Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1857-1858, 1857-09-01
From the Cincinnati commerciaI.
.iIuTe of the Atlantic Telegraph,

Failure Of the Atlantic Telegraph.
Amid the crash of mammoth banking houses
stunning the commercial world, comes the unwel-
come news that the most wonderful enterprise of
this or any age is for the present failure The
tslegraphc feet, which set forth with such an ex-
allied and anxious ambition, on the 9Th inst has
returned discounted tothe shores of the Old World
All the preOant!ons that genius could suggest and
mechanical ingenuity furnish, did not avail The
cord, along which It hoped the histories of two
hemispheres were to thrill, day by day, far under
the wastes OF waves, was snapped, and all enlight-
ened men are sorely grieved by the disaster. But
1t seems now almost absurd to have hoped that so
stupendous a scheme as spanning the Atlantic bV
magnetic cable could be successful at the FIRST at
tempt. The public must be schooled, by protract-
ed antlepations and apprebensions, before the
Jestie project In view IS eonsummafed. The tele-
graphic heet was looked for along the Newfound-
land coast with eagerness, the telsgrapbic Offices
being kept open all night, that the steamers might
be signaIized at tho earliest moment, and the news
OF their success flashed over the Continent. The
loOk-outs were doomed to disappointment. It WAS
not for their eyes behold the coming of the feet
made immortal by victory beside which other
naval triumph would have been worthy to be nam
ed. Europe was, as it were, suspended by thread.
Until the cable snapped, signals and messages were
necessarily transmitted through it, and these were
taken up by the land lines, and the wondrous sto-
~ repeated from nation to nation. So long as the
signals from the electricians the Niagara were
received at Vslenta, all was well. But at length
there was pause in the defectons of the needles
that were to tell of electric currents Communica-
ton with the Niagara was lost Presently all doubts
as to the occurrence of catastrophe was removed.
It became apparent that che cable had snapped and
that the splendid vision of instantaneous commune
cation between Europe and America must remain,
for time, dream. That il is within the limits of
possibility to lay cable from Ireland to NeWfound-
land, may, however, be considered demonstrated
and the question of operating a cable between the
opposing shores Of the Atlantic is only of time.
The news of the experiments with the cable on the
coast Of Ireland brought by the City Of Washing
ton, which LIT Liverpool i've days after the sailing
of the Geographic feet shows precisely how the
cident occurred.
The defect in the arrangement, was the ponder
osity of the machinery for paying out the cable.
This instead of being slight aud simple, was heavy
and complicated the cable being taken around no
less than FIVE great grooVed wheels and receiving
considerable strain in setting them in operation.
These wheels were provided with brakes, the OBJ
ject of which was to stop the cable in case klnk
should be discovered. The difficulty was that
those BRAKES were competent to stop the wheels
but to check the speed of the ship; and it was
discovered that when the brakes applied, that
the vessel could lot be stopped in time to save the
cable.
A correspondent OF the n. Y Herald writes
from Yalentia Bay August eth Before the feet
ran into the shore at that place. for the purpose OF
landing the shore end of the cable, experiments
were made by the Niagara with ten miles OF the
discarded cable. Inc HeTdtQ s letter writer says.
''The cable was passed round the sheaVe wheels
of the paying machine, and then as il was passed
over the stern kedge-snchor was tied to the end
to sink it, aud in that manner by bringing weight
upon the wheels them to revolve until sui
fcient portion of the cable should be paid out TO
enable the vessel to proceed at the desired speed
The anchor having been fastened was dropped into
water, but the weight was not heavy enough TO
produce the desired result"
Enough cable was dropped overheard, however,
10, r. cfiak nd
There no difficulty aboutpayiDg out, but
there was one most essential point to be settled
before its success could be finally established. 1t
was necessary to try the action OF the brakes, and
to do that the cable would be most probably sub
jected to a strain which it might be found too weak
20 resist. 1t was, however, vaueless for any 9TH
er purpose ano so it mattered little what strant it
might be subjected to. So the brakes were put
on, and the wheels over which it passed having
been stopped in this way, it broke In lew minutes
The object Of the brakes, as was explained in
former letter, is to stop the cable when kink
takes place, or when any defect is discovered be-
fore it passes the Wheel that it may be re-
paired before it descends into the water. But al
though l. may be desirable aud sometimes abso-
tely necessary repair any damages, yet il is ex-
ceedingly doubtful whether the application OF the
brakes at time when the vessel is going at rate
OF two three four miles an hour, is not calcua-
ted to endangeF the safety OF the cable by break
ing. Suppose, for instance, dJeet as diScOrered
before IL has passed three feet from The coal, and
VhiIe IL has to 90 hundred and y more before ct
reaches tie machine; tie moment 10 Is made knoo'
the brakes brought to bear, the STRAIN caused bg
tie Oioard motion of the VesSeL Is sufficient to break
cable of ttvice Its strength Iii impossible, every
one knows who Is acquainted with side wheel
steamer stop at once while II is going at 60
slow rate at two miles an hour, ard II Is
still more difficult with propeller. In fact, no
steamboat, be it propeller or side wheel, can be
Immediately arrested, nor until it has run about
once and sometimes double its own length, and SO
it was found in this instance. The putting o's Of
the brake severed the cable, swapping e like pipe
stem,
d second experiment Oas tried, and With the same
result and a third ended i1l the tray.
OF course it was now demonstrated that the
achievement in laying the eabledepended upon the
ability 20 pay t out all the way across the ocean
without occasion 10 stop the the machinery. Sue
cess under such circumstances would have been
little less than miraculous Well, after the shore
end was landed with great eclat and the work COM
menced in earnest, the Herald's correspondent re-
lates this incident
At four O'Clock everything was made ready for
a fair start; the anchors weighed, tue men
stationed their places on the coil and the paying
ost machinery, and in half hour after the vessel
was moving slowly aud steadily out OF the bay at
the rate OF about two miles an hour The machines
~ appeared to work better or as well as when II
tried before, and the cable passed out over the
stern without Interruption OF any kind for about
three quarters OF an hour whef suddenly Il s'Tged
on the ShsdDe Of one Of He UheetS ana udS 1pfliUed
"a tie machine An attempt made to ertricats
e.; but before Il could be accomplished the great
strain that oas brought upon Il By the on,eaTd mo
tion of the UeSssi aud cheh could not be arrested
parted the cable. II impossible under the cir
eastlRces 10 preUeHt Seh catastrophe for once q
qot off he Wheel iiO means that could haze been adopt
ed at tie time you'd haze saved Il from breaking
Had it parted on board the difficulty might have
been remedied, but unfortunately the point of sep
aration was In the water.
Then there was weaFisome workn fishing up
the broken piece and in splicing the parts This
was at length accomplished, and the fleet got undeE
way. The accident which caused the return OF the
feet was, We presume, only arepetlion OF this per-
Torrance, three hundred and fifty miles from, IN
stead Of within sight Of the shore.
The effects of Mdle. Rachel are being sold
off in Paris Her gifts, her portraits, her
poignards, her wardrobe, ali her CHERISHED
works OF art, have by this time been KNOCK
ed down" to the highest bidder. We under
stand that the following actresses deputed g.
gents to bid for them. Madam Ristori gave q
carte blanche TO bid for the mantle Of the
tragedy queen, and certainly on no one would
the mantle of Rachel fail 50 gracefully as on
the classic shoulders OF Ristori Miss Helen
Faueit Is anxious To obtain possession OF Rt-
chefs crown. Miss Glyn holds out her hand
filed with bank notes, IN the hope OF clutch
ing her sceptre; whilst Miss Cushman la, set
her dramatic heart upon carrying of her shoes
in the ambitious Appreciation Of being able 10
walk in theni May the wishes of ali DC graf
oh afr