Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1858-10-13
Condition of the Atlantic Telegraph,

Condition of the Atlantic TELEGRAPH.
At last we have something ofisisl and ineligible
in regard to the condition OF the Atlantic telegraph
cable. Mr FARLEY, SHE Electrician Of the EIsc,
trie and International Oompa1y"-so be is styled
By the ccmPany-hss made a report on the state Of
the cable as observed by him on the 9Th 9TH 9Th 9Th
and 10Th of September, and the result is by no
means encouraging. 'SHe finds fault Of great mag
ntuds at a distance Of between 245 and 800 statute
miles from Valentis " and probably in water Of but
40 fathoms in depth. He fnds the cable unbrOken,
but thinks the power used will shortly eat away the
exposed copper wire in the faulty place by electric
decomposition. He is satisfied also that there is
another "fault' more distant than this the approx
innate locality Of which he oould not estimate with
out communication with Newfoundland From au
ihentc data shown him at Fslentia, be is also Of
opinion that there was aHlt in the cable board
the Agamemnon before it vas submerged, Offering
resistance equal 10 600 or 200 miles of cable;
situated at distance of about 500 miles from one
end Of the 200 mile coil and supposed to be the
faultw which caused 20 much alarm when The ships
we're 500 miles 'frem Ireland. He is satisfied that
the cable has been seriously, if not fatally Impaired
bv the use Of toe powerful currents from the large
induction coils especially from this side, and that
the present conducting strand is too small to have
answered its purpose even had the Insulation been
found. We here quote Wbat he SAYS
ssTo satisfy uIvself on this point attached to
the cable piece Of gutla Perca>coEered wire, hav
ing first made slight incislon IN the Rutta percha
10 let the water reach the WIre the wire was then
hent SO as to close up the defect The defective
wire was then placed IA jug OF sea water and the
latter connected with The ''esIth." After S few
SIGNALS had been sent from The induction coils into
hecable and const quenIly into The test wire, the
electricity burnt through the HCision, rapidly burn
ing hole nearly oue-tenih Of sn inch 10 diameter.
when tbe fa force Of the coils brought to bear
on the test wire By removing hem from be cable,
and allowing he electricity only one channel, VIZ:
that Of the test wire, the discharges, m ght be
,xpssted. burnt a hole in the gujla percha under
The wafer half an inch in length, and the burnt
gutta percba came floating up TO the surface"
Mr.. VARLET closes his disoOuraging catalogue
with what, though intended to convey some consOla
ton to the directors is perhaps the most dscourag-
ing part Of his report. he says: cit not, hOv-
ever, altogether impossible that some ineligible
signals may yet be received through the cable, as
stated in M previous communication" He does
not say that such a result is even probable, much
less that the present cable can be turned to any
practical use. bu. implies contrary opinion. The
publication Of saoh a report by the company Is a
practical admission that they cannot escape lis con-
illusions, and that they have no better face 10 put
upon the matter.
The New York PoR, commenting on Mr.. YAa-
LET's report, says; Many important lessons have
been learned from this cable, and many are yet to
to be learned perhaps, before It essses-ss In the