Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-06-18
rHn ATLANT1c TELEGRAPH
7yaa1 A,rangsmsnts.- Waea the Niagara may
be Expectea.

(the Arago and Europa furnish full and int :
osting accounts of the preliminaries for theex-
perimentaI sailing Of the Atlantic Telegraph
Acct, If the vessels returned from their expert
mental trip on the 4th of June, and everything
worked satisfactorily enough for the proposed
sailing on the 10Th, they must now be, each
one, sailing home from mid.ocean, and our yes
sci, the Niagara, ought to be here next week.
From the London Times we get the following
summary of the preparations for the experiment
tai sailing. 1t will prove highly interesting to
all our readers who take an interestin this great
undertaking; b nl
The programme of the intended proceedings
of the expedition may be very briefly told. Ae-
cording to present arrangements the vessels
leave the Sound tomorrow evening, andge with
all speed into deep water. Directly they are
out Of g soundings' (meaning in about 1000
Eathomsl a niece Of waste cable will be passed
from the Agameo'nOH to the Niagara, and a
splice made, Only this experiment can teach
practically the best method of eitectng the inn
portant juncture when in the middle Of the At
| iantic. Tho cable will Then be sunk from both
vessels, after variety of experiments have been
made as to its strength, by means of running
out, &C., the ''reelng in" machines will be set
to work to attempt to coil it up again. Ihis
latter portion of the task, though not altogether
hopes are entertained Of recovering the piece
with which the experiments are made, and which,
to the length of some 80 or 40 miles, will, there
| is little doubt, remains as permanent ornament
to the bottom of the Atlantic. The loss OF the
niece. however, is of no consequence, since,
apart from the practical value of the results it
| will furnish, it can have no other nse. tits
portion Of the coil lost in the attempt OF last
year, and which is so Injured in hauling up from
/ 900 fathoms as to become, electrically speak
| ing, Of no further value.
The.experimental trip (Which Is likely to last
about six days) finished, the vessels return Mt
once 10 this port, and when the ships fill up
with coal and winter, the Agamemnon viii re-
ceiye her last coil of 95 miles, (making up the
total quantity on board Of both, exclusive OF
the shore ends, to 2sa66,) and the final pFepara:
tons being completed, the squadron will sail
| for the great undertaking about the 9th of june
| Our readers are of course aware that the cable
will be submerged by both ships from the cen
/ tire of the Atlantic, instead OF commencing from
| the Irish coast as was the case last year There
are many strong reasons IN favor OF the present
plan, which is the original one, and which,
though abandoned for timc was warmly advo-
Gated last year by Mr.. Bright, engineer of the
Company. The chief advantage, of course, is
| that by LAYING from the centre by both ships
the whole operation can be finished in half the
| time, and, therefore, at half the risk from bad
weather which it would otherwise incur. The
] Dln0, however, IS not WllilOuS 6eElOuS fIbhS
| It's own, but the manner in which these are to
be met has NOT as yet been finally decided upon.
| The Niagara will be given AN advantage over
the Againemnon of some 80 or 100 miles; that
| is. the junction of the wires will not be made
exactly midway between Valentia and New
| foundland, bnt at the distance we have mem
| toned nearer to the American shore. No at
| ueIupt Will ~ made to effect the splice uutil
the weather is fair and the OarUII'vts- Using
Once however, that the centre piece is resting
AZ L. oil
safe speed to their respective shores The rate
at which the cable will be lowered out will not
exceed five knots per hour. During the whole
process, of course, signals to ascertain the per-
feet continuity of the coil will be passed from
ship to ship, and all questions and answers re-
garding the rate of speed and state OF weather
with which each vessel meets kept regularly
recorded. Asregards the chances of bad wealth
er, the most careful and elaborate investigations
have been made by Lieutenant MauTy, Of the
| United States navy, and therefore, as far as hi
man foresight and science can go, the risks have
been at least foreseen, and therefore partly guard
ed against. According to this officer and to the
statistical tables of the Washington Observatory,
where the whole subject of the frequency OF
gales fog ice and lightning in each month for
the whole North and South Atlantic has been
complied from upwards of 2OO,OO0 days OF
observations, it seems that in the months Of
January and February that part OF the Atlantic
! that lies between England and the United States
is the stormiest known sea inthe world; and that
along the Geographic route there always occur
at least five, and perhaps ten gales of wind dur
ling the Januaryof every year. In the Summer
season the part of the Atlantic to be traversed
| by the paying-out steamer going West is almost
entirely exempt from gales On the contrary,
along the Eastern (European) half oftthe route
there occur annually on the average of at least
two or three gales in the months of June or
| July There is, however, scarcely any-ehance
of gales in the month of August, exceptin APP
preaching the Irish coast, when the chances of
lencountcring one are about as three to thirty
| On the other hand, the steamer going West with
the cable, though much less likely to encounter
a gale has to contend with almost as great dan
gers from fogs and ice. For ice, it appears from
| the log. books for some $50 Summer voyages be-
tween Valentia and New Foundland that In 10
report meeting it in June, j in "a in July, and
in SO in August. Thus, according to the relative
| frequency of gales and fogs along the whole
route in the month Of June, it seems that the
English vessel risks encountering five gales and
no less than % fog banks, for June is the fog
gie.t month in the year. The American ship
has the chance of meeting two gales, but no
fewer than 81 fog banks, as well as the chances
of ice, which is always met with in her route,
butmuch less frequently on the English side OF
1.-THE ocean. Calculating these dangers, there
fore, by the time which the whole expedition
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