The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-10-02
WASHINGTON CITY, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1855

bOo piuccuhB points IN the steep, anu ls isuiaton
sooner become gradually injured by itsown weight This
h Of course, only probable conjecture based upon the
facts above stated But at the time it s impossible
to account in any other way for the cable having be-
como damaged since its submerson. Should the fault
have originated in this way not the least blame is atrb
utae either to Sir Charles Bright his assistants the
officers OF the Agamemnonthe occurrence being solely
eable 70 the defective and uncertain method OF ascertain
ing the speed of ship at present In vogue In tho Royal
navy The steep range above alluded often mention
ed az sloping banl-upon what ground ID difficult TO
say for but two soundings taken upon it, at the
bottom and another at the top and those two soundngs
though only eight miles apart, show difference In ceva
ton Of 200 feet OF the Of the intervening space
no ono can, of course, form any conjecture Whether
the sides of this submarine mountain Qor II can be
called nothing else) broken by ravines and precp
ous ciis in the way the sides Of the mountains
land are, nothing but close and careful series Of
soundings can determine. That such series of
soundings not made by Commander Dayman at the
point in question when he sounded the Atlantic
from the Cyclops was believe due to the prevalence
Of bad weather at the time is perfectly conclusive.
ecordng to the experiments of Professor Thomson and
Mr. Varley that the water has reached the conducting
wire in at least place not less than 220 miles from
the shore, and the currents received from Newound
land vary from two hundredths to only nine
hundeth part of the strength they should be- it would
be deceivng the public to state that the fault other
than of the most serious nature But still it is believed
possible by some with more delicate Instruments and
with proper concert at both ends of the line to work
through during part OF each day provided the
dlton OF the wire becomes no worse Negative currents
OF electricity are now used as much possible in the
transmission Of signals for positive currents used
the exposed portion of the wre by decomposng the salt
water in contact With would be oxdized through in
very short time Mr. Henley who has been for days
experimenting upon the cable Is sanguine of making the
line again servceable by the of his powerful mag
neto electric machines which their way from
London 1t is we'll that every expedent for working
the line in ito present defective condition be tried the
chances Of successfully undermining the cable far
the point Of injury unfortunately very small indeed
The extraordinary phenomena OF the natural currents Of
electricity which continually traversng the surface
of the earth in various directions act by their nducve
effects upon the great length Of cable submerged and dis
turb the needle and gavanometes at both ends Of the
line to considerable degree. Their nature and action
ii properly observed and studied by Of the Atlantic
cable would doubt, throw considerable light upon
the phenomena of diurnal magnetic variations, to
count for which satisfactory law has been proposed
On the night of Monday the 9TH of September, of
those extraordinary phenomena called magnetic storms
must have passed the track of the cable for from
lalfpast III to halfpast IL the rejecting gavanometer
in connection with the line most violently disturbed
The reflections were SO rapid and violent that 1t
only occasionally that the reflected ray Of light could
be distinguished upon the reading scale These magnetic
storms Of by occurrence, and well as
the earth currents already mentioned sometimes cause
great delay and annoyance long lines Of tecgaphc
communication.
There is still very generally prevalent idea that
of the principal faults in the cable is comparatively
shore and though this suppostion is opposed to the
very conclusive experiments Of Professor Thomson and
Mr. Varlcy yet it is question whether, for the full sat
acto Of the shareholders 1t would not be worth while
taking up the cable for few miles from either shore
and then testing through the middle portion These
operations would undoubtedly be attended with consd
cradle expense and is therefore probably not thought
advisable to engage in them until it has been ascertaned
how matters stand at the American terminus of the
cable. Mr. Lundy OF the electrical assistants, pro
ceeds to Newfoundland Tuesday by the Prince Albert
from Galway, for the purpose of ascertaning the con
.f klnrt ale
the purpose Of arranging day which certain new
code of signals be sent at concerted times from
both ends and to endeavor thus to reestabsh intel
4 gible communication Even looking at matters in the
worst light and supposng the cable far practical
working goes failure, not only has the practicable
ty of submergng it been demonstrated, but also thu
| practicabty of working and signalling through it
| Therefore, it is not to be supposed for momen
that the public both this and the other side of thu
Atlantic will allow the grand scheme for connecting
together the Old and the New World to fall to the ground
if ten cables instead of one be sacrificed in its
complishmcnt At the same time private enterprise
unless adequately encouraged by the two governments
cannot be expected to cone forward and cxpend vas
sums of money in the manufacture and subnerging 0
another cable with fair chance against them of losing
both capital and interest The Atlantic Telegraph Com
pany have expended nearly half-a-mion in the manu-
facurc and laying of the present cable for which th
English and American governments guarantee ELS 900
year for certain period contingent upon success Bu
should the present cable prove failure both the capita
and the government subsidy lost and the sharehod
ers are expected to subscribe another halmillion TO
another wire the sesame basis as before, and will
| the same chance of losing all before them. Unde
these circumstances is not surprising the difficulties
raising the capital for cable are looked upon
almost nsurmountabe. If the English and American
really anxious for effective teegraphi
communication between the two countries they have bu
to guarantee certain though small per centage tn
total capital expended in the completion of the line,
money will be forthcoming for wires should five
six be lost before one is successfully completed.