The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-20 00:00:00

The Atlantic Tele,graph Expedition.

LivEr.PooL, Wednesday Night.
The Atlantic Teleg:aph e::pcscr tion is a thing of
the past. aim good it his accomplished ''v after
it; but its ex'stence as a separate entity is at an end,
and its chief actors are al7ea ly d'itributed over the
countiy. Capt. Anderson brought the Great Erstcrn
from Crookhaven "by the lead," and timed her
val off Holyhmd to a couple of minutes of her sight
ing its light. She reached her mooring-ground be-
tween 9 and 10 this morning, and in less than an
hour afterwards patted company with some of her
chief guests. Departures have continued rapid'y
through the day, and at this time Mr. Gooch is in
Berkshire, Professor Thomson in Scotland, Mr. Can-
ning and Mr. IVilloughby Smith in London, and Mr.
J. Deane and Capt. Hamilton on their way thither.
Mr. Clifford remains at Liverpool until to-morrow,
and Captain Anderson is expect-d on shore this
evening. To-morrow the cable hands and a great
portion of the crew rre to be paid off, from £B,OOO
to £9,000 being disbursed in theprocess ; after which
the Great Eastern will be probably handed over to
the painters and cleaners, while the several directors
settle upon her future use. The Chamber of Com-
merce here had determined to invite the chiefs of
the enterprise to a banquet, and a deputation was,
it was said, to have waited on them to-day ; but a
strong poise of custom-house officers, who rigidly
examined all luggage about to leave the ship, was
the only visitation made before the party broke up,
and however full of hospitable, good intentions
Liverpool may have been, it is certain the Great
Eastern has been allowed to glide quietly up the
Merzey to her re3ting-place without the slightest
demonstration in her favour.

This morning at 5 a.m. a small party consisting
of Mr. Barber, one of the principal proprietors of
the greatship ; Mr. Yates, her secretary; Mr. Shuter,
the Telegraph Construction secretary ; the bearer
of a special despatch from Mr. Glass, and half a
dozen other gentlemen left in the steam tug Victoria
to meet the Great Eastern. By ha'f-past seven they
were on board exchaug.ng congratulations and hear-
ing the news. So quietly was, this done, that Mr.
Canning and others were still in their cabins, and
unaware that a tag was in sight, when the sounds
of hearty congratulation told them of the arrival of
their friends. Mr. Glass's letter was addressed to
the practical scientific men on board, and the follow-
ing reply was sent :

Great Eastern, Liverpool, Sept,. 19.

Dear S'r,—ln acknowledging your k;nd congia,ulations
Nye must ask you to share ov.-: gratification at the success
we have.a...compl4.shed.
The electric dOrnmu lication between Etrope and Ame-

rico, now harpily secr-ed, is the ripened fruit of yes of
costly experimenal:b* Ig, during which your special know-
ledge, wade experience, and unflinching confidence, have
largely con' iibuted the peifoctfon oe the work; and the
expeditions both of this year and last have been greatly
indebted to your encou:agement and care.
We heartily reciprocate,your good wishes, and fer rently
hopo your health may be speedy restored, and that you
may enjoy wish us for many years the honours legitimately
pertaining to this gratifying success.—We are, dear sj
yours faithfully,

SAMUEL C.O, Ni NINO, WILLOL-GH 3Y SMITH,
JAM-1S ANDERSON, WILLIAM THOMSON.
HENRY CLIFFORD,
B. A. GlaLs, Ezci.

It will be seen from Mr. Deane's diary that a
fault was discovered in the cable of 1865 when the
ship was some dozen miles from Heart's Content at
termination of the second laying. The rapid detec-

tion and remedy of this faulprOvedMr.lVi'loughby
Smith's invention to possess all the merits claimed
for it ; while the character of the injury, and the
shape of the bit of broken wire inflicting it, were
prec-sely similar to those of last year. The 'Outside
of the cable had nothing to betray the existence of
the fav't. It was smoo:,11 to the touch and uniform
to the eye; even where the peccant piece of vi!re
lurked, and the coil containing it has lain untouched
in the Great Eastern ..ank ever since it was placed
there last year. Repeated electrical tests have
proved the cable to be absolutely perfect during this
t:me ; and the broken wire only became an active
instead of a passive instrument of evil within a
few minute 3 of its d'scovery. The explanation of
this apparent anomaly is, that the wire, which is
shorp as a needle at one end, had not pierced through
the gutty percha coating to the copper conductor,
and was so laid that its head did not penetrate the
manilla-twist outer covering. So long as the thinnest
steatuni of gotta percha rema'ns inta between the
assail;ng iron and the all-important copper-w7re,
insulation is preserved; but when by the foots':eps
of the cable-men, or i 4 the sbi'ting the cable, the
guLa percha was pierced, au electrical "fault" was
the instantaneous consequence, The result satisfac-

' toril y proved the exquisite sensitiveness of the electri-
cal instruments, and Mr. Canning retains the ble-
mished part of the cable, with the wire still sticking
in it, for comparison with the " faults" cut out last
year. Whether these injuries have been malicious,
or whether the cable of 1865 was loss carefully
watched than its successor, and more prone to acci-
dents, is a point which it would be unprofitable to
discuss. The staff themselves are divided in opinion,
and this morning, a few minutes after I had learnt
from one eminent man on board that " the last fault
set at rest the question of malice, and proved the in-
juries to have been accidental." I was told by an-
other, and even more eminent Man, that the shape of
the wire and its position proved beyond a doubt that
th,3 flaw made by it, as well as those of last yea-,
were the base haucuwork of some cable assassin.

Another point eagerly discussed on board is the
piece of granite brought up by the grapnel from the
Atlantic's bottom. It is quite clear that this was
not broken by a larger mass by the irons, but was
lying loosely, and was so caught in the iutentices
of the claws. For it was not brought up by what
we may ca'l the grip of the grapnel, but was jammed
between two of its claws, much as a grapest one oc-
casionally sticks in the teeth. It is. moreover, com-
paratively smooth and polished, as if by the action of
the sea, and in no ono part shows such a surface as
might be looked for in a recently fractured rock.
One authority pronounces it to be Labrador granite,
and Mr. Clifford, who was in command during the
watch in which it was brought to the suilace, and
who retains possession of the stone, proposra to sub-
mit it to the Geological Society for a trustworthy
opinion as to its character. That such a stone should
come from what is officially certified as a sand and
ooze bottom suggc3ts doubts as to the present method
of sounding being well adapted to it -3 purpose.
Those'interested in submarine telegraphy maintain
that it
_should be literally more sweeping than at
present, and be made to testa larger surface than is
ever done now. There is no sort of doubt that the
Great Eastern, when picking up the broken cable of
last year, encountered rough and broken ground,
where the chart had led her to expect sand and ooze,
and this fact alone, now that cable-laying in ocean
depths promises to become an every-day matter,
seriously impairs the value of the Government
soundings. One suggestion, jeatingly made, is that
the bit of granite is, after all, part of the spare bal-
last of some ship; and that its appearance in the
grapnel is no proof of similar stones being plentiful
at the bottom.

It is interesting to know that a couple of hours
after the splice of the picked-up cable was effected
the weather became unfavourable, and that its
recovery might have been indefinitely delayed had
it not taken place when it d'd. The Great Eastern
came back with some two thousand tons of coal on
board, so that the search might have continued
some time longer ; but all agree that both in
weather, in the change from one part of the line
to another eighty miles from it, and in the final
triumph, the soundest skill and judgment waited
upon good fortune. One day during the seyrch Mr.
Canning was startled by Captain Alm:arty quietly
whispering, " I'm sorry to disappoint you ; but
what you're doing now's no use." A strong current
had set in, and the buoys placed to mark the cab's
for grappling had drifted 17 miles, and on observa-
tions being taken the Great E..stern was shows to
be this &stance from what she was vaguely seeking.
The announcement of this mishap was of course fol-
lowed by an instant change of spo', and vdd-d one
more illustration of the extreme delicacy of the
work.

When all was succes.3fully accomp"shed, and the
great ship wr.s homeward bound, the prevelcnt
light-hearteduc3s found vent in private theatrie^ls,
and a po'nted burlcque by M 7. J. C. Deane and
Mr. Poore was written, lithographal, and act d on
board. " Coutentina" was the title of this produc-
tion, and the whole streng of the company was en-
listed to inure its success. The jokes and arts at
the peculiaritie3 of the leading people on board were
plentiful and humorous, and the following extracts
show the character of the songs :

Air—'Let the toast pegs."
Here's to the Cable of dea7
Here's to the one s'ity-five, sir,
That wo left in the sea in a cr'tic .1 state,
For which we intend to go dive, s:r.
Churus—Let the toast pass,
Long He to our Glas7,
His cables are good, be they hemp, wire, or

uass.
The picking up itself was complimentei thus :-

Air, 95.

The grapp”ng rop3 at length has come,
Windirg slowly round the drum;
And on its end as I'm a'ive,
Hangs the rope of '63.
For Anderson who guides the ship,
Let's shout and cheer with a hip, hip, hip.
Mol'ar.',,y, too, who straight did dive,
At the dear old rope of '65.

Experience has done the t-ick,
And solved the question double quick.
What pleasure Canning must derive,
From a sight of the rope of '65.

The Bishop of Newfoundland joined the party
at NewfounTand, and arrived here in the Great
Eastern.

Liverpool Cotton Market.—This Day.

The market opens quiet, but steady. Sales, pro
bably 8,000 or 10,000 bales.

The biddings for bills on India took place yes-
terday at the Bank of England. The proportions
allotted were—to Calcutta, 27,30,000 rupees; and
to Bombay, 1,20,000 rupees. The minimum price
was fixed at ls. 100. on Calcutta and Madras, and
is. 10/d. on Bombay. Tenders at Is. 10id. on
Calcutta and Madras, and at Is. Ilid. on Bombay
w;11 receive in full.

THE POTATO DISEASE. --We regret to find that
the potato disease is making sad ravages in the counties of
Oxford and Berks. In the immediate vicinity of Oxford
on some soils more than halt are bad, and there is scarcely
a plot but what is more or less infected. Ono gardener
states that, instead of having 30 sacks as ho relied on, he
does not now expect to have more than ten sacks of good
ones.

WRECK OF A FRENCII VESSEL.—Ainfeat itsrfu height
lgiahlet
raged on the coast of Jersey on Sunday, beg a
in the aftsraoon. Between four and five o'clock a Frenchg
vessel, the Mario et Bet.he, of Croislc,-laden with wheat,
from St. Maio for Havre, was caught in the fury of the
gale when off the Corbiere Rock. The captain, being un-
acquainted with the locality, attempted to pass between
the Pignonnet Rock and Noirmont Point, a dangerous
passage, and ran the vessel on to the rocks. Sho soon came
off, however, and sank in deep water. The crew took to
their boat, and fortunately succeeded in effecting a safe
landing at St.. Aubin's.
GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY OF CANADA.—The
traffic receipts on this company's lines for the week end-
ing the Ist inst. amounted, for local passengers, to £7,373 ;
for foreign passengers to £4,357, for emigrants to £345,
for mails, &c., to £1,007, for local freight and live stock to
£12,464, and for foreign freight and live stock to £2,223 ;
total, £27,769; against £27,467 for the corresponding week
last year, showing an increase of £302. The total receipts
from Ist of July to the above date amounted to £233,820,
and for the same period last year to £225,596, showing an
increase of £8,224.
THE INUNDATION OF DOCK WORKS AT HULL.—
The damage to the works of the nbw west dock at Hull,
by the bursting of an embankment, is not so great as was
first anticipated. The accident was caused principally,
as
by tho starting of a spring beneath the em-
bitainsktabeei d'
ni°jlt is now said that the aperture in the embank-
ment can be closed in three weeks or a month. Should
this bo done the works will be greatly delayed, as every
tido which enters the dock works from the Humber will
leave a thick deposit of mud, which will, of course, have
to be dug out by hand. The loss to the dock company by
the delay of the works will not, of course, be so large as
stated. .

ASSISTANT CLERKS IN THE NAVY.—At the quar-
terly examination of candidates for appointments as assis-
tant clerks in her Majesty's navy, held on board the Vic-
tory, at Portsmouth, during the past week, Mr. Henry A.
Malaher passed 2nd in order of merit out of 24 candidates
who presented themselves for examination. Mr. Malaher
went up direct from the Royal Asylum of St. Anne's So-
ciety's School, Brixton-hill, where he was entirely edu-
cated.
A crime was committed last week in the barrack
of Bourg Leopold (Brussels). A corporal and three
lancers, all of them drunk, who had been arrested
for destroying the decorations for the King's fete,
murdered, a. gendarme.

Count Karolyi has arrived at the Hotel Bristol
'rom Vienna, on his way to Biarritz. Count Gat-
,esehi has also arrived at the same hotel from Flo-

rence.