The Washington union., 1857-08-29
THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE.

Our cotemporaries of the press are not disposed
TO regard the break in the Atlantic telegraph cable
in Respondent spirit On the contrary, the inn
preston is universal that the late experiment unfor
tnate as it proved, demonstrated the entire feast
bility Of the project, and that the attempt viii be
made again and again until complete success crowns
the efforts of the bold, enterprisng, andl resolute
men who have the great work in charge. The New
York Evening Post says
This accident which defers for least another year
electrical communication between the eastern and west
en hemispheres, was evidently not of fatal character
There was no nexorable necessity for properly
toned telegraph cable to break from its weight in the
water that being practically the Of tension to
which this one was necessarily subjected Had the steam
sailed little slower had the cable been permitted
to run freely it would not have broken 1t may have
been too short sufficient allowance may not have been
made in measuring the cable for drfage tidal currents
storms, &c. which must be nduged, and the superin-
tendent might have deemed tpruden to apply the brake
to staghten the cable, more the event proved
than it could bear and it broke. But that is acci
dent which has happened to every boy who has ever
flown kite but doubt if the liability of ke-strngs
to break, if injudiciousy handled discouraged
single boy from hte-fying Neither ought nor win the
accident which has happened to this cable if
recy advised of the character and extent off in the
least discourage enterprise which, when crowned with
success viii make those who have conducted it m
nous than the founders of cities the conquerors of
empires
The Journal Of Commerce says:
''The failure of the Atlantic telegraph expedition by
reason of rupture of the wire $50 miles from the
starting point the coast of Ireland is than 1t
reasonable to expect although hopes entertain
ed of auspicious result After meeting with this
disaster the expedition returned to the coast of Ireland
either to commence the work with the 1000 miles
of wire unexpended or to postpone the whole matter
til next year. should be counseed by the in
council assembled We apprehend that the latter alter
native will be adopted The is far advanced
that heavy weather would almost of necessity be
tered before the whole could be completed and
gale OF wind, such as is often experienced in Sep
tember in the region of Newfoundland is sufficiently for
midahle to vessel which has the of her limbs
To one attached to wire 800 1000 miles long,
which neither be strained abandoned without
rous damage such gales would be necessarily disastrous,
and should not be encountered without the most urgent
necessity On the whole, consider the experiment
failure for the present year. That the feat will be
pshed in 1885, in subsequent year. is than
probable though cannot shut eyes to the fact
that many things which practicable in theory inn
practicable in fact It may not be with the Atlantic
telegraph project and we trust it will not But it is
very possible that many unsuccessful experiments
will have to be made before the exact structure size &c.
of the wire the machinery for laying it, the attending
circumstances will all be favorable as to secure the
desired result. ~
The Baltimore American has the following re-
marks
"The great difficulty in depostng the cable it is evil
dent arises from the application of the brakes Nor is
this difficulty to excite surprise When the great
mentum of ship like the Niagara considered evil
dent that at the lowest rate of progress the strain
thrown upon the cable when the brakes checked its pro-
gess must have been sufficient to part it with much
ease and ais suddenly breaks thread. Letters
from board the Niagara, received by the previous
steamer stated that in coming round from Cork to Va
lenca bay experiments had been tried with piece of the
cable about ten miles in length by dropping the end
Rpaw wit had Tha
out on these occasions worked admirably yet at three
successive trials the cable broke like ppe-sem when the
brakes we applied and the paying out stopped though
the ship going at the rate of only two miles per hour
Increasing the size and strength of the cable would
overcome the difficulty for this increase would necessitate
additional weight giving the cable tendency out
more rapidly and rendering necessary resort to sudden
and powerful checks that would snap it apart just
easily of lesser strength The only adequate pro-
vision that would entirely obviate this difficulty will
probably be found in stopping the vessel before the brakes
are applied, then undermining any portion that may
be knked or have payed out too rapidly, and starting
after the defect had been corrected This might
polong the process but would prevent what must 9TH
erwse be certain cause of disaster for under crcum
stances will the cable be found able to Withstand the strain
that must from applying the brakes before the head
way of the vessel is checked.
''The temporary delay which this accident has inter
posed to the accomplishment of magnificent project,
though matter of regret will not be permitted to
courage despondency the final success of the enter
prise In immense task commenced and carried out
without the experience that could be gathered from the
existence Of any similar work. the full of the first
trial. though it might be hoped for could not be fairly
expected. The submarine telegraph cables heretofore
laid have merely extended across straits arms
of the sea- and have found their resting places distances
under water that insignificant compared with the
depths to which the Atlantic cable sunk. In at
tempting the latter work there hazards be
tered and difficulties to be learned and mastered that
scarcely possible could be fully oreseen or so sue
cessully met to make the first effort anything than
practical experiment.
'The pecuniary resources of the company are SO
arged to enable them to encounter this disaster with
out serious damage. In addition to the liberal aid and
guarantees afforded by the of the United
States and Great Britain the private subscriptions have
been large Up to the 30th june lat which time the
balance sheet had been made up f24 of the capital
had been paid up out of this fl9O $50 had been expend
ed and balance of fl67 900 remained to the credit of
the company The cable alone (Which is paid or) cost
f178935 Out of the large balance Of capital there are
to be deducted the expenses of the five weeks between
June 3O when the accounts balanced and August
7, when the cable actually laid at Valencia These
would be considerable but there must be yet available at
least fl00 to pay for the further prosecution of the
undertaking.
EMANCIPATION IN THE WEST INDIES
The London Times has the following comments on
the effects Of emancipation in the West India islands,
s'The worthy who extinguished slavery and ru-