The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-03 00:00:00

CROYDON GREAT CATTLE FAIR.

This great cattle fair was opened yesterday morn-
ing at eight o'clock, but for several hours previous.
the inhabitants of the town were on the qui vive
and the different roads reading to Croydon pre-
sented a very animated scene, from the continuous
stream of vehicles, intermingled with droves of
cattle and flocks of sheepthat had been placed in
paddocks and fields in tbe vicinity, and for a con-
siderable distance around Croydon.
In the horse market, in addition to the usual
number of horsednalers and farmers in want of
animalwie for agricultural
Maidstone,
afnfodhodreerdmcstin:ahufunnerra
idtop:mbAor
est
sr)erzutesiro,lioyolt2fecffi f
Artillery,
yboe
fiarrocesstiteae6shrvno;iwagnnl
Diaaravglo
sei re,
fvvdroaoeonnri
ml-
nyds
3zAlalulrira3l cietht,aoarasyining
d irnal:iognirio.seoeraseT
18
were greatly inquired for, and realised from £l4
to £B9.

e fair will be continued today and to-nim row.

We read in Galignani:—" Mr. E. Watkin
Edwards, accompanied by his friends, Mr. Harrison Ains-
worth and Mr. Lyster O'BeirniN arrived at Paris on Satur-
day last in his steam yacht Penelope, belonging to the
Royal Victoria Yacht Club, Ryde, having successfully
navigated the Seine. ' This, we believe, is the first English
yacht that has ever been moored off the Tuileries, and is
091113eqllentlY NI Object of great curiosity to the l'arteiaust",

The failures of the experiments in submarine
telegraphic lines, and, the consequent losses at-
tendant on them, are of such a character that their
causes deserve minute avestigation. In addition
anoocr that p
to the incomplete examir..ation of the depths and
peeeculaercihtiaenica
sofl cothensteras ncOec f oceans, andpu rse
theo i ,
ft mechanical contrivances
there
are still far greater obstacles to be overcome to
enable a complete examifiatFou to be made, and to
establish telegraphic communication between the
different parts of the globe, separated by vast oceans,
impenetrable deserts, or barren wilds.
Such an enterprise as that of connecting the Old
World with the New, and other parts of the globe,
cannot be carried out without great loss of capital,
and other sacrifices ; and even if successful for a
time through the application of some improved con-
trivance,it would alwaysbe very expensive to main-
tain it in perfect order. The unsuccessful projects
of the Atlantic and Red Sea cables, which have
swallowed up nearly £2,000,000, so that these en-
terprises are now consifiered by men capable of
judging to be dead failures, and yet they are not so
impracticable as many would seem to believe, pro-
vided that a different and safer plan than that
hitherto pursued be followed—viz., the adoption of
the route through Russia, where, passing up through
the Behring Straits (about 50 miles broad), the
Aleutic Islands seem to form the piers of a bridge,
shaped out, as it were, by nature to connect the
Old with the New World.

That the eastern route, via Russia, has already
proved of great importance to Europe, is proved by
the sensation that was excited in 1858 and 1860,
when the papers received the telegraphic news, via
Siberia and Russia, of peace having been concluded
with China, and yet telegraphy in this part of the
world is only in its infancy; it may also be added
that the English and French Ambassadors at China
are now using that line for their correspondence by
transmitting it from Pekin through Mongolia.
Another fact'may be mentioned bearing on this
point—viz., that a telegraph company in England
has offered several commercial houses in London to
transmit their messages from and to the East Indies
through Russia and China, via Pekin, which is con-
sidered a quicker route than the usual mode of com-
munication, the East Indies being connected by
steam navigation with the Chinese ports, which will
now be extended from Shanghae to Tien-tsin, on
the river Hai-he, or the Peiho. East Indian mes-
sages sent by this route are forwarded to Pekin ;
those from the latter place are handed over to the
Russian Post-office, and transmitted to ICiachta,
taking from 11 to 14 days ; thence by courier to
Kasen, and sent by telegraph thence to London ;
but as soon as the telegraph line, which this year
will be completed to Omsk, shall reach Irkutsk
(sometime in 1862), European telegrams to or from
Pekin will be transmitted in 14 days.
Thus the universally important Siberian line will
be a fait accompli, more particularly if it is carried
through America.

The Russe-American telegraph line will be con-
structed as follows :

A line as far as Omsk, via the Ural Mountains,
will unite Europe with Asia this year, and the fol-
lowing year it will be extended to Irkutsk, so that
in 1863 all the Russian ports will be connected
through the sea of Japan, Nikolacvske, and the
Amoor ; and telegraphic communication from the
Baltic to the Pacific will be finished in the year 1864.
At the same time, i.e., during the year 1862, the
North Americans will construct a line as far as San
Francisco, through the scarcely penetrable desert
wilds and mountainous districts inhabited by the
Red Indians.

Thus, in the year 1862-3, there will be two well
constructed telegraph lines, with two conducting
wires on the two opposite shores of the Pacific ; the
one leading to the shores of the Baltic will bring
the telegraphic news from New York, Boston,
Canada, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and from all
the Northern States of the New World; and the
other from Castries and Wladivostok to Europe will
be connected with 'London, Paris, Lisbon, Rome,
Algiers, Naples, Constantinople, and all the prin-
cipal cities of the Old World.

Between these two telegraphic stations there is
that large ocean the Pacific (several thousand miles
broad), which towards the north, becomes narrowed
to about 50 miles, and forms the Behring Straits.
To this, the sole point of connection of the Old with
the New World, the attention of several scientific
gentlemen has been drawn, who considered it prac-
ticable to construct a telegraph between the two
shores, and many, amongst whom were Colonel
Shaffner (in the year 1854), Liger do Libessard (in
1857), Slegh (in 1859), and the American Collins
(in 1861), offered their services to the Russian Go.
vernment.

But the impracticability of carrying out such a
project arises from a fact with which these gentlemen
were not acquainted—viz,, the nature of the coun-
tries around Behring Straits and the Behring Sea,
such as Tschuklschy and the North-Western parts
of America, through which aerial lines would have
to be constructed. They are so wild, and covered
with perpetual ice, that even the maintenance as
well as the construction would be impossible, as no
human being could exist there for any long period
of time, and the length of the requisite line would
of necessity require some intermediate stations.
No notice need therefore be taken of a project to
lay a line in this direction.
But there is another direction, viz., in the south-
ern part of the Behring Strait, which almost seems
to be pointed out by nature as the only link by
which the Old could be connected with the New
World. This connecting link appears in the shape
of small adjacent islands, called the Aleutic Islands;
and the line from Kamtschatka to America, across
these islands, would be about 1,600 miles long. The
sea in this region is as broad as the Atlantic be-
tween Valentia (Ireland) and Trinity Bay (New-
foundland), but with this difference, that, instead
of the great and universal breadth of the Atlantic,
it is studded with large and small islands, separated
by small bays, the largest of which (that of Copper•
Island) is about 200 miles (350 worsts) broad, the
breadth of the others being as follows :-
1
1
3
1
8 .. 20 miles (25 wersts).
4
32
30

Total.. 80 islands.

These islands are mostly extinguished volcanoes,
mountainous, rocky, and woodless. Some of them
are inhabited by Alcutes, and some are Russian
and American depots. The sea in this part, with the
exception of some of the hays, is never frozen over,
but sometimes small pieces of thin ice, driven in
from the rivers, float there, and also sometimes real
polar ice.

Without entering into a topographical description
of the climate, &e., there, this route may, under all
circumstances, be considered as the best and safest
for laying down submarine cables.

Such a line can be constructed either by connect-
ing these islands by short submarine cables and
aerial lines on the land, or without the latter, by
selecting seine suitable points (such as ports and in-
habited places) through which a long submarine
cable could be conducted.

In the first place, such a line would consist of
770 miles of submarine cable, and 233 miles of aerial
lines. Such a lino would at first sight appear pre-
ferable, as the aerial lines interconnecting it would
be go much cheaper Ulu if the whole length were

From these causes we may safely conclude that a
submarine cable all the way from Kamtschatka to
America, though in the first instance more expen-
sive, would be more durable, and would bring the
different cables to such shores where there is a safe
port and anchoring place.
The following points could be selected in the
Aleutic Islands for such a submarine line :
From Petropavlovsk in Kamtschatka to-
-1 A village in Behring Island
2. Port in the Copper Island
3. Port Tschalschagove, at Attou Island 445
4. Port, at Kiska Island. • ..• 300 '1
5 Port Constantine, at the Amschilka
Island
6. Bay Slava Rossu, on the Tanaga
Island

7. Bay Nassau, do.
8. VillageNicholskoe, on the Island Atka 192
9. Bay and Village, Umnak Island 407
10. Village null*, Captain's Bay, Una- 470 „
laschka Island
11. Village Schischaldinskoe, Unimak
Island lB6 „
12. Village Morschevskoe, Aliaska Island 124 „

Total
or 1,875 geographical miles,

The submarine line would therefore connect
Kamtschatka with America, i.e., the Old with the
New World ; but in order to completely encircle
the world, it would have to be extended on one
side as far a 3 California, and on the other to the
Amoor, where all the Russo-American lines meet.
From the Island Aliaska an aerial line could be
erected as far as to the Russo-American colonies ;
but in the other less populated countries, inhabited
by wild and warlike tribes, the construction of such
lines would be scarcely practicable, unless they
could be properly protected.
The same objection applies to the English colo-
nies of the Hudson's Bay Company, and further,
also, to Oregon and California, and for the same
reason it was found necessary by the Anglo-Ameri-
can Company to construct a submarine in preference
to an arid line between San Francisco and Van-
couver's Island.

Submarine cables can in the same manner be laid
between Kamschatka and Aliaska, connecting the
islands of Schumagine, Kardiak, and other small
ones as far as the port of New Archangelsea, on
Sitka, and down to the Island of Reine Charlotte.
The length of this line would be 1,315 miles
(2,330 vents), and it would be connected with the
cable which is already laid between Vancouver and
Francisco, thus establishing a communication with
all the telegraph lines of America.

A submarine line between Kamschatka and the
Amoor would, therefore, be also preferable to aerial
lines, using the latter only when urgent necessity

requires.

I There are four routes for such a line,
Okotsk; 2. Bolcherezk ; 3. Sachaline ; 4. Japan.
I. With reference to the first route, it would be
likewise necessary to connect this line by small sec-
tional cables, as an aerial line along the shores of
the Sea of Okotsk, as proposed by some engineers,
would be impracticable, the country round the Sea
of Okotsk being wide and uninhabitable.
Starting from Nicolaevske on the Amoor, this
line to Kamschatka would have to traverse the fol-
lowing points :
1. The Bay of St. Nicolai, inUlbon (aerial lino) 200 wersts.
2. The Chanter Islands (submarine cable) .. 200 „
3. The Port Ajan (do.)
4. Okotsk (do.)
5. Port Tauisk (do.)
6. Cape Piaguine and lamsk (do.)
_ _ _ _ _

7. Tigel, in Kamtschatim (do.)
8. NiEehni Kamtschatka (aerial line) .. 425 „

Total 2,700 worsts,

There would then only remain to be constructed
a line of 275 wersts, including 105 of aerial line,
from the southern part of Kamtschatka to Behring
Island. The submarine line from Kamtschatka to
America would therefore have to start from Cape
Kamtschatka and Nischni Kamtschatka, and not
from Petropavlovsk, but be connected with the lat-
ter by an aerial line of about 725 wersts from
Nischni Kamtschatka.

The line via Okotsk would therefore be of th•
following length:—
Submarine cable 2,075 vv•ersts, or 1,127 miles
Aerial line

Total 3,425 worsts, or 1,157 miles
11. Route via Boleherczk :

Wersts.
1. From Port De Castries to Cape Lasareff (aerial line) 110
2. Straits of Sachaline (submarine cable) 10
3. Bay Nu, on the east shore of the Island Sachaline
(aerial line) 130
4. Bolcherezk, in Kamtschatka (submarine cable) 050
5. Port Petropavlovsk (aerial line) 200

Total
or 800 miles.

111. Route via Saehaline :

In connection with an aerial line as far as Cape
Terpenia, a submarine cable of 550 wersts (315
miles) would be laid to the Russian island Urup
(Curilian Islands), and meet the line leading to Pe-
tropavlovsk.

The length of this line would be 2,800 wersts
(1,600 miles), including an aerial line of 014 wersts,
or 1,200 miles.
IV. The route via Japan :
From the Bay St. Olga to Port Tlakodate, on the
Japanese island, Matsmai.
A submarine cable, of 600 wersts or 350 miles,
which, following up the line in the direction of the
Curilian Islands as far as Port Petropavlovsk, in
Kamtschatka, would form a length of 2,500 worsts,
or 1,422 miles.

The different lengths of the line, via these four
routes, taking liabarovska on the Amoor as a cen-
tral point, would be as follow :

Total miles.
L. Via Okotsk, 1,272 aerial line, 1,186 cable line. 2,458
2. Via Boleherezk, 6221 do. 5421 do. 1;171
3. Via Sachaline, 014 do. 1,057 do. 1,971
4. Via Japan, 402 do. 1,428 do. 1,830
It will be observed that the first three.routes pass
through Russian territory ; the last route from Ha-
kodate, along the Curilian Islands, Matsmai, Kun-
aschir, and' Urup, being Japanese possessions, it
would, in a political point of view, appear in.conve-
nient, but as regards commercial interests, it would
prove advantageous, Hakodate being a port used
by the whole European commerce.

The route via Bolcherhz[t being the shortest and
most convenient, and the depth and peculiarity of
the Sea of Okotsk presenting no obstacle to laying
a submarine cable, and passing through more inha-
bited countries, preferGnce ought to be given to this
route over the others, provided that no unforeseen
impediment should present itself.

The route via Okotsk being much longer, and
therefore more expensive, besides leading towards
the north, where an aerial line of 200 miles would
have to be constructed through a wild and uninha-
bited country, the erection of such a line would be
impracticable.

Although the route via Sachaline is more
southerly, yet it is too long and more expensive than
that via Bolcherezk, and likewise more inconvenient,
as it leads through the wild steppes of the Curilian
Islands, which are still uninhabited.
However, thin Lae appears to offer some advszi-

Total ,
***
6,982 3,990
Or about 7,000 worsts, or 4,670 English miles, or
1,000 German miles, or 4,000 nautical miles.
Instead of the aerial lines through Sachaline and
Kamtschatka, underground lines would perhaps
have to be substituted, owing
to the wildness of
that part of the country. These underground lines
would; there fore have to be considered as cable lines.
TELEGRAPH TO CHINA AND JAPAN.
The aerial line through Siberia, which the Russian
Government is at present constructing, leads to
Japan and China, and offers the quickest communi-
cetion with Europe. Messages from Japan can be
sent to the Russian ports of IVlachvastok and S.
Olga, which are situated in the Sea of Japan. and
thence telegraphed via Siberia to London and Paris
and the whole of Europe. Messages from China;
sent through the Russian Post-office from Pekin to
Kiachta, can be telegraphed from the latter place
to all parts of Europe.
If the commercial interests of Europe should re-
quire it, a direct telegraph, either submarine or
aerial, could be constructed to Japan and China, in
connection with the Siberian line. A land line
would have to be erected in the direction of Kiachta.
There are several routes from Kiachta to China
through the desert of Gobi, but the one which is at
present used by the Russian post traffic would have
to be chosen for the construction of a land line,
forming- a length of 1,775 wersts (1,015 miles),
though one-half of this—viz., from I,lrga:44.Aal.'
gan, a distance of about-1,285 iferata (735-nr,„
is a woodless, stony, and sandy tract of land, and
only inhabited by nomadic Mongols, who relieve
each other at the post stations ; yet there would be
no difficulty in constructing a telegraph line, as at
certain places where there are pasture grounds and
water in abundance stations could be created for the
men guarding the line. It would also be advisable
to substitute iron for wooden poles in case one or
more of the poles. should in time become useless, as
wood in this part of the country is very difficult to
procure.

However expensive such a land line would be, it
deserves mature consideration whether the vastness
of the commercial interests of Europe would not
warrant such an outlay, as the want of wood for
building purposes, the expense of supplying it, the
erection of stations in the desert, and the supply
of other necessities, would increase the expense by
500 rubles (about £80) per worst, which would
amount for the whole length of the 1,775 wersts of
land line to 900,000 rubles (3,250,000 f., or £130,000).
But as regards a submarine telegraph to China,
the first connecting point with the Siberian line
would have to be at Shanghae, the most important
post for the China-European commerce, from which
place alone messages could be transmitted to
Europe to• an extent that the expense of such a
cable would in a short time be covered by the traffic.
From Shanghai a branch aerial line to Pekin
could be constructed, but the erection of such a line
in the present disturbed state of China would
scarcely be possible ; and as regards the length of a
submarine line thence to the shores of the Bay of
Petshelig, it would, according to the indication of
the map (to which we can only refer) be about 1,100
wersts (630 miles), the expense of which would be
about 1,375,000r5.

If on investigation it should be found that a sub-
marine line in this direction offers no difficulty, the
expense of the whole telegraph line from Kiachta,
in Siberia, to Shangha, and thence to Pekin, would
amount to 2,300,000r5. (8,300,000 f., or £330,000).
If on the other hand any political obstacle should
prevent the carrying- out of this line, it could be

connected with the Russian ports at Shanghae.
From the future telegraph termini of the Siberian

line at the ports of the S. Olga or Novgorodsky to-
wards Sbanghae there are several small islands,
which could be used as resting points for the cable
and as stations; they lie, besides, near Japan, so
that a branch telegraph line would connect Japan
with the main one. The length of this cable line
between the Russian shores and the Sea of Japan
would be as follows :

From the Poi tof Novgorodsky, Gulf d'Anville, to—
The Island of Dagelct a...

), Toussima
„ • Quelpart
/9 Shanghae 3OO
~
FIOM the Island of Toussima to Nagasaki,
in Japan

Total
1,200 nautical miles ; 2,100 wersts, which would
cost about 2,500,000 roubles (9,000,000 fr.,
£360,000.

The length of the whole line between Shanghai
and London would therefore be :

The length via Kiaehta, in Siberia, to Pekin,

2,000 wersts, or 6,860 miles.

The length via the Sea of Japan and the Islands
of Toussima or Quelpart, about 14,650 wersts, or
8,370 miles.

But as the telegraph line to the East Indies
through the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, as
projected by the English, forms a length of about
19,000 wersts, or 10,860 sea miles—viz,, 4,000 miles
more than that via Kiachta, the latter being the
same length as the line between the Amoor and the

Island Reine Charlotte, the same amount of capital
as that expended on the East Indian line would
suffice for the universal telegraph connecting the
East Indies with Shanghai, and thus establishing
a telegraphic communication between Europe,
America, China, and Japan.
From the above we may come to the conclusion
what material advantage could be gained by com-
munication through Russia with the East.

~~J