, 1866-05-19

into yawnlng, dimly lighted circular gull,
the bottom OF which Eeems to be composed
Of light oak, symmetrfc1lly turned. The uni.
fromitY Of The. slightly corrugated circles
With which each appears to 1T into, and be
part Of. It's neighbor--1he seeming so.iaisy
and unity of the great whole-all speak Of
the lathe; and 1t Is only when the eye has be-
come, Al 1t were, acclimatized to the pale
glimmer Of the swinging lamps below,
at regular intervals, and moving
notselees1y around, are seen to be
cablemen, and the apparent wood carving to
be the cable. The exlcrna] distinction be.
tween last years. electric rope and this is now
taHy coating, ana the clean, substantial look
of the MANILA strand, giving an impression of
mingled strength and duc.l1fty, which Is aus
pic1ous In itself. Il mny be repeated that this
ysar's galvnnizatson Of the otter wires affords
final coat Of lar formerly applied, while in the
event Of IN unluckv bit oi wire defyipg pre-
caution and finding its way into the tank, the
chances Of It's sticking In the rope arc sensib1y
diminished. through the latter being repet-
lantly yielding Instead OF glut'uously adhe-
siye.
Very gradually and regularly are the circles
within circles Increased. No word Is spoken
as the rope slowly passes the officer on guard
at what We may call the top story OF the
tank, and Is received by two OF the white
figures below. These march slowly around,
handling the gracefully descending coil as
tenderly MS II 1t were alive, and under the
close and constant inspection Of the officer on
guara below pass 1t to other white figures,
who, with equal tenderness, tit it into and
steady 1t in Its appointed place. Thus, ring
a,.S nisSr n, 1inE Is formed each layer beeinnlne
aud ending with the centre frame work OF
wood, which Is Its bulls eye, and serves to
"shore up'' and keep all steady. Every man
entering the tank is searcled before going In,
puts on tho nailless Euttn percha shoes pro-
yidsd by the company, and goes through his
work OF cabie-stnWlug under the constant
aud watchtnl supervision Of tried and e1-
pcrienced officers.
Besides these precautions, tests both Of in.
auiation and continuity are being ceaselessly
put BY the electricians. Nor are these con-
tLed to this years venture. The old cable
on board is fur this purpose connected with
the new, and messages were transmitted on
Saturday through a total distance Of 1,506
nautical miles. There were then 4sa Of these
miles in the after tank; 757 In the main tank;
aud 267 In the fore tank; and to make the test
more searching and complete, commun1ca-
tion has been established between all these
and the shore. An end from each tank Is
brought Into the testing chamber on deck,
is there Joined together, SO as TO make for
electrical purposes one cable, while another
CAA IL FAAEtA osCl luE bk4lp . el4Es lAlO III AuE
mud and oozy bottom Of the unsayory Sheer
ness waters, in which the Great Eastern rldes,
and landed on the stony, slippery bank hedg-
ing in thu shore. The portion thus running
from ship to land has been recently added for
purpose OF proving MIR. Wilioughby Smiths
and to do this it has not eyen been thought
cabie. This partlcnlsr suceursal
leaves the ship without apy other protection
than It's guttn.perch covering, and runs to
land, md into the cowherd's cottage, where
room has been borrowed, nero string Of
slender piping, like stick 0. chocolate. Yet,
untnir as 1t seems to work this bit Of core
without the jute e,-galyanizcd iron aud mauil-
la strands, which are its proper protectors
the experiments tried have been cmincntly
satisfactory. On. Saturday. messages were
sent from slip to shore and from shore to ship,
with ueycr-ini1ing regularity and, more tnte-
resting still, upon artidciaI iaults bean. Gre
ated, the lte1ike indicator lctras cd them in-
stantly and uncr1ipgly. This was tried seye-
raj times, and IN different ways, for through
the ends Of the different lengths passing Up
to and being joined in the testing chamber, It
Is easy to create .tinu1t, :" now at q distance
OF a few hundred miles, now at distance Of
o. many yards from the operator. In all cases
the e1Quisitely delicate apparatus made in
the experiments proved Tint, as In the forth
| coming expedition, lnsn1arity and continuity
| will be tested concurrently and constantly,
instead Of at intervals, As heretofore mes
saEes may and probably will pass to and from
| FaleDsia and the Great Eastern, during the
| whele voyage, so that those on shore
| will be rs fully informed Of the condition OF
the cable as those on board. 1t Is estimated
that In the event of fault arising IN the new
cable, It will bc discovered Instantly aud To-
calized, aud the process OF paying out re-
yersed TO that Of picking up, within very
few minutes OF Its occurrence. 1t would be
difficult to speak too highly of the advance in
the science Of cable-layfng these facts imply
and II is impossible to inquire into the plaus
ofthis years expedition without being I'M
pressed with the care taken, not merely to
Guard agnlust o,. dssstcF' but to prevent dIsas.
both paying out and picking up has been re-
peatedly tested. The latter is entirely refit-
ted with two high pressure boilers, and Will
now be Of from tiye to seven aud a hall times
the strength OF the breaking weight. Whereas,
too. the extreme breaking strain in pay ring out
times and the smaller one nine times that
l strain. The nishaps Of lust year were, it L
useful to remember, attributable to the pos
sihllity Of picking up cable from the bottom
OF the Atlantic never having been contem
plated. Neither ropes nor gear were pro
tiued for such a contingency, and those
pressed Into the service gave way when put
to strain they were never made to bear
Now. proficiency IL picking up ut great depth!
Is recognized as necessity in submarine tel
to make such picking up easy aud safe o.
board the Great Eastern. Last year 1t coulG
only be done from the fore part of the ship
this year matters will be SO arranEcd that ths
cable may be brought in as we'll as paid ou1
at the stern and the saving OF time and com
plicatIons Is obvious.
Passing from the Atlantic cable to th.
grand vessel which Is to carry 1t. it is crafty
ing to know that her keel and hull have beet
thoroughly carefully cleaned, and that tht
divers reports show them to DC in good sail
Ing order. Considerable time and ingennit,
have been expended on the construction O
huge brushes aud ecrnpers to effect this, To-
| the Immense mass Of shellfsh, weeds and dir
which had accumulated and hardened at tn
bottom Of the great ship made her cleansing
thing like m agricultural harrow, has bee1
constructed, and by the aid OF this and othe
brushes constantly applied, so much impedi
n.entG has been removed that an addition o
! two knots an hour to her speed }s countel
en- This, 1t is hoped. viii give power 9
needed for cable laying, and calculated to IN
sure The full speed necessary, even against
bead wind and an adverse sea. TIE Dfrec
to1s Of the Telegraph Construction Compan
have chartered the Medway, q ship of l s.
tons, to accompany the Great Eastern on he
The Midway Will carry some hundreds c
miles Of the cable Of last year, and in tn
event Of the expedition being successful, vii
redischarge this into the then empty tanks q
the Great Eastern At Newfoundland. The Med
ray will then start to locate the spot wher
the broken cnd lies, to dx buoys, ortt may b
j to commence the picking up. Capt. 'Andel
. son, to avoid taking the Great Eastern to th
More Ibis year, will 20 direct to Beerhave
from sheerness, aud will there supply himsel
t with coal for The voyage. The length OF TN,
| | to be occupied IN an expedition during whic
the double process Of laying down one cabl
and picking up another Is to be gone through
, il necessarily estimated at much higher rot
than the one OF last year, and some sevent
days are spoken Of as the period the Grea
Eastern will be away: Assumfn. her TO leaE
t | Shee1ness from the 18th Of June to the Sd {
! Ju1r next. three days viii take her to Bee,
haven, where she VII stay nine days 70 TAX
In coal. Allowing five days Tor waiting 10
: favorable weather, for splicing with the shol
, end, and fifteen days for the passage to Tr1n
: y Bay, We may look for message
. August a ness. Tbe Eu' Great I Easte1n Ea.ls vi
: egain supply herself with coal /,
/ Trinity Bay, and at once follow tt
l Medwa5 to the graphing ground; this vi
take three days, and eight moro are given Il
grsppling, and five for returning to Trini!
. eas.e. s1s ~. ~'"s N'' fen'uD's* '' Vic u
This done, the return Of the Great Easter
to England will take twelve days more, al
r bring her home about the second week In Sci
: temher: In each case margin must be give
en- present calcnlations, and may be taken
c authentic It will be seen that they assun
c .uccess throughout. and It may be added ths
/ on an elab..rate series Of problems hayi1
r been drawn up BY authority, as to whs
b wonld be the effect Of different calatnitles {
1 %f,n1<n L. AHm cfk