Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1865-08-24
The Atlantic Gable.
II. B. NJ. STEAMSHIP TERRIBLE,

Ii. d. NJ. STEAMSHIP TERRIBLE, [
August II, 1865
H. B. NJ. steamship Terrible, is about
the Great Eastern steamship this llth day of
August, 1865, having been in company with
her since July %, when the splice was made
with the shore end of the cable, 81 miles from
Valentia, since which date LIP miles Of ca
BILE have been paid out, the distance from Va
lentia being 1868 miles. and Hearts Content,
Trinity Bay, newfoundland, 600 miles.
The cable parted on the I'd of August, at
thirty-fve minutes past twelve Z. NJ, in
soundings of . 900 yards, latitude $40 49,,
longitude $50 9Gi, under the following cir
cumstances:
A partial loss of insulation having been
discovered on August 2, the ship stopped to
pick up six miles of the cable, within which
it was supposed by electrical test that the fault
lay The cable was passed from the stern to
the bow of the ship for the purpose of recov-
ering it. After getting in BY steam machn-
cry two miles of cable, the fault being still
overheard, the cable broke about ten yards
on board of the wheal at the bow, being injur-
ed bv chatting on the stern ef the ship. I've
previous faults had been discovered in sound
ings of half nautical mile and two miles in
depth, and has been successfully nIcked up
by the same machinery and the faults cut out.
In the first case ten miles and in the second
two and a-half miles were hauled in when the
cable parted The grapnel was let overheard
with two and a-half miles wire rope, the ship
being so placed as to drift over the line of
cable, the cable was hooked after the expira
ton of several hours. When 1900 yards of
the wire rope had been hauled in, swivel i'll
the latter gave way, and 1900 yards of rope
were lost, having lifted the cable | 200 yards
from the ground. A buoy with II flag was
moored. with 5000 yards of rope to mark the
place it is in-lat. 5lo29'. long, 4S042i3O\.
sEcoNp ATTEMPT
Was made to grapple on the 7th of August
and was unsuccessful from the same cause,
two yards of rope being haulcd in. Another
buoy WAS placed in 5lo25 30', longitude
3So5G/.
THIRD ATTEMPT
Was made on the 10th of August. The Crap
mel came up with chain foul around the hukc
the crapnel touched the cable couple OF
hours after it touched the ground.
THE FOURTH ATTEMPT
Was made on the 1lth Of August, which al.
so failed having raised the cable COO yards
from the bottom. Having now exhausted the
stock of rope any further attempts became
impossible.
The following practical conclusions have
been arrived at By those engaged in various
capacities in the expeditions:
First-That the steamship Great Eastern
from her size and sea going qualities can car
ny and lay an Atlantic telegraph cable safely
in any weather.
.Second-That the paying-out machinery
constructed for the purpose by Messrs. Can
ming & Clifford, works perfectly, and can he
confidently relied on. That the insulation OF
| the gutta percha conductor improved by rea-
| son of the reduction Of the temperature and
the great pressure at the bottom Of the ocean
was more than double What it had been
before starting proving itself to be The best
Insulated cable euer manufactured, and mGny
times higher uon the standard required JyM c
contract. The cause Of the two faults which
were picked up was in each case perforation
of the gutta percha through to the copper by
| piece Of iron wire founl sticking in the ca
BILE. Electrically the third fault WAS anaa-
gous to the first The difficulty can be guard
ed against in the construction of future Ca
blcs
Fowth-That nothing has occurred to
create the least doubt in the minds of practi-
cal men engaged in the expedition of the sue
cessful laying and working of the Atlantic
telegraph cable, but, on the contrary, their
confidence in the undertaking has been largely
increased by the experience thus obtained
FGM-That with the Great Eastern steam
ship, and with stronger tackle, and with i'm
proved picking up machinery, there is a pos
siblity of recovering the lost end of the cable
and completing the line already two-thirdS
laid.
SAMUEL CANNING Chief Engineer
JAS ANDERSON, Captain Great Eastern.
G. Il. VARLEY,
Electrician to Atlantic Telegraph and Main
Hnancc Company.
&. V. DE SArTy,
Electrician to Telegraph and Maintenance
Company.
w. TUoNrsoN
Professor of Natural Philosophy, Glasgow
College.
II. l.. CLIrfoRD,
Telegraph and Maintenance Company
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