, 1860-07-18

| The London 1sm<s giyes the account of au
| action brought hy a Mr. Patterson, OF Georgin,
in the Court Of Queens Bench, against au un-
derwtiter, named Harris, on policy Of insu-
| rance. By the terms Of which the plaintiff was
to be protected agaiust ali risk acc' ulpg to him
| as the holder of ore share ia The Atlantic Tee-
| graph Company, through the cable suffering in
| jury, or its successful laying down being pre-
rented by the "perils Of the sea-" on behalf
! of the plaintiff, the great object Was to show
that The cablc had never been fully and success
fully laid, aud that that object had been pre-
| rented By the injuries which the cable sustain
cd through damage done to it after being sub.
merged in the sea- SeyerHl witnesses were
called to support this REV Of the case ,amoDgst
others Professor Thompson, who acted Is e!ec'
trician On board the Ela9ara, and Mr. Saward,
the Secretary to the Company
Professor Thompson stated that between the
l1th and 21st Of August, its action was very
good at certain hours; however, In general, lis
working VAS irregular. III was unable ~ith
certainty to account for that, but he attributed
partly to the incrustation Of the surface wire.
| The total quantity of cable manufactured was
| $3.50 miles, Of which 2.136 were submerged,
and about $40 lost. The cable submerged
might be said to be lost, and The original capi-
tai entirely exhausted. ThIee days before the
landing at Newfoundland they cut away 60
| miles Of the cable On board the kiagara- The
conducting wire had got out Of place, aud had
loIeeo 1lo "aJ taFooeo tu* ku'sa fets.'a 0au
| even through the tow, 50 as to almost touch
the cylindrical wire covering. Aaer that the
signals we're better. Before the Cable was taken
on board it had been exposed for some time at
Greenwich to the heat Of q very hot sun. and
there was no doubt that in that way SONS Of
the gu'ta percha had got softencd aud it oozed
through the tow and outside wire.
Mr. Saxard, the Secretary Of the Company,
proved that 60. 900 words passed backwards and
forwards between the two countries during the
three weeks the cable worked. An expedition
had been fitted ont to tuke up the &c miles of
the cable nearest Newfoundland. The new ca.
BILE would sta,t from spot nearer to Europe by
that diatance. It WIS thought that thst portion
OF the cable bad sustained an injury, ami that
the principal injury sustained was about $50
miles from Valcntia- It WAS likewise thought
that when those portions of the line was renew
ed the whole cable would work. 1t WAS intend
ed to raise 200 miles at the Falentia end. There
was no doubt that portion Of the Eutta peEcha
had oozed through At Greenwich in consequence
Of its having been melted by the heat Of the sun.
The cable had not been tested under water, IN
consequence Of the fears of some Of the Direc-
tors that the strands of wire would get rusted.
However, subsequent experience proved the de-
STABILITY Of the cable being submitted to such
test
No evidence vas called on behalf Of the de-
fendant, but the contertion On his part Was that
the transmission If go 600 words proved that the
cable had beea fnlly laid down; and even if that
we're not granted, lis complete laying down was
not prevented By the pers|s Of the sea, but
through either its original defective organiza-
ton, Of the injury which it sustained By expos
ure to the sun at Greenwich, and which was
previous to the time when the risk Of the Under
writer's commenced.
Alter an absence Of nearly an hour, the jury
found that the cable, owing to its exposure 1T
Greenwich, IVES in d defective condltion when
ptaced on board, but then that its detects were
aggravated by the action Of the seq water. The
Chief Justice snid that be would enter the ysr.
dict for The plaintiff. Riring the defendant leave
to more to enterit for him instead. 1t is under
stood that st number Of actions depend On
the late Of this.