Evening star., 1898-06-04
CABLES IN WAR TIME
They Play a Very Important Part
During Hostilities.
MAKE SURPRISES ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE
How a Message is Sent From Ma
Mia to New York.
INTERNATIONAL QUESTIONS

Formerly when two nations engaged in a
| naval war IL was possible for either to so
| direct the movements of its fleets as to
| keep the enemy constantly guessing, uncer-
| tain where to expect an attack The cable
| has changed all this. Since the last great
| naval war the lines of electric communca-
| ton have been pushed around the globe,
linking continents together and diving
under tropc seas, until even the lonely out
| posts of Australasia are. many of them,
| brought into close daily touch with the
| rest of the world. With all the corners of
| the earth brought together at his elbow the
| naval strategist is in the same position
| which the military commander has occu-
pied for many years through the aid of the
| telegraph. Battle ships are his chessmen.
! the cable chart is his board, and with his
| opponents moves constantly before him he
| can direct his own game, whether it be to
checkmate his rival or to sweep him from
| the board.
| The experience of the past few weeks
| has proved that a surprise is practically i'm
! possible In naval attack at the present
| day. Even in the broad Atlantic a fleet is
| hardly able to shake off the newspaper cor
| respondents, who can always reach some
! cable office in time to inform The world Of
Its movements. On its first approach to
| land, whether that land be hostile neu-
| agents of the enemys government to herald
| its approach. The cablegram can travel a
million times as fast as the swlftest cruis-
| er, and with the present network of cable
| lines 1t can travel to almost any corner of
| the globe.
Made the Victory Possible.
| 1t the cable that made it possible
| in the present war for the Americans to
| win their first victory on the opposite side
| of the world within ten days of the declar-
| alton of hoStilties. 1t is the cable that
has permitted the officials in Washington
! to follow and direct the movements of the
| fleets under Sampson and Schley and How
| ell, and to keep tab on the Oregon during
her long journey around the horn. AS soon
| as Spain's fotilla left the Cape Verde ISL
ands the cable made ii known in Washing
| ton. In all the islands of the Caribbean
| men waited to announce the fleets appear
| ance. 1t arrived at Martinique The news
was flashed to Washington. Washington
| flashed its orders back to Sampson. Samp-
son moved east. The Spanish squadron ap-
peared. In day a cablegram from the
| Dutch island of Curacao announced its ar
rival 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 in
| any naval operations OF course, it is
two, two-bladed weapon. Spain has been as
well informed of the movements of Ameri-
| can ships as We have of the performances
OF the DoDs' sailors, in some cases better
| Spain controls more ends of the many
| stranded line than does the United States
| at least more of the ends that are of i'm
portance in the present contest This NAV
lessen the advantage of the new war factor
| from our point of view; it does not lessen
| its Importance.
Wonderful System.
A perusal of the war news of the past
few weeks may have given the reader
Of tha
| world than he had before, but at best it is
likely that his conception of its magnitude
| is hazy and incorrect. For his instruction
| 1t may DE mentioned that there are in
rough numbers 100000 miles of cable TN
DER the rivers, bays and oceans of our liz
tie round earth, and that these are under
the control of some thirty different govern
ments and many private companies
This great stretch of wire weighs probably
S,oW,opo tons, and is enough to encircie the
g'ooe eight times. AS matter of fact, it
aces not really encircle the globe. The Pa
chic has never been Spanned by the ca BILE
but the Atlantic and Indian oceans and
nearly all the smaller seas have been cross
ed by it. The furthest stretch at present
traversed by the line of electric communi.
cation is from the western coast of Ameri-
ca across the Atlantic, Europe, Asia ard
Austria lasia, to the French penal settlement
at New Caledonia, in the Pacific which is
between 1000 and 900 miles from San
Francisco.
This side of the world is well supplied
with cable lines. There are ;welve of
tfem crossing the Atlantic OF these FIVE
belong to the Anglo-American Company
three to the Commercial Cable. one TO the
Direct United States, one to the French At
lantic and two to the American Telegraph
and Cable Company, which is operated in
connection with the Western Union
What 1t Costs.
The many lines and the resultant COM
petitiOn have brolIphf he of
nication between New York and London
down to a fairly low figure twenty-five
cents per word but when one tries to reach
more remote parts of the world, where the
line is controlled by a single government or
company, or where there is little business
to support it, the cost of sending messages
mounts up to alarming figures. To send
ten words from New York to Manila for
ins tance, costs the modest amount of
$245o, or $40 Isr word beyond London.
Ibis is the commercial rate; newspaper dis
patches go for about half this sum- but
even so the cost of bringing a column of
news from the Philippines mounts up TO
nearly four figures. Even from point SO
near as the Island of Curacao which be-
came for a short time the center of news
interest, the commercial rate by tie cheap
est route is $19S. These two samples win
give fair intimation of the immense sums
being expended by the newspapers in gath
ering Information about the war.
worm tne Money.
1t may seem at first thought that 81 45 is
large sum t, pay for sending a single
word from New York to the Philippines,
but when one reflects that such a message
travels 10000 miles, ard that it must be re-
ceived and transmitted over a score of diff
ferent lines or branches, he is more likely
to come to he conclusion that 1t is very
cheap all things considered. From New
York the cablegram goes first to Halifax
and from there, by another loop, to Heart;
Content, Newfoundland, where 1t dives be-
meath the Atlantic to reappear on the coast
of Ireland and be again forwarded TO Lon
don, which is the great center of cable and
telegraph communication for the whole
wcrld. From London to the east there are
two great routes. The first, via either the
Eastern or Indo-European Company's
lines, will take the message across the
chaEnel and overland to Marseilles or by
the all-water course around the Spanish
peninsula, stopping at Lisbon; thence
through the Mediterranean to Alexandria
across Egypt by land, down the Red sea to
Aeon, through the Arabian sea to Bombay
over India by land, across the Bay of Ben
gal to Singapore, along the coast to Hong
Kong and across the China sea to Manila
A Longer Route.
The other route from London is even
l<y-Er nv,I IL