Smyrna times., 1855-06-06
Nllsttllaneous 3tlatter
Claiming the Sea.


ProVement yet we must make up our minds for
some years to come, to find the enterprises of
other countries transcend our own. The adj
vantages OF accumulated capital and cheap la
Dor VIII tor time outweigh as they have hith-
erto done those of the largest political liberty,
and the greatest natural advantages. We can
and ought to do much to abridge this interim:
perhaps by removing other distractions than
those derived from the mere want of ca pital.-
Ii Is question for the curious, whether WE
might have united San Francisco and Halitay
10y telegraph wires sooner than the Europeans
could connect Galway with Balaclava !; realists
VIII be satisfied to know that the exploit was
/ trst performed on the eastern SIDE of the Al
lantlc. The Europeans have also, what is per
maps less surprising, gained the precedence of
us IN the construction OF submarine trlepraphs.
, Ohe has been IN operation our years from Eng.
land To France. Others stretch from BrUIum
to Holland. The last steamer brought news
that line OF three hundred miles has iuSt bern
!aId under the Black So, by which the Crimea
Is brought into hourly co u unn cation with
] i.oadon. Another /. now b..ag Lana from France
To th'' i~iind 't Strd.H,a, .ud thence across to
! Algeria
The sncc s. ct ali these Undertakings natu-
rt'iy iiuuce the capitalists engaged IN these
"perttIons to turn their attention to a still
grander undertaking, which, if it presented
greater difficulties promised larger rcmunera-
tions The two continents are not so far from
each other, to exclude the idea of uniting
them without longer submarine intervals than
such as had been already encountered and sue
ccSfiully dealt with The Orknevs. Farce Is
lands, Iceland, and Greenland, formed row of
pearls on winch the magnetic necklace could
well be strung. 1t would have followed the
probable course of the Nurthmrn, when they
uhconcl"usly discovered America u striking
instance OF how old things become new again
But science Is III advance of the Northmen
The main reason for adopting the circuitous
route lay in the doubts entertained whether an
electric current could be carried more than five
or slX hundred miles, with efficacy. But these
doubts are now set at rest be recent expert
ments of Professor Faraday. He declares the
thing perfectly practicable The Only draw
BACK to his happiness i'll tie discovery was that
II would occupy an apprciabe time in the pas
sage. lie seemed at this, little disappointed.
When asked How long it would take to pass
from London to New York e he answered,
Possibly one second. We do indeed inhab.
it vale of sorrows
Even in matters of detail, science furnishes
important data Geography has left the noun.
tam tops, and plunged INTO the bottom of th,,
sea. We shall SoCn be as accurately informed
OF the face of the country, quality of the soil,
natural production, and population, Of the sub
marine continent as the interchangeable exertions
OF the schoOlmaSter have already instructed us
IN regard to the dry land. Thus Lieutenant
Maury informs us that d" there is at the bottom
OF the sea, between Cape Race in New Found
land aud Cape Clear in Ireland, remarkable
steppe; which is already known us the Tele-
graphic Plateau. The great circle distance
between these two shore lines is 1000 miles,
: and the sea along this route is probably nowhere
more than 10000 feet deep" This is not too
deep to be reached by the cable sunk in the
waters aud yet deep enough TO be out of the
way OF anchors and cebergs. The bottom of
the sea Is found to be not sharp rock nor preci-
pee, but soft, shelly sand, into which the tele-
graph line may sink and become inbedded for
ages.
On the foundation ofthese promising explora-
tlons, the Transatlantic Telegraph Company
was found by English and French capitalists.
The chief engineer is John w. Brett, of Lon
don, the man who has achieved the greatest Of
the European triumphs in this branch of enter
prise. With full knowledge OF the immense
labor and cost, aud OF all hazard, he still dares
to promise 10 bind the Atlantic, as he has al
ready bound the Mediterranean. This compa-
ny has catered into formal contract, oblira-
ting them to lay down at their own expense
and risk, submarine cable extending from Ire
land to st. Johns, aud to have it completed for
operation, on or before the 22d day of January,
1898. If they perform their contract, three
years will not elapse before the two hems-
phereS Will be IN instantaneous communication
with each other.
Nor have the necessary steps been omitted
! to complete the links yet intervening between
St Johns and the American line of telegraph;
links perhaps presenting more real difficulties
than the apparently uHattainable project of con-
structlng the remainder. A Company was or
ganlzed III May, 1854, among the leading stock
holders of which are found such names as those
of Peter Cooper, Marshal o. Roberts, CYRUS
w. Field, Chandler White, Moses TAYLOR and
Professor Morse himself They hold charter
from the provinces Of New Brunswick, Cana
da, Prince Edwards Island, and New Found
land. The latter government, further to en-
courage the enterprise, agreed to pay 5000
sterling towards constructing u bride path
across the island, which was necessary for the
use OF the telegraph, and also to give fifty
square miles OF land to be selected anywhere
T OH the sland, on the completion OF the line to
st. Johns and fifty more square miles if it should
be carried across the Atlantic.
! The work was begun, and has advanced sue
cessfully. Less than hundred miles of sub
marine cable were needed to stretch across to
Cape Breson But after this, came the great
difficulty; they had reached the deep waters of
the Atlantic, which ragged untamed around the
cliffs of New Foundland, A favorable contract
was however secured for the submarine cable
to connect them with Cape Breton. This will
be seventy miles long, and Ii is to be ready
on the lastlday of this sulonth, when it will be
shipped dlrectto New Foundland. The steam
, er Victoria, purchased by the Company, sailed
recently by St. Johns, with Mr.. Fills, the Chief
Engineer and his assistants. The company
fconhdentiy expect to have telegraphic coumI-
I s8gaegitG 500 lG " Ae.