Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1869-09-02
the FRENCH CABLE.
An Incident of the VOyage-The Cable
Breaks I'm a StOrm-lt IL BuOyed and
Picked up.

An Incident Ofthe Voyage-The Cable
Breaks In a Storm-1t ~ Buoyed and
Picked up.
From tho diary of the correspondent of
the London News We quote part of tho
account of the parting Of the cable on the
LIST of July. He says:
The wind had increased in the night,
and now it was blowing gale, and in Or
der to keep the stern Of tho ship directly
sary to back her almost at full speed d.
rectly against both wind and waves. This,
of course, made her kick and heave now
and again tremendously, and three or four
times sho shipped green seas over her
stern. fairly drenching those on duty
there, and breaking tho little gallery
around the stern V wheel, which certainly
is not less than thirty feet above tho
level Of tho water. Orders were given to
be in readiness to buoy the cable if neces-
sary; but, as tho fault was pronounced to
be close ut hand, the process of picking up
was continued-and most successfully and
uninterruptedly continued till about five
knots had come on board, when q 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 200
feet beyond the drum. All check being
thus suddenly removed from the cable,
the drum began to revolve with great
rapidity, aud tho broken end to make
frighttully rapid progress toward the stern
Of the ship, over which it would have dis
appeared in a very few seconds had not tho
stout fellows Oh duty with the stopers put
forth their utmost strength, and so managed
to save tho French Atlantic Cable literally
by II few inches. The buoy was in rcadi-
meas, and an incredibly short space Of time
tho buoy rope was made fast to the end OF
the cable, and the buoy itself cast adritt
Two other buoys were then let go-one by
the Great Eastern and another by the Scan
dinavia- to serve as mark buoys, should
any accident befall the buoy which Leld the
end OF tho cable and graphing become
necessary.
July 2-By six o'clock this morning 'thc
tempest had dwindled to calm," and, all
being prepared, boat WIS lowered with
few experienced ''hands" in her, who soon
managedto attach the chain of the buoy to
a stout ropo conveyed from tho ship. Tho
the cable, banished for time, was hanging
from the Great Eastern Picking 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 DO on board. Splicing
commenced, and by half-past ten, to the
unspcakable delight of every one, we were
again 'paying out" and making our way
westward. This was the first time in tho
history of submarine telegraphy that CO.
BILE had been cut, buoyed, and picked up
again in such deep water during the pro-
cess of laying. Although. as an engineer
ing feet, it is not to be named with the fa.
nous graphing of 1866 still, as an accom-
plished fact, it is scarcely less important.
We had already seen that in calm
weather, with the necessary machine
ry, there was no real diff
Guilty in picking up cable of 2, 800 fathom
and now Sir Samuel Canning had shown
us, that, should the weather be unfavorable
for immediate recovery, it was compare
lively easy, in skillful hands, to buoy the
cable in gale of wind. and then, when the
storm abated, to pick up the buoy and re-
sume operations. The fault has been cut
out and examined. 1t differs in no essen
tial matter from the two previously des-
cribed. Their mode Of occurrence puzzles
everybody, and although many ingenious
theories have been preached, none OF them
will ''hold water"