The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1860-10-05

never DC heard OF by the unfortunate tar payer at whose
me worthless cable had been Tue
u made up OF series Of bunder Of amount
o. Joobery, and want Of judicous management watch
any great undertaking Persons without the slIghtest
preensions 10 The requisite ability have been estrustsd
with the management OF the difficult scientific and eori
neering details and whose interests we're M
combinat OF the emoumenls Of copcess onnyes ana
the probs OF manufacturers and have had CON
1ded 10 them the work Of making the cable The sane
on OF no names OF men OF superior talent has been gveu
the Undertaking The late Robert stephenson although
Chairman OF the Electric Telegraph Company, held aoof
from these submarine lines and known entertain
strong opinions respecting the faulty and erroneous prin
eipes OF their construction. Mr.. Locke, Mr. HA~kshaw,
the Mr. Brunei, Mr. Page, Mr. Cramplon and other
eminent engineers have not ventured 70 risk their reputa
ton engineers upon those useless which have
carried with them TO the bottom Of the already
three or four millions Of money When the government
took this matter in hard the public had right 10 expect
that steps wouo have been taken TO obtain really
efficient cable and that competent advice would have been
sought But they followed In the old course-there
routine in all tne publ Offices and why should not
the principle actoa be adopted in the manufAc
ture OF cable In the Of the Atlantic telegraph,
the men who had obtained the concessions aud monopo
lies had virtually the control Of the companys Affairs;
IN the OF the Red Sea and Indian line the engineers
Who had obtained from the governments OF Turkey and
Egypt the privilege OF throwing million of money into
the depths where Pharaoh and his lie buried we're
taben into the confidence Of the government and the
directors and to them conhded tie carrying Of
The work. The liberty they sold to tina
company in the drst instance for some fifteen twenty
The ofilcial directors appointed by the govern.
ment to seats at the board, BY virtue of their
contract ssi. with the company might fairly hsvs
watch The public expenditures that all plans WHICH
submitted TO them should be fairly tried and tested
before any step tab which would commit the
try TO the payment OF four and half per cent for fifty
years on an expenditure Of . million Of money. II Ia.
eape except those which emansted nom one or two
favored sources received the slightest notice Among
other instances Of positive refusal TO entertain the
stops Of other parties the or the promoters q
the Great Indian Submarine Telegraph Company, which
bad been formed time previous TO the government
deciding upon carrying out the work. Tne committee
which appointed short time since TO inquire into tina
packet and teesTnphc contracts might have elected
very interesting respect the Reds
Geographic contracts they thought nt to do So and 1t
matter OF regret that they did not pusuehe inyesga
lien little beyond that most superncianquiry which
they 70 the contrasts nered into by the govern
mett aud their representatives There parties a
ready the field prepared to provide teegaphic commu
given - the favored Red Sea Company. There was,
among others, proposal for line from the Lands End
TO Gibraltar Malta and Alexandria, and thence to India,
and for this the promoters asked only the
that Afterwards given 70 the Red Sea Company In
the matter OF the Gibraltar line the Treasury directed ths
Board OF Trade TO the nnfctrre Il the cable
and II stated that Mr. Robert Stephenson approved
Of the form OF cable submitted by Mr.. Osborne II Ia
stated upon very good authority that the late Mr.
Stephenson did not approve OF the form OF construction
adopted, and, further, that the specifications and
tenders invited during ns absence from England.
Mr.. Stephenson addressed letter to the Treasury In
which be expressed his dsapprovs OF the cable and
and in the report OF the committee q letter from Mr.
Webb, whose opinion sought by the government AMI
be states that be decidedly Of opinion that the
Per hts which had been made insufficient TO jus
tny the government in gong on with the work. Mr..
LoDgrdge too expressed his opinion that the cable ws
more vicious it's construction than that OF the
Atlantic and Red Sea cables. II understood TO be in
consequence OF these aud other representations the
subject that the government have decided upon not
BETWEEN rnSIand ana GIoysar and the notable dsvo,
has been hn upon OF sending It 10 Rogoon. II surely
cannot be Intended, when there Is com olete iner
ruption OF the commun cation on this side Of
India, TO lay cable bet Rsngoon and Singapore
the Mediterranean WE'RE provided with telegraph ths
Red sea and Indian Ocean were traversed we could I'M
dersaDd the policy Of extending the system SIN further
but to the work Singapore and that too with
doubtful cable appears to be the extreme Of folly,
complete Of the absurdity Of beginning
at the wrong end Nj only putting the wrong cable
Which i moi AZ IN rsou red sss, p.rt Trom RaOsoos
TO the southeast Of the Tenasserim provinces Brtsh
territory the coast Is Inhabited BY peaceful and tract
able people, and the whole distance. Is admirably
adapted for overland wire, which might be erected
in three months, and at less than one halt ths
reckless waste Of public money 70 lay do wn In shs
shallow waters between Rangoon and Singapore tele
wnicn n, cost tne country pei aseocoo sna
half much again before It Ia laid. Lord wodehouss
stated Just before the close Of the session that the go
veInrnent would consider whether II still desirable
TO lay the cable 10 singapore We trust they viii decide
that may be employed much more berehcally In thu
Red STA Mediterranean and, II there IA any chance q
It's working that the country should have the benefit OF
IL carer home
erto laid has been the imperfect insulation OF the gutA
percha covering This substance In full OF M mute impes
ieccrs and afr bubbles and portions Of the aban
dored cable which were picked In the Red Sea showed
upon examination, holes ia the gutta percha largo
enough TO contain good pea, and which had bcea
turerncndeni OF the Red line in his report says
.The water beng thus admitted 10 the copper wires
the action Of the electricity and seA water decomposed
the connection thus lost These holes In the gutsa
pcrcha were undoubtedly produced BY the expulsion Of
bubbles accidentally retained between the
gut,a pecha and the copper conductor the process
laying On the eotia percha 10 son state" The teis
graph solsd from the sSs o. Nay to u. 10Th q rsS
Tor the electricity 70 work passage for itself 70 that
earth for which II hiss 90 great IN aihuiiy. Il
ptrcha has been tried and In every iaslancs
found waiting, that there u, therefore, no hope
r.. face q s. s h
ESQ oeo upon q cable which they admit 70 be unit sw
the purpose Tor which itwH made. There prse
eegraphic purposes stu are there any objections
70 its ne on the grounds al economy visit 70 the
ierslve works OF Messrs silver Co. OF slvertos North
woogwich viii convince the moe, sceptca OF the facility
with which this substance may be used and the all but
perfect Insulation which II affords me copper wire H.
in tie brs instance covered With the rbands OF India
rvoecr curved Or spiraly When treated by very elm
pie and Inexpensive process, theee spiral bands
feImesSe 10 ~sser. even 0 though sss.d uuasr
tie hydraulic pressure Of q thousand stmospheros,
or lnnsrea T. water s,empsrs.ure q Over 900 %.
substance that y yards Of cable have been cut up into
lengths Of haa y.d each brought together like the pco
of the pciTp and st preserving the degree Of la
81 alton, though snbec 10 the tests OF salt and
borg waller. keees Silver Co., will, doubt, hA Ne
maly difficulties 70 before govsrpmenl depart.
men step out OF their ordinary routine and contractors
an manufacturers ADMIT the value OF insulating
material but shareholders In telegraph companies VA
deserve oil e Losses IN which they may be involved and
their directors vi merit the ErAvest they per
severe IN those vicious and aay syyisms Of construc
ton which have already caused the failure Of mAsy
submarine teegraphs. and caused many OF their best
fricIds 10 despair 81 ultimate success.
IT, ptiesd Of following bnty In the footsteps OF tasss
who made the Atlantic Telegraph the government had
cured What substances best adapted for the prr-
PEGS q insulation they might have discovered thai
there one cable which connects the Isle Of Whit
with the opposite coast which has lain there for the last
heen years and nov A. rerest and Is sount ~ on the
hrst day hen deposited In the water In this
The copper wire 70 insulated with India rubber and has
other outer protection than Grating OF tarred hemp wig
has 80 happenei that In the fnce OF the practical good
~ nds rubber the less perfect material OF quite