The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1858-07-28
PRICE ONECEN
Gne Atlantic Cabls.-The shSpping
OF the Electric fxnrrauta

Il ~
1 Every thing connected with exne,,m.nti.g ~itb
the cable and the existing failure, il interesting
ana we therefore publish the following extract
from aletter, dated on board the Niagsrs. Jolv
5th: ? .1's
Sune 10Th, eays writer to the journal ~ c,orn.
mefce, We made our stern fast to the Aeamem nor
with hawser, spliced the cable, and commepc-d
PAYING ont o1t before 81 miles had been paved
over the wheels riding Of two parts n one az ~.
grooves occurred In trying TO adjust It, the cable
was thrown oil the wheel, and--partedi
The second attempt was made the same Ssy-
Everything went we'll until we had paid ont ISL
miles, when the electricians reported mo signais'
continuity Interrupted We cut the cabls, aud
stood back to rendezvous, fully expecting 10 iad
1t had been broken on board the Agamemnon; bat
1t proved not so. On board Of her, they knew no
more where IL was broken than We did. This was
considered very discoursgine, and the theorists
had Wild and lively time with their copjectures,
but to this day it re mains, and will remain,
mystery. The cable may not have been parted at
ALL but only the insulation OF the copper wire de-
stroyed. The effect either way Is the came. The
third attempt was made on the 25th, the splice be-
ing made, and cable commenced paying out at 7.30
p. d.. All went well for 251 hours, during which
We bad gone 100 miles, and expended 145l5 miles
OF cable. when the electricians made similar re-
port to the one above described-"no siguals.n We
we're reluctantly obliged to cut again. and go back
TO Cork, as bad been agreed upon if we went over
loo miles without accident. II under 100 miles,
that distance, to Cork the British vessels would
have coal enough to renew the attempt.
Our further proceedings win depend upon the
report from the AgamemnoH and the decision Of
the Board Of Directors.
Should the cable have parted, or the continuity
been interrupted in the same mysterious manner
as on the second of our attemprs IL 10 thought no
new effort ought to be made with this cable. II,
ed for, and guarded against, shall renew the ex-
pertinent when the ships shall have taken on
board sufficient supply Of Goals.
There Is now, think, but little chance Of suc.
cess with this cable; but doubtless the uuder-
taking will yet be achieved in some way, aud the
experience OF this company will not be thrown
away. fsA
The scene on board the Agamemnon, when the
accident was discovered, is thus described by a
writer for the Herald, in o note dated June 10th,
on board the ship:
Although the machinery Is working perfectly,
and the angle the cable makes with the water
shows that nothing is to be apprehended from the
strain, the electricians Office is watched with an
uneasy feeling, and the movements of the clectri-
clans themselves are eagerly followed, rs IL their
very thoughts could be read therefrom. swell,
Mr. de Sauty, says one of the most anxious Of the
cable layers-"wel, how is the contn uity now ~
Capital, and the signals are coming out In grand
style," he replies; and adds, 81 hope they wlIcon
tnue sO"-a hope in which it is almost needless to
say every one indulges. The vessel is going about
four miles and half hour at six O'clock and the
expenditure of cable is about a mile more the
strain being nineteen hundred pounds, or little
less than one fourth the amount the cable is cal
cnlated to bear Nine o'clock strikes, when hear
hasty step outside across the floor, and some one
asking In buried nervous manner for Hr Laws
There is something in both that tell him all Is not
right, and in q few minutes more his worst fears
are realized The continuity is gone again although
the cable still goes eut the stern in the sams
style and there is no indication, far appears
from the operation OF the machinery, that there Is
anything wrong. But the magnetic needle In the
electricians ofice-the unerring indicator Of the
electrical condition Of the cable-refuses to move,
and the electricians, after going through all the
tests, have at last to succuBb The continuity 10
gone, and they find it impossible to restore it,
although they may use all the appliances of the
wonderful science they have at command. 'But
how has 1t been broken, is the question I" Has Il
parted on the Agamemnon on the bottoms If
the accident has occurred on the Agamemnon, all
we can do for tho present is to go to Queenstown
for COAL but il it has broken the bottom Of the
ocean the same grave doubts which arose before
under the same circumstances, must again arise
and seriously embarrass the proposed renewal of
the attempt. Neither of these questions however,
eau be answered till we meet the British ship,
which will not be before We reach Queenstown.