Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1858-08-13
FOR luE LrwIsBuRG cnROyI'

lie business. CYRUS w. FIELD.
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FOR ruE LrwIsBuRG CHRONICLE.
"The cable must be laid The Anglo
Saxon race has said it, and it must be
done" Such were my sentiments few
weeks ago, in relation to the Atlantic
Telegraph Cable. Although eircumStan-
ces have conspircd, since then, to cause
me to feel as if | had said almost too
much; still, the glorious consummation
Of that, the grandest of grand projects,
has been accomplished. During the last
few days every drop Of AnGlo-Saxon
blood running in veins tinged in the least
with the romance of the nineteenth centu-
ry has been thrilled with the electric
news as it flashed over the earth announ-
cling that "Thc victory is ours.' Of
such via tory as Caesar, an Alexander,
or a Napoleon never could have ever
dreamed Of, such victory that should,
and probably will mark the year 1888 In
the annals Of the worlds history in bright.
er aud more enduring characters than the
most dearly purchased and longest con-
tested battle that has ever cursed human
ity. 1t is victory Of peace. We can
scarcely realize it, and are all somewhat
prone to make comments on it something
like that laconic but forciblc one Of the
Rutlanders Of Vermont But as we now
write, We have no doubts whatever on
the subject As the cable has now been
successfully laid doubtless some facts con-
cerning it will bear repetition in your col
umns.
The cable is owned by stock compa-
nv. The stock consists of three hundred
and fifty shares Of one thousand pounds
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America, and the remainder are nearly
all owned in Great Britain.
The cable cost nearly $500 per mile. Its
weight is 1850 lbs. per mile. Its tensile
strength, as contracted for, is 6944 lbs,
although its actual strength is greater. Its
specific gravity is about &c. Consequently
it would be strong enough to sustain about
FIVE miles Of itself if suspended in verti-
cal position under the water. Nearly all
of your readers have seen specimens Of the
cable which | brought home with me;
but for the satisfaction Of some others |
will state that the conducting wires are Of
copper, seven in number, each twenty
eight one thousands Of an inch in dame
ter. Such is actually the sole connect
ing link running along the bottom of the
painless deep for two thousand miles,
uniting the old world with the new.
Truly Il Is a ,conderJM MrcGd This con-
ducting strand is insulated by being cover
ed with three coatings of gutta, percha
Its diameter then is about three-eights of
an inch. Over this insulated cable there
is coating Of tarrcd and creased hemp
woven on, giving it more strength, aud
also making it more completely wa
ter-proof. This increases the thickness
about one eight Of an inch more. When
the whole is surrounded and closely
bound together BY eighteen strands of the
best iron wire, running spirally around it
making an entire revolution once in about
eight inches Each of these strands is
composed of seven wires each Of which is
.wenty-eight oue-thousandths of al inch in
diameter. Thus We see that there are
over one hundred and forty miles of fine
wire in each mile of the cable. The fin
ished cable is only five-eights Of an inch
in diameter.
Before being coiled aboard the vessels
it was all run through tanks of hot tar.
This gives it slight coat which has
tendency to prevent it oxydiziug before it
is laid in its lonely bed in the ocean.
The iron wire will all soon be decom-
posed by the action of the sea water on it,
but it is expected that as it decomposes
it will form compound, with the earthly
matter surrounding it, giving the cable
still considerable strength.
The distance between the two telegraph
stations, the one at Trinity Bay, New
foundland, aud the other at Nalentia
Bay, Ireland, is 1903 nautical miles, Cor
knots) or 1850 land or statute miles. The
greatest depth Of water is 2loO fathOms
or nearly two and half miles. The av-
erage depth is l4O0 fathoms or one and
half miles. Last year there we're three
hundred and thirty-6ve miles successfully
paid out from the U. S. Steam Frigate
Niagara when the cable parted, causing
the enterprise to be abandoned for that
season. Fif,y.two miles Of this were re.
covered, but the remainder was irrecover-
ably lost. This year upwards Of four
hundred miles have been lost in the sew.
erai unsuccessful attempts. These severe