La Junta tribune. (La Junta, Bent County, Colo.) 1881-1939, 1898-07-16
CABLE LAYING IN WAR TIME.
Msv Dsvses Submitted to the Briiish
Governments.

C0vesnmenS.
An invention has lately been suo-
mitted to the British naval authorities
which, II accepted. will undouotedy
prove an important factor IN iu'ule
naval warfare. The designers arc
Lieut.. Crutchley. OF the royal navy re-
serve. and Mr.. Smell. an engineer. who
have devised an improved method %
laying submarine cables al much
increased rate Of speed. BY means OF
this invention q warship or Trans
atlantic liner can be used TO lay Ca
BILE OF special design at rate OF twen-
ty knots an hour 1t requires little al
teration to adapt these vessels to the
purpose. Many experiments have oeeh
made with q view TO telegraphy Win
out wires. but so far unsuccessfully a,
any but the shortest distances. and
England's only present comfort In such
difficulties has been tina: she is in pos
session Of nearly all the special cable
laying and repairing vessels. Now
Messrs. Smell and Crutchley step IL
with n scheme which would seem &c
lay at rest the vexed question OF the
transmission OF orders, even II the enc
my has succeeded in cutting existing ca-
bles. The differences between the pres
ent and the new system Of laying sub
marine cables are many and varied. Tc
start with. the new cable is much
lighter and less expensive than the
ponderous affair used for spanning the
Atlantic. Three hundred knots weigh
only $50 tons. while the price averages
only 5000 a knot. Coiked on large
drum. these 800 knots. ready for use.
can be slowed away In tank or hold
about the size OF large double boiler,
SO that a good-sized ship. such as
cruiser or a liner, could easily find
room for two such drums. one in the
aft and the other in the forehold. Here
would be 700 miles of cable, weighing
only $50 tons, slowed away ready for
Immediate use. Another plan Is to car
ry the cable on small drums holding
but forty knots each and jointed to-
gether; these drums possess the merit
OF being light and portable and also
easily put away. The paying out OF
the cable is accomplished simply, en-
gines of $50 horsepower being util-
lied to revolve the large carrying drum.
and giving delivery speed OF over
twenty knots an hour. Now 1t Is neces-
sary In laying cable that a certain
amount OF slack should be available. sc
that the cable can accommodate itself
to the frequent inequalities Of the
ocean bed and not become tign..y
stretched from one prominence to an
other. thus throwing an excessive
strain on the paying-out machinery.
Accordingly, for length Of 300 knots
a blight or slack OF 1000 feet Is allowed.
and is carried on pair Of drums which
are stationed midway between the
stern and the main drum. The cable
passes from these bobbins to revolv.
ing pulley at the ships stern, which
literally elects the wire at speed
which can. II necessary, be made great.
er than the rate Of delivery at the tank
A controlling apparatus Is attached te
the slack-carrying drums to prevent the
using up of the blight too suddenly un.
come this resistance. Before the z,00t
feet have been absorbed In this way 1!
is evident that the ships speed can be
diminished little, SO that the excesi
rate of delivery will soon again accu.
mulate slack. The results attained by
this system in actual work are said te
be marvellous; OF course, there is moth.
ing out OF the way In the entire de
sign, but usually these simple ideas
though brilliant in theory. seem to col.
lapse when put to a thorough test II
practice. The Snell-Crutchley inven.
tion, however. does not appear to be.
long to this class. and the inventor,
have demonstrated satisfactorily thai
a ship able to make twenty knots car
easily pay out twenty-one knots Of ca
BILE. the extra knot being compensation
for the uneven floor of the sea A sim.
pie calculation shows that communi. |
cation can be established by these
means between points 700 miles dis |
tant within space OF thirty hours |
and the cable. once laid. would be per.
manent, at least as cables go. Nothing
unusual is visible to a passing shiI |
save perhaps what would look like
taut rope trailing astern, and even tha,
could be concealed without dlmculty
The work can be as well done at night
as in the daytime. requiring little su-
pervisIon.-New York Sun.