Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1865-08-31
HOW II OCCURRED.

ed with success. Let the reader turn his
face towards a window, imagining that he
is standing on the bows of the Great Eas-
tern, and then, of course, on his right will
be the starboard and on his left the port
side of the ship. When the cable was haul
ed around on the left hand side and over
the four wheels, it was carried over drum
which we must suppose to be behind the
spectators, and coiled up as fast as it was
delivered from the picking-up apparatus !;
but when the engines failed to work this
apparatus the cable remained motionless :;
and as the ship was drifted by the wind
from right to left and slightly forward, at
last the cable came close up to the bow
and under the foretoot of the ship. There
are at the bows of the Great Eastern two
large hawser holes, the iron rims Of which
project for more than a foot beyond the line
of the stem Against one Of them the ca
bic caught on the left hand side, while the
ship kept moving to the left, and thus chat
ed and strained the cable greatly against
the bow The Great Eastern could not go
astcrn lest the cable should be snapped,
and without motion someway there is no
power Of steerage At this critical moment,
toe, the wind shifted so as to render it more
difficult to keep the head OF the ship to the
cable, which then chatcd so much that in
! two places damage was done to it. a
shacklechain and wire-rope belonging to
one of the cable buoys were passed over
the cable and secured in blight below the
| hawser holes. These We're hauled 50 as to
| bring the the cable to the right hand side
Of the boat, the ship still drifting to the
left. 1t was necessary to do this instead
of vcering away, as we were near the end
| of the cut in the cable in the boat. There
is large iron wheel with a deep groove,
and the circumference technically "N"
wheel, from the groove, by the side of
which is I" Remitar," or smaller Wheel on
the same axis The cable and the wire
rope together were coming in over the
bows and the groove in the larger wheel,
the gable wound upon a drum behind by
the machinery which was once more in
motion, and the wire rope being taken in
around the capstan, by bars, but the rope
and cable were not coming up in right
line, but were being hauled in with great
strain on them at an angle from the right
hand side, 50 that they did not work direct
| ly in the V in the wheel Still the strain
was shown on the indicator to be very high,
but not near breaking strain. At last up.
came the cable and wire rape shackling to-
gether on the Y wheel in the boat They
were wound round it slowly, wire passing
over these wheels together, the first dam
aged part being on board, when jar was
given to the dynamOmeter, which flew up
from sixty hundred weight, the highest
point Marked with sudden jerk, three
and half inches. In the chain shackle
and wire rope chamber, as it were, up out
of the groove on the right hand side of the
V of the wheel, got on the ''tOp" of the rim
of the V wheel, and rushed down with a
crash on the small wheel, giving, no doubt,
a severe shake to the cable, to which it
was attached The machinery was still in
notion and the ropes travelled aft togeth-
er, one towards the drum, where, just as
the cable reached the dynamometer, it par
ted, and with one bound leaped, as it were,
over few feet of Intervening space, and
! splashed into the sea.
| 1t is not possible for any words to por-
tray the dsmay with which the sight was
Witnessed and the news heard. When a
man came aft with piece of the inner end
lashed still to the chain and one saw the
tortured strands, torn wires, and lacerated
core, it is no eXaggcration to say that
strange feelings of pity, as though some
human creature had been mutilated and
dragged asunder by brutal force, passed
through the hearts of the spectators, Cap
tain Moriarty was just coming to the foot
Of the companion to put up his daily state
ment of the ships position, having had ex-
cellent observations, when the news came.
!" think" he said, eve will not feel
much interested now in knowing how far
we are from Hearts Content" However,
it was something to know, although it was
little comfort, that we had now run precise
ly one hundred and sixteen miles since yes
tcrday, that we were one thousand and six
ty-two miles from Valentia, six hundred and
eighty miles from Hearts Content, that we
were in lat. 81 25 long. 30 96
PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS.
The following practical conclusions have
been arrived at by those engaged in vari-
Gus capacities in the expedition
First. That the steamship Great East
ern, from her size and sea-going qualities,
can carry and lay an Atlantic telegraph ca
BILE safely in any weather.
Second. That the paying out machinery,
constructed for the purpose by Messrs. Can
ming & Clifford, works perfectly, and can
be confidently relied on That the insulta-
llOIl Vi llic Sulltt ptlCIld COHuuCIbl iLllplON-
ed by reason of the reduction of the temp
erature and the great pressure at the bot
tom of the ocean, and was more than dOub-
lie what it had been before starting, prov
ing itself to be the best insulated cable ev-
er manufactured, and many times higher
than the standard required by the contract.
The cause of the two faults which were pic
kcd up was III each case a perforation of
the gutta percha through to the copper by
piece of iron wire found sticking in the
cable. Electrically, the third fault was an,
alogous to the first The difficulty can be
guarded against in the construction of fu-
ture cables. .... .....r .. .........
Ihrd. That nothing has occurred to Gre
ate the least doubt, in the minds of practi-
Cal men engaged in the expedition, of the
successful laying and working of the At
lantic telegraph cable but, on the contra
ry, their confidence in the undertaking has
been largely increased by the experience
thus obtained. ... ..,. .
: Fourth. That with the Great Eastern
J steamship, and with stronger tackle, and
, with improved piGking-up machinery, there
l is possibility of recovering the lost end o
= the cable, and completing the line alread.
5 two-thirds laid. g .. |...I..... ...