The Kanzas news., 1857-07-18


The Great Atlantic Submarine Tel
egreph Cable.
About mile or so below Greenwich
stands the factory of Messrs Glass and
Elliot, where the great submarine cable, by
which it is hoped to connect England with
America, is In rapid course of completion
The rolls of wire, tons of hemp yarn and
singular looking drums from the Gutta Per-
cha Company, which are necessarily pour
ing into the works, betoken the presence of
an unusual kind of manufacture, and this
idea is quite borne out by mere glance
over the premises themselves The first
object which attracts the Visitors attention
on entering the yard is the vast bulk of ca
BILE already completed. On each side of the
path are two large circular docks or pits, In
which about 500 miles are piled away in
four massive coils, each 35 feet In diameter.
1t appears so manageable and so supple as
the men drag it from the building in which
it is manufactured that it is difficult TO real
ize the fact that the greater part of it is iron
wire, or that light and slight looking rope
of that kind is intended to form a perpetual
medium of communication under the 5000
miles of one of the deepest and stormiest
seas In the world. Such, however, is the
result which it is hoped to achieve, though
whether it will do - or not is quite another
question, and one full of doubt and difficult
ty. Before entering further into the sub
iect we may as well mention that the whole
cable is being constructed in two equal por-
tions-one half being made at Messrs. New
all's works at Birkenhead, and the other at
Messrs Glass and Elliot's at Easte Green
wich The reason for this subdivision is
that it was quite impossible for one man
ufactory to complete such gigantic under
taking within the allotted time. Each firm
is bound BY contract to have 200 miles
ready for shipment by July. and as many
miles more as they can get completed in
that time. Already at the two manufacto-
ries about 200 miles have been mSde.-
Glass and Elliot produce at the rate of 10
miles per week, but with an additional ma
chine in course of erection they viii in a
few days be able to increase that amount to
100 miles. We believe both firms expect
te have 400 miles completed within the
period specified In their agreement. The
interest with which the progress of this
great work is regarded on both sides of the
Atlantic will excuse our giving a brief de-
scription of the various processes through
which tho cable passes in its course toward
completion. The conducting wire through
which the electric current viii have to pass
consists of seven No. 22 copper wires twist
ed into one strand the thickness of No. 13
wire, or about 1-16th of an inch. This,
made by the Gassta 2eFTSShs
| Company, or at all events coated by them
with three folds of gutta percha, which in
creases the diameter of the whole to three
eighths of an inch. In this form it is de-
| livered at the manufactures, coiled on wood
en- drums in two-mile lengths, with short
piece of the copper conductor left out at
each end for the purpose of joining. As
these arrive at Greenwich the ends of the
conductor are carefully brazed together,
bound round with gutta pereha, and so join
ed to the entire length of the cable, which,
all in one piece, is going through the diff
ferent stages of manufacture in the various
floors of the works. One end of tie cable
is connected with a sand battery of 240
cells, which maintains continuous current
through the whole, in order that the connec-
tion and insulation of every new two-mile
length may be ascertained with the galvanom-
eter as each piece is Joined. The workman,
therefore, who joins the ends, being in con
nection with the current, is obliged to be
insulated from the floor with thick pieces Of
gutta percha under his feet, TO prevent his
receiving severe proofs of the perfection with
which the current is carried though
The wire thus coated and joined is then
wound off to the sc serving" machine, where
it passes up the bins, each of which is sup
piled with many hundreds of yards of FIVE
Iz<1 IN of.v ffoh
! tar, oil and taliow AS the wire moves
slowly through this the bobbin wheel fs
wolves at the rate of 375 times a minute,
spinning the five strands of yarn tightly
about it, so as not to leave the smallest in
terstice. 1t passes from this through a
guage, which shows its diameter to be
9-16ths of an inch exactly, and the electric
current with which it is in connection
proves by the needle of the galvanometer
that the connection and insulation of each
fathom as it moves off has been uninjured
by the serving" process. 1t then only
remains to '' close or bind it up in wire.
In this operation an enormous amount OF
wire is consumed daily indeed more is
wanted than all the wire drawers In Eng
land can supply, though to do so, they
are now tasking their powers of pro-
duction to the very utmost. OF the
amount required, our readers may judge by
the fact that when completed, the whole ca-
Die VIII contain enough wire to encirele the
1 globe nearly Is times, or nearly to reach to
the moon and back again. The wire used
for closing the outside is No. 22. Seven
of these are twisted into one strand, and l8
strands are twisted round the cable. The
strand machine In which the seven wires
are placed revolves 40 times per minute,
binding the seven into one strong compact
strand, the same diameter IS the conducting
wire-viz: l-l6th of an inch. Each of The
strand machines, working night and day,