The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-01-08
SUBMARINE CABLES.


Ho6 the Great Ocean. Telegraph Lined Afe
Made and Protected
According 70 the latest reprt 6f the
International Bureau OF Telegraph Adj
hinistfatisn the submarine telegraph
iystsm of the world consists Of iao,07d
daHtical miles Of cable. Government
administrations own IL, 524 miles. while
io7, $40 are the property Of private COM
panies The total cost q these cables
q in the neighborhood Of s2Oo, 200, 900
rhe largest ownet 81 Submarine cables
LIS the Eastern Telegraph Company,
whose system covers the ground from
England to India, and Comprises 81, $50
miles OF cable. The Eastern extern
sion, which exploits the far East has
IL, 95S miles more
Early in last year the system Of West
African cables, which started from
cadih only six Years age was completed
10 Cape Town, 30 that the Dark Cofiti=
neft ID now completely eneircled BY
submarine telegraph, touching OF fiu-
tmefets points along the coast More
bhaf II. 600 miles OF cable have been re-
]uired to do this, and several cotnpa-
MES with more or less aid from the
British, French, Spanish and Portu-
yuese Governments, have participated
In carrying out the work.
The Mouth Atlantic is SPAWNED by no
less than eleven cables, all laid since
1870, though / think not all are working
1t the present time, five companies are
| engaged in. forwarding kilograms be.
tween North America and Europe, and
the total length Of the cables owned by
them. including coast connections is
over 80, 900 nautical miles
Let us first see what submarine
cable is, and how 1t is made. TO do
this visit must be made to the enor-
nous factory on the banks of the
| Thames, a few miles below London.
Here the birth Of the cable may be traced
through shop after shop machine after
machine. The foundation OF all is the
conductor, strand OF seven fine copper
wires This slender copper cord is first
hauled through mass of sticky, black
compound, which causes the thin coat
Ing OF gutta-pcrcha applied by the next
machine to adhere to 1t perfectly and
prevents the retention Of any bubbles
Of air in the interstices between the
strands, or between the conductor and
the gutta-percha envelope.
| One envelope is not sufficient, how
over, but the full thickness OF insnlat-
Ing material has to be obtained by four
moro alternate coatings of sticky COM
pound and plastic gutta-percha. The
conductor is now insulated, and has
| developed into core" Before going
any further the core is coiled into tanks
filed with water, and tested in order to
ascertain whethe 1t is electrically per-
feet, !. O., that there is no under leak
age OF electricity through the gutta-
percha insulating envelope
The tests are made from the testing
room, replete with beautiful and elab-
crate apparatus, by which measurements
Amer and more accurate than those
even of the most delicate chemical bal
ance may be made. Every foot Of core
| is tested with these instruments, both
before and after being made up into
cable, and careful records are preserved
of tho results.
Aftor the core has been all tested and
passed, the manufacture OF the cable
goes on. The core travels through an
other set OF machines, which first wraL
it with thick serving of tarred jute,
and then with compact armoring Of
iron or steel wires, of varying thickness
according to the depth of water in which
the cable is intended to be laid. Above
the armoring, in order to preserve the
| iron from rnaf 40 lou0 40 Y,ocat hfa&i e
applied covering of stout canvas tape
thoroughly impregnated with pitch.
like compound, and sometimes the iron
wires composing the armor are separ.
ately covered with Russian hemp as an
add tional precaution against corrosion.
l.-Scribner's Magazi no