The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1898-09-10
CABLE LAYING IN WAR TINE
New Device submitted 20 the BEltlsh
governments.


government
An Invention has lately been sub
mitted to the British naval authorities
which, If accepted, will undoubtedly |
prove an important factor in future /
naval warfare. The designers are I
Lieut.. Crutchley, of the royal navy rel
serve, and Mr.. Smell, an engineer, who |
have devised an improved method Of
laying submarine cables at a much |
increased rate Of speed. By means Of |
this invention a warship or trans |
atlantic liner can be used to lay ca-
bic 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 beeh
made with a view to telegraphy with
out wires, but so far unsuccessfully at
any but the shortest distances, and
England's only present comfort in such
difficulties has been that she is in pos
session of nearly all the special cable
laying and repairing vessels, Now
Messrs. Smell and Crutchley step IN
with scheme which would seem 10
lay at rest the vexed question of the
transmission of orders, even if 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. TO
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 1870 tons, while the price averages
only $500 a knot. Coiled on a large
drum, these 800 knots, ready for use,
can be slowed away in tank or hold
about the size Of large double boiler,
80 that a good-sized ship, such al a
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 ptil-
lied to revolve the large carrying drum
and giving a delivery speed of over
twenty knots an hour Now 1t is neces-
sary in laying a cable that a certain
amount of slack should be available, SO
that the cable can accommodate itself
to the frequent inequalities of the
ocean bed and not become tign.ly
stretched from one prominence to an
other, thus throwing an excessive
strain on the paying-out machinery
Accordingly, for a length of 300 Knots
blight or slack of 1000 feet is allowed
: and is carried on pair of drums which
, are stationed midway between tbs
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 a speed
? which can, if necessary, be made great
! er than the rate of delivery at the tank
, A controlling apparatus is attached II
the slack-carrying drums to prevent thu
, using up of the blight too suddenly un
til the strain becomes sufficient to over
come this resistance. Before the ZOO
+ feet have been absorbed in this way
, is evident that the ships speed can b.
: diminished little, so that the exces
rate of delivery will soon again accu
! mulate slack. The results attained b,
. this system in actual work are said t
be marvellous; of course, there is moth
ing out of the way in the entire de
l sign, but usually these simple ideas
though brilliant in theory, seem 10 col
+ lapse when put to a thorough test il
> practice The Smell Crutchley inven
! ton, however does not appear to be
: long to this class, and the inventor
have demonstrated satisfactorily tina
a ship able to make twenty knots ca
G easily pay out twenty-one knots Of ca
q bic, the extra knot being compensation
o for the uneven floor of the sea. A sim
pie calculation shows that communal
; cation can be established by thes
means between points 700 miles dis
1 tant within a space of thirty hours
and the cable, once laid, would be pei
manent, at least as cables go. Nothin
. unusual is visible to a passing shi
save perhaps what would look like
q taut rope trailing astern, and even tina
! could be concealed without difficulty
! The work can be as we'll done at nigh
;. as in the daytime, requiring little su
pervision.-New York Sun.