Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1857-12-10

| Naval authorities at home have suggested
| that in such an event the only chance of say
ing the cable would be by attaching to it
| Manila hawsers, then passing this over the
| bow, the further end of the hawser being suf-
| fcienty submerged to create an amount of
| friction in the water that would moor the ship,
assisted by her steam power. The immense
power of a single rope to bear such an enor-
nous strain, by reason of the friction of the
water, has been shown in the deep sea sound
ing experiments of tue Arctic, where the steam
er was, as it were, moored in heavy sea By a
wire line l0,000 feet long, and weighing | :
| 700 lbs
The New Foundland fisherman know this,
and ride out heavy gales Gu the banks, depend
not on their tiny anchors, but on the holding
power Of several hundred fathoms of line
In event of the breaking of the machinery
either of the telegraph ships in gale, the
only hope is to DRIFT away, veering out the ca
| bic just fast enough to prevent its breaking
This contingency, however is not to be expect
ed if the proper season of the yearJS selected.
Experience shows that the latter part of
June is the time when the ships shonld meet
in the middle of the Atlantic, when the days
are in their geatest length and the nights are
ilumned by the full moon. This year the at
! tempt was made too late, aud the absence
of this uninterrupted light was, probably,
among other reasons, the cause of the loss Of
the cable
Any person at all conversant with the
changes of the North Atlantic can prophesy
the character Of the weather at this season, for
several days in advance, with considerable GER
tanty, so ar as to time the exact moment
tvb tbo la of flo cb III
commence. The time from the separation of
the ships to the landing of the cable at either
terminus should not exceed six days, involving
a speed of between FIVE and six knots The
chances Of bad weather, during these six days
are not one in five hundred. The Dolphin, en-
gagged in making deep,sea soundings on the
Plateau during the entire summer, did not ex-
pericnce day that would have impeded the
laying of the cable until the middle of Au-
gust.
Another important point is, that sufficient
number of vessels should be in attendance as
tenders, both with the steamers laying the
cable, and at either terminus of the route
After the cable is once laid, the most serious
causes of danger will be in the in-shore portions
of the route, where ice, or the anchors of YES
sels or other disturbing causes from the sur
face, conld injure it. During the past sum-
mer, thorough survey of the American side
has been made by Capt. Bergman, developing
the fact that that spot had been chosen where
all along our whole coast these dangers exist
in the least degree. The cable passes in the
deep water to the north of the Grand Banks
The entrance to Trinity Bay is easy, the depth
immense, nearly 200 fathoms, and the bottom
of character ensurng the protection of a ca
bic. The exact point of landing is i'll Bulls
Arm, bay admirably suited sheltered aud
deep
The details of similar surveys made on the
Irish coasts we have not learned, but are as
sured that the landing offers no difficulties ;
the bottom is of hard sand, gradually shelving
the coast bold and easily made.
The cable is considered by the company as
being all they could wish. Still we are of opin-
ion that another form could have been adopt
ed with advantage. A specimen was made at
the Coast Survey Office, in which the conduct
ing wires, torty-nine in number, gave the
strength and consistency to the cable. In the
present one the telegraphc wire may be part
ed without q rupture of the whole cable The
insulating medium was of India-rubber and
sulphur.