The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1865-08-24
SECOND DISPATCH.
rae CABLE PARTED.

mi NAOLL EARAEDs
HEARTS CONTEST, Aug. Is, via As.
PY BAY, Aug. 15.-Schooner First
Fruit, from Cardiff, arrived in HDrbor
Grace, N, F., this morning, and makes
the following report: ,a e
Aug Sat 4 o'clock A. N saw
the Great Eastern and British war
steamer, Terrible. AT 6o'clock in the
morning saw q beacon buoy, with a
flag upon it, marked Great Eastern
No 5. The Great Eastern and Terri.
bic were then about five miles south
east from the beacon buoy. The
weather was quite foggy at noon.
The Terrible came near tie First
Fruit and received information from
her of the bearings of the beacon buoy.
The Terrible reported that the cable
parted on the I'd of August The po-
sition of the beacon buoy, by the ac-
count of the First Fruit, was in lat. 81
deg. 40 min. north. long. 38.
The London Times Valentia cor
gives the following IN ref.
erence 10 the accident to the cable Oh
the 29th: 1t was not defective insul.
alton which was then discovered at Va
lentia, but the total loss of insulation
In other words, either the copper con-
ductor was stripped Of all its outside
protection and was communicating
with the water, or the cable had been
cut or completely broken. Admiralty
charts of the bottom of the Atlantic
charts constructed from soundings cs-
pecially made to forward this great
undertaking, show by the distance
from land, that the Great Eastern was
then in one thousand eight hundred
fathoms of water; or, allowing for slack
a little more than two miles Of rope
was stretched from her stern to the
bottom of the ocean. The enormous
pressure and friction of the water On
the saturated outer hemp covering OF
the line at this depth would render it
difficult matter to wind in this two
miles length, ifit could be done at all
in less than twelve hours.
1t is almost certain, however, that it
could not be done at all Had the cable
been so injured as to leave its conduc-
tor bare, the injury would at least
take off two thirds OF the ropes length.
That such q fault could not have oc
Cured, is generally considered SUE
fciently evidenced by the tact that the
fault, wherever it was, was repaired
in little more than half the time il
would have taken to haul back the ca
Bile, supposing the accident to have
occurred to the portion submerged.
ard even close at hand 1t is there
fore conjec;urod, with the utmost ap-
pearance of probability, that the fault
was caused bya kink having been seen
to pass into tho paying out machine,
and the vessel was instantly stopped,
the kink extricated, the piece cut out,
and a new splice made. This theory
is borne out by the fact that the time
consumed in repairing the accident,
which is known by the cessation Of
signals, is almost to minute the time
that would be required to make and
test such splice on board the Great
Eastern. Those in charge, then,
knowing that all was right behind
them, and that time was of vital i'm
portance, would not be likely to waste
it by putting the severed end of the
wire in communication with the in.
strument at Valentia, while the elec
tricians at the latter station could
send no response to their signals
through the cut cable; but on the con
trary, there was a local loss of insul
alton The intelligence we publish
from the Great Eastern to-day is more
hopeful for the success ofthe undcrtak.
ing than appears on the mere face Of
it. 900, miles have been paid out
which means not only that after the
tank which kept her So heavily down
by the stern, and so seriously impeded
her speed, is empty, but that the pas
sage of the cable from the stern tank
to that forward has been successfully
accomplished, and the end is now fast
tightening also.
The aftermost tank held S3 miles o.
cable and 400 tuns of water By this
time, therefore, it is vacant, and goCd
length will have been taken out of the
forward tank, which only contained
about 700 miles. In round numbers
tho vessel has now expanded nearly
5000 tuns of cable and water, and two
thousand tons of coal. r.
New YORK, Aug. 15.-The Herald'i
special from Hearts content, on tn,
14th, says: The Captain Of the Terri
Bile informed Che Captain of the Firs
Fruit that the cable parted on the I'd
and that the buoy was themark where
the cable was last seen. The Captain
of the schooner is not certain of tn,
exact location Of the buoy, having had
no observation for several days. w
do not givenp the expedition as a fail
ure. as when last seen the steamer
were endeavoring to discover the 10
cation of tho buoy, showing they haC
not abandoned allhope Of eventually
laying the cable. 'a'''' a''. ."' u ~
p Mr.. Mackey, Superintendent of tn
Newfoundland line is yet hopefu
that the Great Eastern will arrive il
a few days with the cable all right.
cannot describe the deep feeling 0
disappointment which prevails among
the people in general. The genera
telling is the Atlantic cable is thin
never to be successfully accomplished
At the time of the cable breaking i
J uos ohoui CIV hundrad rnilea diatan