The record-union., 1894-06-20
CABLES TO EUROPE.
Two More Are Now Being Laid in
Their Position.
Communication Kept Up Between the
shore and the Vessel in
Mid Ocean.

Two more cables are being laid across
the Atlantic There are at present ten
cables connecting the old with the New
World, but so rapidly has the cable busi-
ness grown that they are inadequate to
handle it all. 1t was on August Is, 1888,
that the first message was sent under
the Atlantic, but the cable broke down
twenty three days afterwards and COM
municatiOn was not resumed until July,
1866, since which time it has been unin-
terrupted.
The original charge for message,
while there was only one cable in ex
istence, was s. per word, but the laying
Of new cables, with consequent conpe-
tition, has brought the price down to %
cents per word, and, as result. the busi-
ness has enormously increased. Now
one of the cable companies is adding to
its equipment by putting down two new
cables, the shore ends Of which are now
being laid. No cables had been laid dur
ing the previous ten years. but eXperl-
ment in the meanwhile has shown many
mproyements, and these have been IN
corporated in The new lines.
The cables have been made by Siemens
Bros. * Co., whose factory at WoolWich,
England has been working night and
day TO complete the order so that the
cable may be laid during the early spring.
Altogether 2,20l nautical miles of cable
have been made, and these consumed 495
tons OF copper wire, 3Io tons OF gutta
percha, $40 tons OF jute yarn, 1900 tons Of
steel wire and ,01o tons of compound and
tar, making a total weight Of 5,463 tons.
{ The order for the cable was given No
vember list OF last year, and rapid work
was begun at once.
The cable is largely made by machi
merry, and the twisting Of the wire and
Covering with tar and gutta percha are
! done by automatic apparatus. The
/ deep-sea portion of the cable, which is
/ the smallest part of it in size but the
/ longest III length, was manufactured at
| the rate of five nautical miles per day
! by one machine, and there being ten
machines of this kind at work there
were tifty-hve miles of deep-sea cable
! turned out every twenty-iour hours. The
shore ends of the cable, however, re-
/ quired much more time to manufacture.
| 1t is necessary that these should be very
large and strong. AS long as the cable
! lies along the bed of the ocean it is out OF
! harn's way. No storms, however vio-
! lent, can reach it. 1t is not affected by
any change OF the temperature, and it IS
! TOO deep 10 De nlOl6Sl6Q Dy uSn or any
| kind OF marine creature.
1t is therefore only necessary in the
| deep-sea portion of the cable that the
! little copper wires in the core" which
| convey the message, be thoroughly in
sulated and kept dry. This is accom-
plished by their being covered with a
coating OF jute and gutla percna. over
which is Sheathing of small steel wires.
/ This sheathing increases in strength and
/ VA 10 Ghnl
/ approached, and there are seven different
! sizes in the new cables. This "core, "
! containing the copper wires along which
! the messages are sent is carried, through
all sizes unchanged. The heaviest part
/ OF the cable is That which is near the
/ shore, where the motion of the waves
/ may wash it to and fro among the rocks
and stones. that would otherwise soon
| cut it, Along the banks of Newfound-
/ land fishing schooners anchor and occa-
/ sionally pick up the cable, and that con-
! tingency has to be provided for in weight
! and strength.
From the time the cable is finished
until it is paid out over the stern of the
| cable-laying steamer Faraday, it is never
! allowed to get dry. 1t is kept in large
! tanks of water and transferred TO such
tanks aboard the Faraday, where it is
! coiled up. The Faraday started some
three weeks ago from England with the
/ shore ends and Will return for the deep
/ sea portion OF the cable, 800 miles long,
about the middle of June. When the
| shore end is all paid out it will be buoyed,
and the Faraday, coming back some
| weeks or month later, will look around
| for the buoy in order to pick up the cable
again.
! Thus passengers across the Atlantic
| this summer may see buoy away out
! in the ocean, but mariners will be warned
to let it alone, as it marks the end OF one
OF the sections Of the new cable. The Fa-
raday can lay the deep-sea portion of the
! able at the rate OF seven nautical miles
| per hour, proceeding under almost a full
/ head OF steam. The cable is simply paid
out from the stern like rope. Occasion
! ally, however, the steamer will stop and
/ nav out lot of cable before proceeding
/ This is done where she comes to a cliff or
| sudden fail in the bottom of the ocean,
which is not level, as some people imag-
! ine but has all the typographical features
/ of dry land.
/ The Faraday is provided with maps of
! the bottom of the ocean as accurate. as if
! made by submarine surveyors. At all
! points it is sought to have the cable ac-
tually resting on the bottom and not
stretching from hill to hill. While the
/ Faraday is laying the cable electricians
on board are constantly keeping UP COM
muncation with the shore, so as to see
/ that it is in good running order, and
while in the middle of the Atlantic the
officers of the ship may learn the latest
I news When buoy is picked up the
submerged end of the cable is slowly
! hauled aboard and carefully spliced to the
other section. 1t is estimated that the
Faradav will lay the deep-sea section of
the cable in about ten days.-New York
World.
Tommy-Why do they say that the pen
is mightier than the sword, pa? His Pa
Because one can't sign che Ks with a
sword-Chicago Iuter-Ocean.
Massachusetts is first in fisheries, sec
| ond in commerce, third in manufactures