for thea
measures,chseorpoaelf
meal among which it was hidden. is steadily
going on to leaven the whole mass,
is there, then, for a re-organisation of
party so long as we see all its members, to
m
men have been accustomed to look as aspirants to
high office, obstinately opposing the earnest and I
growing wish of the only party from whichltbey ;