The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-12-09

bAAtAL 7AiN " IN bt eipt ~ SfA " AA~NN SasS
wants or know the reasons TO the con-
trary."
Two years later QS76) Her Ala
jesty's ship Challenger, during a
three years cruise around the world,
surveyed the route from Yokohama
on line nearly due east, till she
reached the longitude of Honolulu,
when she changed her course due
south to this port. As the route
which she surveyed was one that
probably viii never be sought for
laying g cable, it has been deemed
as of no great service for cable work.
During the past few years, several
careful surveys between Hawaii and
various points on the coast of Cali
fOrnia have been made, by the Uni
ted States steamers Ranger, Thetis
aud Albatross. Their work has been
done carefully and thoroughly, and
confirms the previous surveys made
by the Cooper and Tuscarora, that
there exists no obstacle TO the sue
cessful laying of cable whenever
the work shall be undertaken.
By the kindness of the officers of
the Thetis, the writer was furnished
with a full survey of the route be
tween Honolulu and the California
coast, on chart forty eight feet in
length, with all the soundings, $40
in number, taken during the cruise.
This has been reduced to the length
Of the accompanying diagram, with
a few of the soundings inserted. The
distance from the western terminus
at Diamond Head to Salinas, Mon
terey Bay, is 209S miles. The great
est depth of the ocean is found with
1920 fattoms. There a mountain range
exists, running north and south,
which is indicated on all the surveys
that have been made. The rise to it's
highest elevation is very gradual,
and cable may be easily laid across
it, as no rocky places have been dis
covered, and nothing worse than
black volcanic sand, such as is used
In spreading on the streets of Homo
lulu.
The photographic Office at Wash
ington has also furnished us with
several volumes containing full re-
ports of these official surveys with
numerous colored charts and illus
trations, giving all the details of
each survey made by the vessels
named. From these sources we OBJ
tain full information, indicating this
to be one of the best, if not the very
best route for laying a cable, that
exists In any ocean, and that a cable
once laid here will never be broken by
contact with anything, and will last
till worn out.
All accounts agree that the best
route is the last one surveyed by the
Albatross, which terminates at Sa
linas in Monterey Bay. There a sub
marine valley has been discovered,
commencing at the mouth of what
was formerly the Salinas river, and
running westerly at the bottom of
the sea, for few miles, furnishing a
most remarkable artificial bed for
laying a cable. TIE entire absence
of rocks, and the presence of deep
soft mud and sand throughout this
valley, seems to have prepared it for
this special service of a telegraph
cable. The interesting report made
by Lieut.. Clover of the Albatross,
who had command of this last expe
dition, shows that for the entire dis
lance from the California shore to
the terminus near Diamond Head,
the oceans bed on this route is des-
titute of rocks of any kind, while the
bed for the most part consists of soft
oozs and mud into which a cable
will sink probably several feet and
be entirely submerged and protected
against marine insects and any Oh
stacles which might tend to harm it
if lying on the surface of the ocean
floor. This great advantage should
be borne in mind in deciding on the
best route to follow after leaving
Honolulu, as it practically insures
the safety of the cable for a longer
period than If rocky bottom were en-
countered.
''This survey" says Lieut. Glover,
"was prosecuted with all the care
and accuracy that the means for
modern deep sea research afford, and
it is believed that the maps and OBJ
servations present good knowledge
of the route and establish the fact
that the laying of a cable on almost
any line between California and the
Law allan lSlduhS 10 DluCllCdOle II
lane about 800 miles wide was de
between California and Ha-
waii, and the results seems to indi-
cate the most favorable route to bs a
rhumb line between Monterey Bay,
Cal, and Honolulu. This route has
been determined upon as the most
since it is the one that
will require a minimum length of
cable in passing over an even bottom
consisting of soil which is favorable
for its protection and preservation,
avoiding submarine mountains and
volcanic regions where substances
exercising an injurious chemical &C
ton on the covering of the cable are
likely to exist and where future con-
vulsions may cause its destruction"
Here, then, we find everything
favoring the laying of the cable in a
direct line from Oahu to Monterey
Bay, distance of 209S miles, on an
ocean bed specially prepared by
nature for this very purpose, and at
an expense of half a million dollars
less than via Vancouver. In every
commercial and financial
aspect that we may view this great
the short and direct
route to San Francisco presents
many advantages, which no business
man nor statesman shOuld ovarloolS