The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1858-10-21
Of the Cahis--A nscouraxtn~
Report From Mr.. variey.

At last we have something official and
Ineligible 10 regard to the condition Of the
Atlantic cable. Mr.. VALLEY, "the Electri.
clan Of the Electric and International Tele-
graph Company"-so be is styled by the COM
Tany- has made report on the state Of the
cable as observed by him on the 9th, 7th,
9Th, 9th and 10th Of September, and the re.
suit is by no means encouraging. He fnds
- fault Of great magnitude at . distance
Of between 245 and 300 statute miles from
Valentia," and possibly in water Of but 4l0
fathoms 10 debt. lie finds the cable un-
broken, but thinks the power used will
shortly eat away the exposed copper wire
in the faulty place by electrolytic de-
composition. lie il Satisfied also that there
Is another fault" more distant than this,
the approximate locality Of which he could
not estimate without communication with
Newfoundland. From authentic data shown
him At Valentia, b. is also Of opinion that
there was fault in the cable on board the
Agamemnon before il was submerged, offer.
ing a resistance equal TO 1000 or | 200
miles Of cable, situated at distance OF about
$50 miles from one end Of the 1900 mile
coil, and supposed to he the FAULT which
caused 20 much alarm when the ships were
500 miles from Ireland. lie is satisfied that
the cable has bsen seriously, if not fatally,
impaired by the use Of too powerful currents
from the large induction coils, especially
from this side and that the present conduct
ing strand is too small to have answered It's
purpose, even had the insulation been found.
We here quote what he says
ITO satisfy myself on this point, at.
tached to the cable q piece Of gutta percha-
covered wire. having first made an incision
in the gutta percha to lot the water reach
the wire the wire was then bent 70 a. to
close up the defect. The defective wire was
then placed in jug Of sea water, and the
latter connected with the earth After
few signals had been ent from the Undue
ton coils into the cable, and consequently
into the test wire, the electricity burnt
through the ncison, rapidly burning hole
nearly one-tenth OF an inch in diameter.
When the full force OF the coils was brought
to bear on the test wire by removing them
from the cable, and allowing the electricity
only one channel, viz: that Of the test wire,
the discharges, IA might be expected, burnt
hole in the gutta Tercha under the water
half AN inch in length, and the burnt gutta
perch came floating up to the surface
Mr. Marley closes his Encouraging cata-
logue with what, though intended to convey
some consolation to the directors, il per-
haps the most dscouragipg part Of his report.
He says; 1t is not however, altogether impos-
sble that some Ineligible signals may yet be
received through the cable, as stated in my
previous communication. lie does not say
that such result is even probable much
less that the present cable can ever be turn
Ell to any practical use, but implies con-
trary opinion. The publication OF such
report by the company Is a practical ad-
mission that they cannot escape its consu
sions, and that they have no better fact to
put upon the matter.
The New York Post. commenting on Mr..
NARLsYs report, remarks;
Many important lessons have been learn
ed from this cable, and many arr yet to be
learned, perhaps, before j, ceases as in the
natural course of things it soon will cease
to bind the two continents in electrical
union but 1t is now very clear that, like
the vegetation Of past season, this cable is
of no farther use, except as q means Of pre-
pairing for another and better. We may
expect at any moment to learn that the
continuity Of the cable is interrupted. From
that moment il ceases to be of any vslae
for any purpose. Bu, the practicability Of
an electrical union of the two continents has
been established, and l, is idle to suppose
tina, such discovery will remain long un.
improved.