The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-11
THE FRENCH CABLE.
An Incident of the VOyage-The Cable Break
in u SIOrm-lt is BmONed md Picked ITn.

in n StOrm-It is BmOyed and Picked UD.
From the diary of the correspondent of the
London Ne,CS, we quote part of the account
OF the parting OF the cable on the 1st of July.
The wind had increased in the night, and now
il was blowing gale, and in order to keep the
stern of the ship directly over the line of the
cable, it was necessary TO back her almost at full
speed directly against both wind and waves.
This, of course, made her kick and heave now
and again tremendously and three or four times
she shipped green seas over her stern, fairly
drenching those on duty there, and breaking the
little gallery around the stern wheel, which
certainly is not less than thirty feet above the
level of the water Orders were given to be in
readiness 10 buoy the cable if necessary; but, as
the fault was pronounced to be close at hand,
the process OF picking up was continued-and
most successfully and uninterruptedly con-
tinued-till about five knots had come on
board, when a heavier sea than usual
striking the ship, she gave kick so
sudden and severe that the cable was unable
TO bear the extra strain thrown upon it, and it
parted on board, some two hundred feet beyond
the drum. All check being thus suddenly re-
moved from the cable, the drum began to revolve
with great rapidly and the broken end to make
trighttully rapid progress towards the stern of
the ship, over which it would have disappeared
in a very few seconds had not the stout fellows
on duty with the shoppers put forth their utmost
strength, and so managed to save the French
Atlantic Cable literally by few inches. The
buoy was in readiness, and in an incredibly short
space of time the buOy-rOpe was made fast to
the end OF the cable, and the buoy itself cast
adrift. Two other buOys were then let go-one
10y the Great Eastern and another by the Scan
dinayia-to serve as mark-buOys should any
accident befall the buoy which held the end of
the cable and graphing become necessary.
July BY o'clock this morning 1.-THE tenn
pest had dwndled to a calm and all being pre-
pared, boat was lowered with a few eXpe-
rienced hands in her. who soon managed to
attach the chain of the buoy to a stout rope con-
veyed from the ship. The latter was then cast
adrtt, and once more the cable, banished for
time, was hanging from the Great Eastern. Pick
Ing up then commenced, and by half-past seven
the end of the cable had come over the stern of
the ship, and an hour later the electricians pro-
nounced the fault to be on board Splicing COM
menced forthwith, and by half-past 10, to the
unspeakable delight of every one, we were
again paying OUT and making our way west
ward. This was the first time i'm the history of
submarine telesraphy that a cable had been
cut, buoyed, and picked up again in such deep
water during the process of laying. Although,
rs an engineering feat, it is not to be named
with the famous graphing of 1866, still as an
accomplished fact IL Is scarcely less important
We had already seen that in calm weather, with
the necessary machinery, there was no real diff
Guilty in picking up a cable of $500 fathoms and
now Sir Samuel Canning had shown us that.
should the weather be unfavorable for immedi-
ate recovery it was comparatively easy. i'm skill
ful hands, to buoy the cable in a gale of wind,
and then, when the storm abated to pick up the
buoy and resume operations. The fault has been
cut out and examined. 1t differs in no essential
matter from the two previously described.
Their mode OF occurrence puzzles everybody,
and, although many ingenious theories have
been preached, none Of them win ''hold water"