Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1865-02-09
The Atlantic Telssrph Cable.


The Atlantic ToIsgrpb Cable.
The new Atlantic Telegraph Cable is in
rapid progress at the works ofthe Telegraph
I Construction and Maintenance company,
formerl, Glass * Elliot s, at East Greenwich.
This work, if successfully completed, will be
the triumph Of the century and to the
acco,nplishmentoft this end the engineer and
tina electrician are exhausting their combltet
energies. 1t is not chiefly the pswerful
machinery by which IA miles OF the core,
or gutta percha coated copper wire, are
!, worked up into cable every day that excnes
T our astouishment, but the more minute ana
] eonoIex operations-those, for instance,by
E which tons of material during the manu-
! facture must undergo t ne trialo those
exnuisits instruments over which the man OF
: science bends wstchfully hour after hour,
J. ready not only to detect fault, WI to
II apnrise the engineers at what exact distance
l. in the cable it has occurred,
It The core of the cable is fabricated from
a. iron wire and Manila yarn, which IS alter
d ward stepped in q ssething compound OF tai
,r and tta-percha. A section OF the perfect
10 ed cable measures an inch and oue-eighth II
Or diameter, the seven conduting wires yinl
n close together IN the middle These Tire'
le are surrounded by layers OF gutta'percha. a
ne This is then covered with an addltlona
nc porteetion consisting OF tea cleseiy-tWbte'
ae strands, having iron wire IN the middle
Fifty tons of this iron wire are used ever
uaek in coms sination with Manila at the rat
=. Of ak and a half tons per day. The wire
IA twisted around by machinery frem bo6oin'
70, the machines each turuHs out l40 mhes
the Manila covered wire in . day. As 1t
90. twisted it goes through the hot solution
100 tar and gutta- -percha above mentioned, Whc
ssi Il is passed through trough OF water
.as cnol 4. The noise Of the machinery In tn
factory where this process goes on Is aps
lutsly deafsning Its hould be observed th
IN betors being worked into cable by the te
nu- strands of wire and yarn the core Is "ra
ned in q twisted fold OF jute., -,
Is. From the gutta-psrcha works the gable
.93 then carried to the M1rdsn wharf factor
Ola Here the core is received on large reels' a
$50 10 sunk in circular openings Whion are IN
, ,-.-o fillel up with water. From hrst to last,
) ssSs sSs NAV here observe, the cable Is in all
- --- processes of formation At this factory ke
s..s s.s in water, that any flaw in the coating N
- the more quickly be made apPearent.. l
6a-s twelye hours the coils of core are SUBJECT
up electrical tests, their continuity being asc
for ta;nsd and their complete nsu,atlen prov
onor beyond doubt. The joining OF the end
a very delicate operation, and in nlnety-n
cases out of hundred if sny,tault ildstec
it is found in enc Of the joints Hitha
tn of the superintendents Of this anxlous W
ajor- have been very fortunte; but 1t has So
At to times happened that q great length oil 81
has had to be uncoiled, the detective j
,very cut out, and the whole made good. An
,nn. count is kept of the daily progress,
pull puTil tbsre we're six hundred and twenty. :.
,;,s;n ; miles completed December l6, 1864.
~, r., than twelve miles are added daily, 50
''' now there are over at thousand miles con
"a an ted. The distance from the west Goa
w go GO Ireland TO Trinity Bay, Nevfound!an
a'i'n one thousand six hundred and forty nau
eeoed miles. Two of the eight tanks are n
asiost full. and will soon be ready for embark
N re- by the Amethys and Iris, two ghostly-loC
rds lh hulks which lie alongside, near the W
''isnai The docks of these vessels have been k'
i. ed about considerably, andin great par
eas to rid of, to make room for tanks In whici
Nay cable will be slowed in the same mann
recon at the factory The h4lks' When
will be towed to the Medway, wheI
moysd Great Eastern is new lying, with
/; and enormous tanks on boara' eccupyl II
'n,assed cemparison with the surrounding, SO
Dental spaca as to deceive experienced eyes
nresent their actual dimensions, The IRIS an
enty to AD,ethys have each two tanks on Dol
success- They will have to make nins trips to
table, the cable alongside the big ship,
a fnal Mr.. earning and Mr.. Clifford,
, forci- whose control the operations have
rs. Nc conducted at East Greenwich, VIII
in, and pany their precious charge on boa
,ts who Great Eastern, and will direct the lay
ssiou. : the cable across the Atlantic Ocean,
Sas run statement of the mileage Of perfected
y The riyes but little idea Of the length OF
,ndment materials taken separately. For ,ex
three to make up the 1900 miles OF cable
affirma- allowing for various coh.ihssncies,
sanction. required, 10000 miles of copper
,e Legis- used The insulatlng mStsriai n ~
of which an naggrsgateleugth OF 10, 4oo ln.ies
render being in tsn strands, will extend tS e
ratiica-. miles, which will also be the length
tures Of iron wire and % each wire is ser
in. covered with fye twists or STRANDS
chusetts, las, 900 miles of the latter will be
mi Nav into the cable, making together Re
at Viz material which amounts, to ?l5.Soo
a;sh;qan, What these figsras really signify
Mi,souri, understood by reference to the astro
,ada-22 fact that the distance Of 2SIO0o
40 States that from the earth to the moon