Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-07-10
THE OCEAN TELEGRAPH.
rheArctic Going on m Sou ndi.. r,,,

| Inc steam propeller Arctic-the little YES
sel Oh zoO tons which has already made fo-
1erseli hne reputation by her behavior nm.
ueI Captain HartStein on the Kane Arctic
Ncn; N lesves her berth ut the BROOKLYN
navy Yard in about a week. start;ns on
TRIP down East. Her GRAND Is 10 re son,d.
lngS preparatory to laying the sub. marin,
caoie from Newfoundland 70 Valencia Raw
ON the western coast Of ireland. Lieut R.,,
ryman has command of her-apd no better
man could be had for the purpose-since II
was nc who three years ago took the brig Dol.
pnin over the same route and obtained the
soundings which made the world famiIisr x;,h
the fact that between those two no;n,s a..
stretches IN that latitude plateau of san5
and smell surface, comparatively shoal AMI
remarkably level In the brig thew fonnd
an average depth of 2, 200 fathoms, but II ;s
tnought that from the deck of a steamer
wnlch is so much moro entirely under control,
.ney VIII DC able to show that this average
depth Is too much by one-third for tho trutb-
IL IL is proper 10 add that six wears ago Liant
"aisbe, IN tho Tauvy, nDus 'vyuI NJ ~
remarkable shoal, and brought home much
interesting information concerning its physi-
cal geography. The present expedition ia
htted out by the United States Government.
NJ the solicitation Of Mr.. DObbin, OF the
navy Lieut.. Maury, of the Washington OBJ
serVatoTy and Prof. Bache of the Coast Sur
Sey' The results are expected TO be of special
service to the New Foundland, New York and
London Telegraph COmpany-this company
lthe people will recognize il as the association
IN which Peter Cooper, Cyrus W. Field, &c,
are lnterested,) having the monopoly Of all
ocean telegraphing over that route for nearly
nifty years to come. And no question, if a
telegraph links the two lands together. this
must be the spot Of its location. liz is tho
shortest highway, being but /, GAO geographi
cal miles from point 70 point Ii is, as we
nave said, comparatively very shoal, the
ocean, both north and south of il, being yerv
much deeper Neither icebergs nor currents
disturb the bottom, for shells are found across
its whole width which bear marks of having
lam undiSturbed there for wears. Nature
seems TO have had this international telegram
In her eye when the ocean bed was followed
and graded the very path for it here
Ihey first steer for the north Of Newfound-
land. A place will be selected for the start
where the water is SO deep that the anchors
OF fishing vessels will not be likely 10 inter.
fere with the deposited cable. The character
OF the plateau Is so well known that sound
ings viii be taken only at intervals of thirty
miles over the route. To make the sOundinps
different weights are employed-sometime
leads OF loO pounds each, sometimes shot of
90 pounds These arc never drawn up again.
The shot is slung in a socket, which Is at
tached to the line by hooks in such a way
that the moment the shot strikes the bottom
1t Is unshipped, and the line left clear. To
haul II up would be impossible. But through
the centre of the shot there passes tube. in
which are fixed several quilts. These gather
up from the bottom specimens of mud, sand.
she II, or so forth, and being brought up with
the line unerringly indicate the character of
the sounding. Marks upon the line and checks
show at a moment the depth to which the
weight has descended. Observations upon
the currents, winds, &c., will not be omitted
Submarine cables are getting 10 be ouite
common; , The first one was laid from Dover
the Hague. Three cables cross the Irish Sea
one from Holyhead to Dublin, which is 60
miles. There is one crosses from Spezsia in
Italy, to Corsica, about 100 miles in length
Another from Corsica crosses the Straits OF
Bonifacio TO Sardinia Another from Varna
(Austria,) crosses the Black Sea TO Balsklava,
which was Of great service in fetching the
Western world the quickest news from the
seat Of the late war. This cable is no larger
than a pipe-stem, and consists of a simple
conductor insulated with gutta percha. These
are the only complete submarine telegraphic
cables. One, however, is now being laid
from Sardinia 10 Tunis; another is cOntem-
plated from Sardinia 10 Malta; another from
Malta to Corfu, and ono from Malta to Alex
andria in Egypt Others Of less importance
are talked Of. This one between America
and Europe, if completed, will be the triton
among the minnows, the giant of telegraphs
among the pigmies that are now in existencs.