The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-27 00:00:00

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH.

The operation of stowing the wire for a second
effort on board her Majesty's ship Agamemnon, in
Keyham basin, is now proceeding rapidly. An
extra place for deposit has been constructed on her
upper deck, abaft the foremast, capable of taking
2 1-sth miles each flake or layer. Here about 140
miles were deposited up to yesterday, Thursday
evening, at an average of 27 miles a-day. ft will
contain together 2CO miles, which forms the first
portion to be laid. The place of deposit last year,
in the hold, made the coil oval in one direction,
close to the kelson, and oval in the opposite direc-
tion above. A different arrangement prevails now ;
two additional bulkheads have been knocked away,
and the hold presents the appearance of a basin
perfectly circular in every part. The cone in the
centre is 12 feet 3 inches high, and has a diameter
of 10 feet at the base and 5 feet at the top, it will
be encircled by 1,050 miles of cable. The remain-
ing 150 miles are to be coiled on the orlop deck
where the heavy shore end was placed last year. A
new guard has been fitted for the Agamemnon's
stern, to prevent the cable from fouling the pro-
peller. The cage previously used was weakened by
its proximity to the copper on the ship's bottom,
which served as a negative to the iron. The gal-
vanic action of salt water on it during the last
eight months has rendered it desirable to provide
a new one, which will not touch the surface until
the load line is reached. On board the Niagara
the boats forward on the upper dock are to be re-
moved, and a space prepared of 33 feet diameter,
equal to the reception of from 170 to 180 miles of
cable. For the approaching trial the Atlantic
Telegraph Company
appear to have made vary
complete arrangements through their engineer-in-
chief, Mr. Bright, who has been some days at
Plymouth. The coiling on board the Agamemnon
i
is superintended by Mr. Canning, who assisted in
the operations last year, and who laid the cable
across the Gulf of St Lawrence from New-
foundland to Cape Breton. Mr. Whitehouse,
who completed the lines from Varna ta Bala-
klava, and was charged with the first shipment
and fittings on board the Niagara, takes the same
duty now, with the aid of Captain Kell, who was
engaged iu laying the early Mediterranean lines.
Mr. Everett, of the
Niagara, accompanied by Mr.
Clifford, one of the Company's assistant engineers
on the former occasion, has been entrusted with
the supervision of the experiments carried on at
the works of Messrs. Easton and Amos, under the
advice of Messrs. Penn, Field, and Lloyd; whom
the company have Consulted upon the modifications
to be made in the paying
out machinery, and with
the concurrence of Mr. Bright, their engineer, and
Mr. Appold, who invented, for a different purpose,
the form of brake to be used. The staff of
telegraphic clerks engaged last year has been re-
tained, and some of them under the guidance of
Mr. Whitehouse, the electrician, are perfecting
themselves in their future employment by trans-
mitting and receiving, through the 2,630 miles of
wire now at Plymouth, the. class of messages antici-
pantietdedonsttaltiees calnodsetrhej junction of
ofAmerica. England with the
United

ANcIOES FOR THE GREAT EASTERN.—On Tuesday
and Wednesday two of Trotman's patent anchors, each
weighing 5 tons 12 cwt., and intended for the Great
Eastern steam-ship, were tested by the powerful hydrau-
pt. Stopford, Lieut.-Col. Maude, R.A.,
lie machinery at Woolwich Dockyard, in presence of the
a gentlemen. A 8 it is requisite that
patentee and numerous visitors, comprising the Marquis
required by the Admiralty.
ssbuareofaemnoourmntoinugs
aidot
hf e sney he Stafford,roars scientific
fCor the Great Eastern
ashparlel
sNteords
jhaiii,
master
was a quarter of
Atstrength, s
st
uh re
ey cent.owof
ve2erore
tone
obnes
prooftsubmittedhe
deflection
an inch, and the strain being gradually increased to 90
aenbdgiMb
ere.r,Peaankde,mmra.
tons, the extreme deflection amounted to li inches. At
shipwrights,
of the Fisgard, who conducted the experiments, cau-
tioned all present is keep clear of the machinery, lest an
accident should result, from the sudden flying of the metal.
m this
r. strainA tb
Atherton, tMo nr ~ Rice
chief
With the consent of the patentee, the machinery
was
then worked with a tension of 100 tons, the most intense
interest prevailing to ascertain the result. Both anchors
stood this extraordinary test without the least indication
of giving way, a result highly favourable to the manu-
facturers, Messrs. Wood and Co., of Liverpool.
Mr. Smiles, Secretary to Mr.lEborallt General Man-
ager of the South Eastern Railway Company, bad an
interview with Mr. Fitzgerald, yesterday, at the
Foreign office, on the subject of foreign Passports.
There was a concert a day or two since in the Austrian
State Lunatio Asylum, and Staudigl, the once celebrated
singer, sang the "Chapel in the Wood," by Schubert,"
to the great delight of his fellow patients.
Tbo American Telegraph Company now sends de-
spatches from both ends of the line, anti simultaneously,
by a single wire, the electric cerrente meeting and cross-
ing, but causing no irregularity. Two ordinary cells of
the Grove battery are used. This is the invention of a
Mr, Hughes.--The Puildr.