The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-07 00:00:00

THE ATLANTIC CABLE.

QUEENSTOWN, JULY 5.
The Gorgon and the Niagara arrived this morn-
ing. Three attempts have been made to lay down
the electric telegraph cable. The Agamemnon and
Valorous are expected hourly. The Equadron ex-
perienced very bad weather during their cruise.
On the 13th of June a heavy gale sprang up, dining
which they were separated, but all met again at
the rendezvouP, 52 2 lat., 33 18 long. On the first
attempt about 10 miles of cable was lost, on the
second about 120 miles, and on the 28th the cable
was again joined, and about 250 miles wore pajd
out, when communication ceasing to ba received
the cable was parted, and the Niagara and the
Gorgon proceeded to this place. Much to their
surprise, the Agamemnon and Valorous were not
in before them, as they had more than 200 miles
start. The Agamemnon is reported to have suf-
fered some damages in the gale.
The following version, which appears in a second
edition of the Cork Reporter of yesterday, may not
be without interest :

" The Niagara and Gorgon, attached to the
squadron fir the laying of the Traroatlantic cable,
arrived in Queenstown at an early hour this morn-
ing. We regret having to announce that the
object of the expedition has for the present failed,
and we shall now give our reaiera such particulars
of the events which occurred in the course of the
undertaking as we have been able to collect. The
Agamemnon and her tender the Valorous, and
the Niagara and her tender the Gorgon, sailed from
Plymouth on the 10th of June ; each of the great
vessels carrying about 1,500 miles of cable, with a
new and improved apparatus for paying it out,
which it was calculated would have allowed for any
strain or unequal motion of the ships, as the very
speed of the vesselsregula.ed by atr owatic arrange•
menta the rate at which the coil was to be dis-
charged. After having been three days at sea the
expedition was overtaken by a fearful gale, which
continued without intermission fur nine days. On
the seventh day of this heavy weather tLe ships,
which continues to keep together, had to part com-
pany, and the Agamemnon was obliged to scud be-
fore the wind for 36 hours ; her teals got adrift,
and a coil of the cable shifted, so that her captain
for some time entertained serious apprehensions
for her safety, and from the immense strain her
waterways were forced open, and one of her ports
was broken. Two of her sailora were severely ir-
jured, and one of the marines lest his rocs an from
fright. Yet such was the consumma• e skill, good
seamanship, and intrepidity of her commander,
Capt. f'riddie, that he was enabled to bring her to
the appointed rendezvous, lat. 52 deg. 2 min.,
long. 33 deg. 18 min. The Niagara rode out the
storm gallairly, having only carried away her jib-
boom and one wing of the figurehead, the great
American eegle.

"All the 17esEels having at length arrived at their
central point of junction, the first splice) of rh cable
was made en the 26th. After having paid out two
and a-half miles each, owing to au accident on
board the Niagara, the cable parted. The
ships having met, the splice was made good,
and they c,,inmenced to give out the cable a second
time ; but after they ]tart each paid out 40 miles it
was reported that the current was broken, and no
communication could be made between the ships.
Unfortunately, in this instance the breakage must
have occurred at the bottom, as the electricians,
from the fine calculations which their sensitive in-
strumews allow them to make, were able to declare
such to have been the fact, even before the vessels
came together again. Having cast off this loss, they
met for the third time and recovered the connexion
of the cable on the 28th. They then warted afresh,
and the Niagara having paid out over 150 miles of
calele, all ou board entertained the most sanguine
anticipat ors of success, when the fatal announce-
merit was made upon Tuesday, the 29:h, at 9 p.m.,
that the electric current had ceased to flow. As
the necessity of abandoning the pc-eject for the
present was n ear only too manifest, it was consi-
de•ed that the oppertanity might as well be availed
of to test the strength of the c Ode. Accordingly,
this jinn-muse vessel, with all her stores, etc., was
allowed t) swing to the ca'ila, an.l, it, addit on, a
strain of four tons was placed upon the breaks, yet,
although it was blowing fresh at the time, the cable
held h r as if she had beet, at anchor for over an
hour, when a heavy pitch of the sea snapped
the rope, and the Niagara bares away for this
port. Before starting an arrangement was made
that should any accident occur iu giving cut
the cable before the ships should have gone 100
miles, they should return to their starting place
in mid ocean ; but that in case that dis!ance
should have been exceeded before any casualty
should happen, they should make for Queenstown.
In accordance with this understanding, the Nia-
gara, having mule 109 miles befere the mishap, re-
turned :o this port. !Upon her homeward way she
must have passed the Agamemnon, but owing to
the heavy fogs which preva led for toe greater por-
tion of that time, she missed seeing or gaining any
tidings of her.
"As the Agamemnon has not yet arrived, al-
though her deatination was directed towards this
shoe, it is conjectured that she might not have
delivered the arranged quantity of coil at the time
of is s failure, and may have consequently returned
to their place of meeting, which will unavoidably
protract the suspense which must necessarily be
felt, as, until she be spoken with, nothing definite
cent be lecrnel as to the occasion of this disaster.
The two principal elect:Riau:s, Dr. S +ray and Mr.
Laives, on board the Niagara, are inclined to be-
lieve that the accident occurred on lasaid the Aga-.
merrinou, which, as it would implicate a faulty ar-
rangement of some of toe apparatus, would still
leave hope of the ultimata success of the undertak-
iin,s, whereas, if the separation has occurred at the
bot!our, its effects will be greatly to damp, if not
deter, the e nterprising spirit of the direaters from
persevering in this gigantic project. Should nothing
be heard of her consort the Niagara will, af, er coal-
ing, proceed to her ocean station, having still on
bsatd about 1,300 miles of the cable, which, sup-
posing that the other vessel has retained a similar
amount, would still admit of the junction being
completed, and allow 30 per cent. for casualties. In
this last trial some 500 miles of the rope was lost, and
when it is calculated that it is roughly estimated
that the value of the cable is about 1001. a mi3e, it
will be seen that the sacrifice up to the present has
not been so extensive as might at first sight have
been supposed."

The Cori:, Examiner, of yesterday, supplies the
following particulars of the parting of the Atlantic
cable :—" This morning at seven o'clock the
Niagara, American corvette, and the Gorgon, Eng-
lish war steamer, entered our harbour, with the
unwelcome intelligence of a new failure in the at-
tempt to carry out this gi eit undertaking. It ap-
pears the squadron bad Lot to a point in the At-
lantic about 1,000 miles to the west of Ireland,
when they fell in with a heavy gale, iu which the
Agamemnon capsized her portion of the cable. In
the effort to get it right again it is supposed it got
what is technically called a kink, which was the
cause of the subsequent. disaster. On joining the
cable for the purr se of paying out the weather
was fine and everything looked promising. The
Agamemnon steered east, towards Ireland, and the
.Niagara west, for Newfaundlatd. On board the
latter vessel the machinery was found to work ad-
mirably, and the signals between the two ships
went on without intermission, and the highest
hopes of success were entertained. On the 29th of
June, however, when 250 miles of cable had been
paid out, those superintending the work on board
the Niagara found the signals to cease, and became
aware that something wrong must have occurred
on board their consort, and the continuity of the
current having ceased they cut the cable. The
Niagara bore away for Queenstown, which is the
appointed rendezvous. The reason of the ships
corning back to Queenstown was the running short
of their coals, owing to the quantity consumed dur-
ing Vie experiment."

IYIAItKET NEWS.—(This D 35