The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1898-05-06
VERY LONG NEWS NERVE.

News of the fighting in Manila, on the
other side of the earth. says the New York
Sun, travels over more than 1900 miles.
over a dozen or more cables and three or
more overland wires before it gets to this
city. Very few persons among the thous-
ands who watch the bulletin boards these
days stop to think, when a Manila dispatch
Is posted, that the message was repeated
over and over again, as it was sent from
cable office to cable office, in the long Jour
ney from the Philippine port to the Amerl-
can shore. 1t travelled across seas, CULTS,
bays and straits, mountains, valleys and
plains. But on Monday the news that Com
modore Dewey was ready to lombard Ma
Mia was known in this city 80 minutes
in actual time after the British operator
at Manila opened his key. The cables were
rushing things
The eastern cables are owned by British
companies. the Eastern Telegraph conn
pany and tho Eastern Extension. Australia
and China Telegraph company. The two
companies are controlled by the same men,
Across the China sea, from Hong Kong to
Cape Bolinao, on Luzon Island, in the Phil
ppines, a cable was laid in 1880. The cable
lis 52911 miles long. From Cape Bolinao
across the island to Manila is a telegraph
line about 100 miles long. All the news we
have received from Manila has been first
telegraphed from Manila to the cable sta
ton at Cape Bolinao, and from there sent
on by cable to Hong Kong.
From Hong Kong to New York a message
has an interesting course. From the Chi
nese port it is first sent down the China
sea over a s400-mle cable to Saigon in Co.
chin China. Another cable, $50 miles long.
conveys it to Singapore. on the straits, or
1T may be sent to the island of Labuan,
Borneo, and then to Singapore.
From Singapore 1t runs around the Malay
peninsula to the island of Penang. on the
western coast of Lower Siam, a distance of
3ss miles. Across the Bay of Bengal from.
Penang to Madras the message is repeated
a cable 1893 miles long.
In India the message reaches the first
land telegraph line after leaving the island
of Luzon. Across India to Bombey the mes
sage runs over 800 miles of wire. Then It
is put a cable again to cross the Arabian
Sea to Alden, on the Gulf of Alden, a dis
lance of 1850 miles. Up through the Red
Sea to Suez is another long cable, 1908
miles. Again the message goes overland
the 200 miles of wire from Suez to Alexan-
dria
The Mediterranean has no direct cable
from Alexandria to Gibraltar. The mes
sage must be sent over 913 mile cable
to the island of Malta, and then repeated
over the Gibraltar cable, 1926 miles further.
From Gibraltar to Carcavellos, near Lis
bon. is a short cable, 1897 miles long, con-
Meeting the Mediterranean port with the
S56-mlle ocean cable from Lisbon to Por-
theurno, the cable station at Lands End,
Eng.
Eleven cable lines connect the English,
Irish and French cable stations with Amer
lea, and the message from Manila, upon
reaching Lands End, may be sent over any
of these cables. The Western Union mes
sages are sent from Sermon Cove, near
Lands End direct to Dover Bay, near
Canso Novo Scotia, 1881 miles; from thence
they are repeated over the coast cable to
New York 1888 miles more. Coming by this
route the message from Manila to New
York travels over twelve cables having
total length of 10 All miles, and three land
telegraph lines. with a total length of about
900 miles a total distance of 1881 miles.