The evening times., 1898-07-27
Some Facts About the Cables ia
the West Indies.
HARD TO CUT ExEMY's WIRES
Repeated Attempts to Shut on Blan-
eo-Accids n tally Done the Day
santiago Tell-Tw eIve Minutes to
Send . Message snd Get IN An
swer From the Front.

navy and. telegraphic officials. who are
more or less directly concerned. realize
the important part the submarine cable
plays in the present war.
The West Indian cable system. or the
combination; Of submarine cables. owned
by various foreign syndicates. which bind
the numerous isles of the Greater and
Lesser Antilles. Is one OF the most per
feet in. the world, In no other section
of ocean. territory Is there such a COM
plete connection of islands, and these are
closely connected with a network of
ocean cables. When Cervera's feet pass
ed the island OF Martinique 1t was hard
ly out Of sight to the west before the
American Government was in possession
of the fact. and Immediately placed our
fleets accordingly. When, several days
later. the Spanish fleet touched at Cura-
Gao. the War Board was again informed
and swift auxiliary cruisers were reach
ed by cable and directed to seek the en-
emy in the Caribbean Sea. and sink or
destroy him. Again. when Schley had
cornered the enemy's fleet by bottling 1t
in the harbor of Santiago, the cable was
used to inform the Government, and, as
precautionary measure, a powerful
squadron of battleships was sent to re-
main on watch at the entrance of the
harbOr. Had 1t not been for the perfect
cable communication which was at hand
the American consuls and representatives
at the seat of war could not have in
formed their Government of the progress
Of Cerveras fleet.
The West Indies are connected with
America by three main lines Of COM
munication.
The most direct is the United States
and Haiti Telegraph and Cable Compa-
ny's line which runs from the Postal
Telegraph Gable Company's office in New
York to Cape Haitien on the northern
coast OF Haiti, thence to Guantanamo
and Santiago. scenes Of the recent bat
ties. This is the line which was used by
the Government in the transmission of
all of1cial messages I'd and from the
front and the system is SO perfect that
messages average only fifteen minutes in
transit.
The second outlet is the Direct West
India Cable Company's line which CEN
ters at Kingston, Jamaica. and runs via
Turks Island and Bermuda to Halifax
Nova Scotia. From that point there are
lines running to Europe and also to New
York and Washington. This line does
not connect directly with Cuban ports
Government in the transmission of on
cial dispatches. However, there gre con-
Meeting lines owned and controlled by
other companies mainly the West India
and Panama Cable Company which con-
meet Kingston with Santiago, San Juan.
st. Thomas and the more seaward ISL
ands with the Direct West India cables
The third outlet from Cuba Is via the
Western Union lines by way of Key
West. This line is practically useless
now. as result of the conditions brought
about by the Government censorship
which was established at Key West. at
the beginning of the war.
IN addition to these main outlets there
| are many smaller lines which connect
the islands with the main cable stations.
Principal among them are the following:
The French West India Cable Com
| pany lines begins at Port au Prince.
| Haiti. and pass around the Mole St.
| Nicholas TO Cape Haitien on the northern
coast of the island thence to Port Plata
| on the same island. At Port Plata the
| French cable is separated into two cables
| one passing overland to Santo Domingo.
| on the south coast. and thence across
| the Caribbean Sea to Curacao. Caracas
| and La Gura, Venezuela and Core and
! Maracaibo. on the north coast of South
| America. The second branch of this ca
Bile passes ii an easterly direction along
| the northern coast of Porto Rico with
| ou- touching at any of the ports OF the
| same and continues TO Martinique a colo
| ny of the French government.
| The Cuba Submarine Telegraph COM
| pany's lines connect cities on the south
| coast of Cuba. Two cables run from La
| Playa just south of Havana to Cien-
fuegoes. thence to Santiago. Blanco and
Toral communicated over these lines. A
| Sip p-lp Shnr inc af ha
connects Cienfuegos. Trinidad. Tunas de
Zaza, Santa Cruz del Sur and Jucaro. ter
m.nating at Manzanlllo.
| The central office of the West India
| and Panama system IS at Kingston, from
| which point two lines run to Santiago, a
| third line southwark across the Carib-
| bean Sea TO Colon on the Isthmus Of
| Panama. and two other lines to San
Juan and Ponce on the north and south
| coasts of Porto Rico. respectively.
| Mr.. George W. Ribble, the local man
| ager of the Postal Telegraph Gable Com
| pany.s office, through which all the mes
| sages of the Government from Santiago
| and the Indies have passed. and, who.
| perhaps, knows more about the practical
working of the cable systems in question
than any other person near the Govern
| ment. in speaking to reporter of The
| Times on the subject of official communi-
| cation with the scene of action, said to-
| day:
| There are three outlets from the West
| Indies to the United States. The first Is
| by way of Havana and Key West which
| is the only American cable running to
| Cuba. The second is via the Halifax and
| Bermuda cable of the Direct West In
| dia Company to Jamaica, which is owned
by British stockholders. The third out
| let is the United States and
Haiti Cable Company.s line
| which connects with the Postal
| Office in New York. OF the two first
| named lines neither was adapted to the
use of the Government. The Havana ca
| BILE. for obvious reasons. and the Bermu-
| da and Jamaica cable. because its north
| erly and easterly outlets have been via
| Spanish territory. could not be used. 1t
| is not desired by the Government that its
messages pass through the hands of the
enemy. Another objection was the large
would have to be made, namely, one at
| New York, another at Halifax, a third at
| Bermuda and still another at Jamaica.
THE Government. as result of these
| conditions, transacts its entire official
business with Santiago. and the West In
| dia backgrounds over the United States
| and Haiti Cable Company's lines by way
| of Cape Haitien and New York. The
Postal Telegraph Company which con-
meets with this line at the latter place
| and brings the messages through has
had the complement of wires running in
| to the War and Navy Departments and
| the White House more than quadrupled
| and the various departments are thus
| enabled to secure direct communication
| with any part of the United States In