Evening star., 1898-05-14
SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE
A New Device for Laying Gables in Time Of
War.
Now in the Hands of the British Au-
thoritles - At the Rate of
Twenty Knots nm Hour.
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
An invention has lately been submitted
to the British naval authorities which, If
accepted, will undoubtedly prove an iTapor-
tant factor in future naval warfare. The
designers are Lieutenant Crutchley of the
royal navy reserve and Mr.. Smell, a promi-
nent engineer. who have devised an i'm
proved method of laying submarine cables.
at much increased rate Of speed. BY
means of this invention a warship or trans
atlantic liner can be used to lay a cable of
special design at rate of 20 or more knots
per hour. AS will be seen, 1t requires very
little alteration to adapt these vessels to
the purpose, and the sow-going special
boats at present in use will be superseded.
One can easily realize how important 1t
might be to a maritime nation, especially
one with vast colonial possessions or which
relies for protection on powerful fleet to
be able to lay a comparatively short cable,
of from 500 to 1000 miles, in very short
space of time, and withal so secretly and
unostentatiously that the enemy would
never suspect, until too late, that such
communication had been established OF
course, one of the very first results of a
declaration of war nowadays would be an
attempt on both sides to destroy or inter-
rupt any means of communication, more
particularly telegraphic communication
that might prove useful to the enemy. This
HdS Dteu Witnessed OH several recent OC-
casions. 1t is, for instance, a well-known
fact that when war seemed imminent be-
tween England and Russia secret prepara-
tions were hastily made on the Russian
side to destroy the then existing cables.
England would naturally be most severely
crippled by such course Perhaps to no
nation is cable service so important for
she relies SO much on her fleet that some
means of sending messages rapidly and
surely between outlying squadrons and sta
tons and the seat of government is of
vital necessity. Many experiments have
been made with view to telegraphy with
out wires. but SO far unsuccessfully at any
but the shortest distances, and EnglandS
only present comfort has been that she is
in possession Of nearly all the special cable
laying and repairing vessels. Now Messrs
smell and Crutchley step in to the rescue
with magnificent scheme, which would
seem to lay at rest the vexed question of
the transmission of orders, even if the enc
my has succeeded in cutting existing cables.
Lighter Cables of Less Cost.
Inc dlHerences between the present and
the new system of laying submarine cables
are many and varied. To start with, the
new cable is much lighter and less expen-
sive than the pcndeious affair used for
spanning the Atlantic. Three hundred
knots weigh only $50 TONS while the price
averages only $500 per knot Coiled on a
large drum, these 300 knots. ready for use,
can be slowed away in a tank or hold
about the size of a large double boiler, so
that good-sized ship such as a cruiser
or liner. could easily find room for two
such drums, one in the aft and the other
IN the 1orehold. Here would be 100 miles
OF cable, weighing but 800 tons, slowed
away ready for immediate use. Another
Elan is to carry the cable on small
drums holding hut forty knots each and
joined together; these drums possess the
merit of being light and portable and also
easily put away.
The paying out of the cable is accom-
piished very simply and ingeniously, en-
glnes OF $50 horse power being utilized to
feVolve the large carrying drum and giving
a delivery speed of over twenty knots
per hour. Now it is necessary, in laying
a cable, that a certain amount of slack
should be available. so that the cable can
accommodate itself to the frequent in
equalities of the ocean bed, and not be-
come tightly stretched from one promi-
nence to another, thus throwing an ex-
cessiVe strain on the paying out machin-
cry. Accordingly, for a length of 300 knots.
a blight or slack of 1900 feet is allowed
and is carried on a pair of drums which
are stationed midway between the stern
and the main drum. The cable passes
from these bobbins to revolving pulley
at the ships stern, which literally elects
the wire at speed which can, if neces-
sary, be made greater than the rate of de-
Livery at the tank. A controlling apparatus
Is attached to the slack-carrying drums to
prevent the using up of the blight too sud-
uenly, until the strain becomes sufficient
to overcome this resistance Before the
2,HO feet have been absorbed in this way,
1t is evident that the ships speed can be
diminished little, so that the excess rate
of delivery will soon again accumulate suf-
ficient slack.
Paying Out Twenty-One Knots an
Hour.
The results at'aiLed by this system in
actual work are said to be marvellous; of
ccrrse, there is nothing out of the way in
the entire design, but usually these won-
derfully simple ideas, though brilliant in
theory. seem to collapse when put to a
Thorough test in practice. The Shell
Crutchley invention, however, does not ap-
pear to belong to this class, and the inven-
tors have demonstrated satisfactorily that
a ship afle to make twenty knots can
easily pay out twenty-one knots of cable.
the extra knot being compensation for the
uneven floor Of Neptune's home.
A simple calculation shows that COM
muncation can be estab bished by these
means between points 700 miles distant
within space of thirty hours, and the ca
as cables go. The secrecy of the strata
gem also would insure it's success, for. as
before. said, cruiser or other fast vessel
can be quickly fitted for the work at yery
short notice. Nothing unusual is visible
u a passing ship, save perhaps what would
look like taut rope trailing astern, and
even that could be concealed without diff
Guilty. And, to crown ALL the work can be
as well done at night in the daytime,
requiring, it does, little or no super.
vision.