Clearly it depends on several other factors in addition to the force in the cable. It depends on the size of the cable. It also depends on what the cable is made of. A steel cable will clearly support more than an aluminum cable. Or In diagram 2, a solid rod of length L, is under simple tension due to force F, as shown.
Axial stress is the equivalent of pressure in a gas or liquid.
So axial stress is really the 'pressure' in a solid member. Now the question becomes, how much 'pressure' can a material bear before it fails. This means that the inch diameter cable is much too small to support the load. This is an important process. We checked the members in the structure, found one was not safe according to the allowable stress for the material, and then calculated the size member needed so that the structure would be safe.