Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-10-23
BREAKS IN OCEAN CABLES.

Ho,y They Are Loccted-RrsC the Cable IL
M.ssded. and Hoe 1T Is Picked Up in
MiG-Ocy0n.
The work of locating break OF flaw in
the cable-process seemingly so abstruse-
is, with the present improved instruments.
comparatively quick and easy, says cor
respondent Of the Cincinnati Commercial.
Describing technicalities, we may say
briefly that the whole electric potency of
the cable when fully charged is known, and
the same can be quickly ascertained of the
two parts created by break. A delicate
machine adjusted to the incest fractions
discloses the electric units or ''ohms" in
each part, and as the number of ohms to
the mile is known, the miles and fractions of
miles in both parts can be found out at
each end of the cable. In the case of a
clean break the locating of it takes about
fifteen minutes. But very angular break,
Or flaw, makes perturbations of the meas
urement which it now and then takes some
hours to rectify. The usual cause Of
breaks or flaws is attrition on rocks or
sand: and sometimes break in very deep
water indicates that sea currents of con-
siderable force prevail there, contrary to
the generally accepted theory that deep
sea waters are always placid. Most of the
fractures, however, take place in the shall
lows, and many of them are due to the
dragging anchors of the fisher craft. IL
two or three instances the cables have evil
IDENTIFY been snapped by enraged or hun
CRY fish.
The machinery used for picking up a
cable in both deep and shallow water is OF
the most simple description. 1t consists
of rope abouta an inch and quarter in
diameter, made from twisted strands OF
| the strongest hemp with interviewer wires
of fine STEEL The grapnel at the end is
merely solid shaft of iron some two feet
long, weighing about hundred pounds
and prolonged into six blunt hooks which
much resemble the partly closed fngersioi
the human hand. In picking UP the cable
in deep water the Nina, after reaching the
waters near the break, lets out her rope
and grapnel, then takes course at right
angles to the cable and at some distance
from the fracture, so that the broken end
may not slip through the grapnel. The
grapnel rope is attached to a dynamome-
ter which exactly measures the strain on the
rope and shows unerringly when the cable
has been caught. If the grapnel fouls a
rock the strain rises very suddenly and to
| high point; but the exact weight of the
cable being known the dynamometer sig
nails by the steady rate of increase its hold
on the cable far below. The ease and GER
tainty with which the cables are picked up
in these days is amazing. A while ago
one of the lines of the Anglo-American
company was caught without trouble, at a
depth of two and quarter miles, near
the middle of the Atlantic. Captain Trott
of the Nina, who has won great fame
for his skill andingenuity in cable mat
tiers, but recently picked up the French
cable one hundred and eighty miles Of
st. Pierre, and in four hours from the time
the grapnel was let go had the cable
spliced and in working condition. The
splicing is work of great delicacy and
skill. and when accomplished by trained
fingers the 'spliced" part can scarcely be
distinguished from the main cord. Sc
rapid has been the improvement in per-
fecting the modern cable that the resist
ance to the electric current has been re
duced to one-quarter what it was twenty
years ago when the duplex system of send
ing and receiving messages doubles thu
capacity of every new cable laid. Tit
working age of the modern cable is abou
thirteen years.