Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1866-10-13

SATURDAY EVENING. ........OCf. -.
The ocean Dea-The Search tor
che Cable.
From the London Times, September lsth
A three weeks diary IN our columns yes.
scr.lav told the simple tale OF triumph over
one Of the responsibilities that have become |
tvnical in the human mind. To recover |
ANYTHING once gone TO the bottom Of the
ocean seemed utterly out Of the quession.-
To Law . cable along the depth Of the Attain
tic. and thereby hold conversation between
Osborne and Washington, or between Lem.
bard street and Wall street, New York, had
NOT even been conceived ill q Few years ego.
and was not thought impossible only BE-
cause L had net been thought OF q ALL
Hut We know too well that there must Be In
cslcujahle wreck q the bottsm Of the ocean,
ma meuy memories and many hearts follow
dear ftieode end precious stores into that
abvss. and would gladly imagine some pos
.i6le recovery. Only few years ego. how
ever. the Atlantic had mot been iathomed,
nor vas Il thought fathomable. II might DC
,nauv m,lss deep; its cavernous Scccssss
might 70 10 the very heart OF the carth;-
there might DO mountains, unknown moii-
stcrs s,rsn.e creations, terrible currents,
stupsnduous vegetable growths, Another
cres,:os: and the bcginning Of new world.
Tho tale Of the SiciIlian diver shows now
wviterr vill people any depth little mere
than Common even in marrow sesaat.-
When deep sounding Was tried at last Ms .
sueculssivc smuseuSeht for scientific cap
tsins. the public hardly believed that line
twelve or iittecn hundred iathoms long had
really reached The bottom. end had not been
waited Gar away By currents not taken %
count az. When curious litilo cootsivAnces
brought up few grains Of mud, It required
: strvnw faith 70 believe this was really irum
the bed Of The ocean. Any how, Il was all
sc,sncc. and no prsctical good could ever
come Of t. The line could only carry Its
own weight. Al hast the Atlantic va thor
ouehly sounded, aud Il certainly did not
belle The anticipations d > very respectable
depth, for Il vas found 10 be in parts three
miles deep. Monnt Blanc himself, on such
. base, would find his airy summit sunkcn
rock, and every mountain in Europe would
he submarine. One he's heard or gian's cit
ting ON rocks and fishing for whales. with
tall pines and cable fos their tackle; but even
when We did come 70 know the ocean Was
fathsmablc, 10 could only be reached by
line that would also plumb our greatest
mountain altitude. Only . twclvc-mOnth
age 70 recover the broken cablo seemed .
desperate hope. Gould Il be even found or
reached, OF could its place be certainly
knownS Was there chance that il lay 10
quietly on its bed that any tackle could
catch and held ~
Nov that the thing has been done, and
ws.ses how Il has been done, il may always
b said that the difficulty hes pel been over
estimated. lt has been overcome By men
Who thought the achievement not impossi-
Die, but exceedingly difficult. They could
measure the ditacullv and adapt their dreams.
They cannot even 10 called lucky, - having
met with ans weather, or happened 70 hii
on The right spot. for they had rather more
than their share Of gales, end dead calms,
and foes, and driAing eurrsaas; acsidcntal
failures, drawing Of splises, miles Of rope
le~s, twisting ef gnpssl Aukes, breaking oil
strauds, and no(1slsss clipping Of Tie cable
out Sf hold. ~ 90 know how. The means
were In proportlen 10 the end, and we're
only Just suneasat. Here was the largest
ship cves boilt, and Il was aided BY two
ships, one Of then ths Terrible. which once
ranked high In che navy, and was to be the
eonqueror in many sea duel, but has lived
TO do better service, though not to fulfill the
promise Of ito name. Tho g,apnel ropes
were several miles long, aud made TO
stand the strain Of many tons exact
" measured by tho dynamometcr. =
There we're first rate sean,cns first rate cleo
tsicians, first ratc engineers, first rate cable
men, with every possible appliance. There
Al l..
dropped inst antly 10 mark . spot, or 10 hold
the blight Of the cable if Il should be CAUGHT
Tho cable vas caught some hall dozen times
only TO slip, to break tho tackle, or to be
itself broken. Il was once recovered. and
actually seen 10y mortal eye, with .ts white
ooxy coat but only 10 be lost again. II waa
necessary, at last, 70 sacrifice eighty miles
-e 49, .,'., AMI 10 ny less depth, which,
however, proved not much less Who,
indeed. can say that the task was found a
biz less difficult than had been supposed
when he attempts 10 realize this struggle
with known and unknown difficulties I
Think Of tho sunless skies, tho midnight
darkness. the loss Of bearings, the separa-
tons, and tho general absence Of certain
information or safe conjecture In which these
ships we're dredging for cable hoped to be
stll in existence three miles below their
kccls. Il was midnight when it made it'd
appearance, - il from another world, and
waa ACQUIRED. With this Messenger from
she deep = communication was Immediately
opened with fellow laborcrs sitting on the
cliffs Of valentia two thousand miles or
and with all the inhabitants Of the civilized
world.
The recovered cable verifcs what wa.
all hsN r.. -
ocean bed. That vast submarine desert has
not tho terrible insurmountab'e obstructiooe
that the world had imagined. II consists
apparently Of ssmcnsc plaias, with noun.
famous ridges, tho whole covered with line
ooxe, the slow deposit Of countless ages, and
found by the microscope TO consist of Oh To-
All the agcs, it would seem, have not cover.
ell the bottom to . depth more than s,il>
Gent TO bury half tho cable, which came up
particolorcd, like . snake with black back
and whie belly. So far, all looks we'll for
future operations Of this kind. But, on tn
other hand, the damages done ~ the crap.
mel irons, and the changes Of pressure on the
drawing in gear. prove that there are serious
distractions in that oozy bcd-rocks in
stu, probably hugo blocks dropped by ice.
bcrgs. Man himself has contributed good
deal, for. not to speak Of the inken arga-
sizes the poets love to dream Of, the smallest
craft weighty enough to lie as the bottom
wosld break grapr.l or its rope. But il Is
not probable that either these or any other
obstructions occupy moro than very small
part Of the bed, which in ether re spects 10
just what men would have desired il 10 be
for the purposes Of An electric cable. Il
rcsts there on ito soft bed, in unbroken
calm, and ct IN inaccessible distance from
It's human ioss. No tempcsA no var, NO
other casual mischief can reach il there, and
ito only enemy viii be that material decay
which science will soon b. able to measure,
and in some degree counterack Bot already
great mystery has been d:spelled, and one
more impoesibility bssn struck OF the old
list. What nsxts Well, good deal re-
mains to be done. There 10 work enough
fos many such expeditions, and openings
for many such successes, if people will bu,
perceive that What they choose 70 call I'm
possibilities ere only diflicultics, 10 be en-
countersd BY adequate nssass.
q hey Fee Years Ola Shoots Z
Oe00Ae0 N1oaman.
Last Thursday. James Barpsle, . eltiser
Of Ballard county, living about ted miles
from " llullvillc," opposite this city, became
Infatuated by LIQUOR and demcaned himself