The San Francisco call., 1898-01-20
Important Extensions on the North Pacific
 Coast.
communication With Port An geles Will Shortly Be
 Established.
Many Points Not Reached bv the Puget Sound Company Will
 Soon Be Tapped.
Special Dispatch to The Call.


 SEATTLE, Jan. 19-Work was com iiehced to-day on an important exten- sIoh or the lines of the Western Union ieiesraph Company, and as a result py April b the town of Port Angeles, on the Straits of Juan de Fuca, will De connected by another telegraphic system with the rest of the world On saturday last the contract for pole construction was let in San Francisco to +. H. Folsom of this city, and ac- cordlng to its terms his part of the work will be completed as far as Port townsend in forty-five days
 The route Is along country roads prlnclpally, and when such is the case the contract requires that MT. Folsom shall clear the right of way.
 O1 this sort of construction there is a distance of about twenty miles, There are to be six submarine cables used in the completion of the line, which is expected to be in operation not later than May l.
 The land construction started day at the elevator in West Seattle and will continue to Alki Point, where the com pany takes up the work of laying the cable. The cable reaches to Reserva- ton Point, below Port Blakeley, to which point the land line is carried
 Port Madison is the next move from Blakeley, and another cable will be re- quired to cross Port Madison Bay. The shore line will be continued to Agate Pass and then another cable will be laid across to Port Madison Reserva- tion. Then the line will be continued to Port Gamble and Salisbury Point, where another cable is to cross Hood Canal
 Port Ludlow Is the next stop of the land line, and the fifth cable is over Ind In 1{roA ivllrka to Port Townsend. When the metrop- olis of Lower Peninsula is reached the Western Union line will turn and go to Discovery Bay, where the last cable of the line crosses. From Discovery Bay to Port Angeles the route is over land
 Mir. Folsom's contract requires 3400 posts, running thirty-five to the mile, and varying in height from 20 to 40 feet, the average being about 8 feet. MT. Folsom returned from San Fran cisco Monday night. While in that city he endeavored to charter some vessels to carry telegraph poles and lumber from Puget Sound to Oakland, but was unable to do so. The delivery was also intended for the Western Union Company and consisted of 400O feet. MT. Folsom offered $4 50 per thousand capacity, but s was de- manded, which he refused to pay.
 The Western Union has also other connections in contemplation which Superintendent Jaynes talked of when he was here recently. It is a part of the plan to extend the line from Seat tie so as to enter Victoria and Van couver. The experiment of laying a cable from Port Angeles to Victoria is deemed impracticable, owing to the tremendous strain that would be ex- erted on the line by the heavy tides and extremely rough water. The con- sequent determination is to reach Vic toria in a roundabout way via Van couver. At one time the lines now in British Columbia were owned by the Western Union, which had constructed and operated them as far as the head of navigation on the Fraser River. These lines were turned over to the Government at Ottawa and eventually became part of the system controlled by the Canadian Pacific.
 The new line will more than double the capacity of the present system up and down the Sound and straits. Many important places not reached by the Puget Sound Company that connects with the postal service in this city will be tapped. and where the single wire is now so subject to being blown down by high winds, cutting off important communication and not always to be depended upon, the additional service of the Western Union will go a long way toward removing the difficulty.