Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-18
MAKING THE NEW CABLE.
Two Thousand Miles Already Mao
Thirty Miles Produced Each Day.
PdU Man GGzette

Two Thousand Miles Already Mad
Thirty Miles Produced Each Day.
Pa5y Nan Gazette.
Thanks to the courtesy Of MIR. Gordon
Bennett. conveyed through his London
representative. Mr.. 2. NJ. Potter. we were
enabled the other day, to witness the
making of the cable. or, afher. couple Of
cables. in course of manufacture by
Messrs. Siemens for the Mackay-Bennett
combination, and within the next week or
two the Faraday VIII have started afresh
with l,j00 miles Of cable on hSard, on her
mission Of cable-laying between Dover
Bav and Naleutia.
Going To Nessrs. Siemens' works YOU
land at the little station Of Charlton. one
station in advance of WOOlwieh. and a
walk Of half q mile, or thereabOUt. amid
Black Country surroundings brings you
20 the mpOsing-lOOking mandatory.
Here more than $500 men and lads are
employed. quite LOO of whom are en-
gagged upon cable work. Our object was
10 see show the cable Is made,' so TO this
business the relation Of our visit to
Messrs. Siemens' extensive works must
ON this occasion be confined.
cable, the visitor soon learns. is
marked throughout its length by several
variations of diameter, fixed to meet the
varying circumstances of the ocean bot
tom, although the constituent formation
of the cable has always remained the
same. When once laid down in deep wa
ter, cables are in no serious danger-the
temperature. the chemical qualities Of the
sea and bottom, and the movement of the
water exercise next to no influence upon
them, and if well made cables be properly
laid. cable authorities now acknowledge
there Is no reason why any short estimate
of their life should be formed The shore
ends. as everybody knows, are necessarily
built much thicker than the body Of the
cable; but even sh0re-side are only
subject 70 ''chafe,'' and a shOre-end, a
competent judge tells US, ought to last
from 80 to 40 years. Three sections of the
cable in process of manufacture are
placed IN our hands as we start upon our
tour OF examination by an intelligent
cicerone. Mr. Schramm. who has had a
long experience in cable manufacture and
cable laying. The first is a section of
shore line; this Is , inches in diameter,
which Is the maximum diameter of the
70. The other sample is a section of
"a a. " OF the cable; this is inch
' sIe ieet uO';s minimum diameter.
a. U.s. W men - the If the links
The third serves as a tYpe - L.
which connect the shore ends ana ~.
deep sea portion Of the cable. To assist |
70 "a comparison of size we may mention /
tnat an ordinary land-line is two-tan+h~ !
OF an inch in diama+~- , ----.--' 4
bpGi, Armed InuS, we I
go. our inspection, with the reminder |
that the broad principles which were OBJ /
served in the construction of the first sub /
marine cable LAID down between Dover I
and Calais, in 1851, mark submarine /
cables vet-in the centre you have the |
conductor. around it the insulatOr, and /
over it, finally, the outer covering. First, /
we are shown the "copper" centre" OF the
deeD-sea part Of the cable in process OF
manufacture. 1t is formed Of 13 wires-l2
wires Of small size cOiled around one wire
One-tenth of an inch in thickness. The
conductor thus created is twO-tenths OF
an inch in diameter, or just the size OF an
ordinary telegraph wire. This work of
binding the copper wires together Is per-
formed by a small ''Stranding machine"
which grasps the principal wire as 1t is
driven through an Orifice, and fastens the
u minor wires around it; the operation is
as if an unsuspectiDg traveller, upon max
ing his appearance upon the bOrderland of
a strange country. was suddenly seized
and securely bound after the fashion de-
posed to 10y CULVER. All the interstices
are afterwards filled up with solution Of
gutta-percha. There are 10 of these
strauding machines at work upon this
cable, and these can together turn out 30
miles of copper centre in a day of 81
hours. Breakages Of wire are rare. The
copper used, OF course, IS Of the best
quality. 1t comes principally from Lake
Superior; where this is not so, it is cop
per purified by a solution process. Messrs.
Siemens generally buy the copper in wire
form. They are now using il at the rate
of 80 tons per week. There is more weight
Of copper in the cable now being manu-
featured than in any other cable pre-
viOusly turned out.
CHANGING upward as we leave the sheath
ing department. we observe the cable trav-
cling away over our heads toward a series
of large tanks, in which it is stored until
the time arrives for its shipment. In these
tanks is c0iled some 1000 miles Of cable.
the l,200 miles which the Faraday had on
board having been all cOiled back into the
tanks when she returned into the river
after the accident which has caused the
long delay in the laying of the cable, and
nearly 1000 miles Of core Is ready, in
addition TO this amount Of completed
cable. There are 4 tanks, 30 feet diam
eter and II feet deep, which VIII each
hold 200 miles, and 5 tanks, 40 feet diam
cter and 80 feet deep, which will each
hold 400 miles Of cable. There are alto
gether % tanks in use at the present time
When necessary TOR testing purposes,
these tanks are filled with water from the
water cOmpany's main. You have to
which OyerlOOks them, and as you glance
down upon them you fancy yourself look
ing into a series of small gasOmeters.
The lime which man scatters over each
layer Of cable as it is laid down is the
simple eXpedient employed to prevent it
from sticking together As the cable
passes away into the tank you are apt to
be much struck by its inflexible, barlike
character; but Mr.. Schramm Will tell you
that ''when lifted when in a long piece,
the cable is like a thread Of silk" The
coiling. which is marked by great regu-
larity, is done by men stationed within
the tanks. While stored I'm these large
tanks, the cable is still kept continually
under the electric test. y division of one
OF the firms offices is given up 10 the test
in apparatus. The principal instrument
here. as might be expected. is the wonder
ful galYan0meter, wlth its small mirror
illuminated by lamp, instantly report
ing any failure in the degree Of current
expected, which, Of course. indicates
some fault in the construction Of the
cable. The cable viii be worked bv the
duplex system Of telegraphy. But into
this department we cannot trespass
further at present; perhaps we may be
enabled TO inspect the working Of the
cables on board the Faraday.
few additional words may not be out
Of place as TO the character Of the cables
thus being turned out for Messrs. Mackay
and Bennett. Messrs. Siemens made four
Of the six Atlantic cables last laid down
50 that when II is stated that the cables
now in course Of manufacture show i'm
prOvements upon these, it will be inferred
that they are the best and dearest cables
that so far have been produced. THE
more the weight of copper put into
cable" It is a commonplace in cable
making, the le.ter the cable" In these
f4uh 10 -
particularly heavy; while copper wire, it
should be remembered, is twice as good
as it was 90 or so years ago. A cable
conductor" may be compared to a water
pipe-the greater the bore OF your pipe
the more freely viii the water pass
through; the greater the "conductor'' the
more freely are the signals exchanged,