The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-06-05

ally impossible in naval attack at the
present day. Even in the broad At
lantic a feet is hardly able TO shake
of the newspaper correspondents. who
can always reach some cable office in
time to inform the world of its move
ments On its first approach to land,
whether that land be hostile or neutral,
there are more correspondents and
agents of the enemy's government to
herald its approach. The cablegram
can travel million times as fast as
the swiftest cruiser, and with the pres
ent network of cable lines it car travel
TO almost any corner 0f the globe.
1t was the CABLE that made it possible
in the present war for the Americans
to win their first victory on the oppo-
site side of the world within ten days
of the declaration of hostilities. It is
the cable that has permitted the Off
Gals in Washington to follow and di-
rect the movements of the fleets under
Sampson and Schley and Howell, and
to keep tab on the Oregon during her
long journey around the Horn. AS soon
as SPANS fOtilla left the Cape Verde
islands the cable made il known in
Washington. In all the islands of the
Caribbean, men waited to announce
the fleets appearance. 1t arrived at
Martinique. The news was flashed to
Washington. Washington flashed it's
orders back to Sampson. Sampson
moved east. The Spanish squadron
appeared. IN day a cablegram from
the Dutch island of Curacao announced
its arrival there. Again the news was
flashed TO Sampson and again Sampson
changed his course in accordance with
its import
This is a fair sample of the game
which the cable will make it possible
to play III any naval operations Of
course it is a tWo-bladed weapon Spain
49, Loa xr-af1 fr,fo ,F = he
ments of American ships as we
have been Of the performances of the
dcn'S sailors, in some cases better, per-
haPs. Spain controls more ends of the
many stranded line than does the Unit
ed States, at least more of the ends that
are of Importance in the present con-
test. This may lessen the advantage of
the new war factor from our point
OF view: it does not lessen its import
ance.
A perusal of the war news of the past
few weeks may have given the reader
a better idea of the cable system of the
world than he had before, but at best
it is likely that his conception of its
magnitude is haZy and incorrect. For
his instruction it may be mentioned
that there are, in rough numbers, 100000
miles of cable under the rivers q IS
and oceans of our little round earth,
and that these are under the control of
some thirty different governments and
as many private companies. This great
stretch of wire weighs probably $780,
O06 tons, and is enough to encircle the
globe eight times. AS a matter of fact,
II does not really encircle the globe.
The Pacific has never been spanned by
the cable, but the Atlantic and Indian
oceans, and nearly all the smaller seas
have been crossed by It. The furthest
stretch at present traverSed by the line
of electric communication is from the
western coast of America across the
Atlantic, Europe, Asia and Australasia,
to the French penal settlement at New
Caledonia, in the Pacific, which is be-
tween 1000 and. 5000 miles from San
Francisco.
This side of the world is well supplied
with cable lines. There are twelve of
them crossing the Atlantic OF these
FIVE belong to the Anglo-American
company, three to the Commercial
Gable, one To the Direct United States.
one to the French Atlantic, and two
10 the American Telegraph and Cable
company, which is operated in connec-
ton with the Western Union.
WHAT IT COSTS TO USE CABLES. /
The many lines and the resultant
competition have brought the cost of |
communication between New York and /
London down to a fairly low figure, |
25 cents per word, but when one 1
tries to reach more remote Darts.
Of the world, where the line is con- !
trolIed by a single government or COM |
pany, or where there is little business
TO support it, the cost of sending mes