The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-12-02

Hawaii. and On one the depth reaches
| 3.2S1. and Oh the other .4o9 fathoms
\ few miles southwest Of Guam. the
+. sounding is 4.415 fathoms and. while
/ this hole can be avoided depths OF s.
400 fathoms between Guam and the
/ Philippines must be reckoned with.
Il : hsglly desirable for the United
/ States 10 have more direct cable con-
nectlons with ne Philippines than a.
| coo miles. via Europe and il i also
highly desirable TO connect Hawaii
with the United States by cable: but
] this latter project should BE- consider
/ Ell OH lis own merits and, even il a
| heavy cable were now in operation to
| Hawaii, il would still nc be way
| station on a direct Asiatic line. All
| the Hawaiian business can be safely
| handled over a thin and therefore
| cheap, cable. The Hawaiian Islands
| have total population Of 100 COO
/ nearly all Asiatic coolies. The bust
ness Is principally with San Francisco
and in the hands OF a very few firms,
mostly American. NJ cable can = ear
| y increase American trade with the
| islands.
This cable via Hawaii. not even the
/ shortest route TO the Philippines, ow-
| ing ID the length OF its links. the
enormous sea dep rs. the ocean wastes,
| IS scarcely less to be condemned than
| the AH-British cable. It can never be
| built without a subsidy that must
| amount TO guarantee Of substantial
| rate OF Interest on its entire cost. be-
/ cause the volume Of commercial bust
ness over it will always be small. It's
cost IS estimated nv z Sr"1dino
president OF the Pacific Gable C0mpa-
r nj
| the cost OF cable to Japan, via Hawaii
/ is estimated by Jas. \. Scrymser, presi-
ident Of the Pacific Cable Company, Of
New York, at $1,000. 900 or $1,034 per
/ mile.
| II is NOT generally known that the
nearest point IN the United States to
| the Philippines is Cape Flattery. the
/ northwest corner of the State of Wash
| ington, from which point the dis. ance
by air line or great circle, all the way
to the Philippines, IS 5.400 miles-700
miles less than from California, via
/ Hawaii.
All the Atlantic cables follow great
/ circles as closely as conditions will per-
nit, but the two new Atlantic cables
will diVerge from this snort course and
be laid far TO the south via the Azores
/ because there is no other way in which
the long single stretch from ireland
20 Newfoundland can be broken into
shorter links. and, Notwithstanding the
increased cost and greater aggregate
length. there will be gain in speed and
economy.
/ The western cable builder is more
| fortunate than his Atlantic forerunner
because in the Pacific the short great
circle route is also the route of short
est links. It does not run through the
| wastes of the Pacific, rut follows close
" The British and United States north
Pacific coast, which is SO rapidly grow
| ing in Importance, runs through Dutch
| HaTb0r in Alaska, touches Attu the
last of the Aleutian Islands and until
recently the most westward possess on
| Of the United States. crosses in short
inks to the Russian-Japanese bound
airy, with one branch to connect with
the existing Siberian network Of land
lines. and the other branch to run
down through Japan yokohama being
IN the air 1ine), and EDWARDS TO the
| Philippines. looping, on its Way from
| Attn to Manila, the whole Of the rich
Asia-ic coast to North America.
THE GREAT CIRCLE CABLE.
Il. m.
Cape Flattery to Ch:rlkof Island. /, z54
ChMikof Island to Atlu, via Ouch
har0or -. -. .......:..... ,262
Attu to Observation-Disclosures bound
airy Observation-Disclosures. 643
/ Boundary to connection with 81
beIian land wires .,,........... 528
Minimum of milaga to connect
with all Asia .................3,6 S7
i Gable from boundary 10 japanese
land lines -. .............. COB
Cable from Japanese lines TO Phil
lpp4ne5 80. 80. .......... 500
Total -. =. ......\.... ), O4o
Il his system gives two wholly indie
; pendent lines from Russian-Japanese
boundary to the Philippines-one line
via Tladivostok, Pekin and Hongkong,
1 and The other via the japanese lines.
Il To interrupt Asiatic anmunica ion,
The United States would have to be at
war with both Russia and Japan, or
with Great Britain and Japan. In the
/ former case, communication is s. i'll
;! open as at present via Europe, and in
the latter case danger on both Atlantic
and Pacific coasts would be so great as
10 make communication with the Phil
| ippines a secondary matter.
l Stretches of over 1000 miles are Civ
Ell in the table, but the longest necas-
sary link is 52S miles. Everywhere
else this cable lies SO close to land as
Ito permit intermediate stations, when
ever desirable. This makes it possible
to use the Morse instrument, thus add
4 ing very greatly to the speed of trans
mission. 1t would be no serious mat
ter to add few miles 20 the length
Of these short shore lines and to run
via Nary's Island, Sitka, and Cooks
| Inlet, with a branch TO Juneau, and
SkagWay, thus bringing the whole
/ Alaskan coast into cable communica-
/ ton with the United States. This is
a necessity which sooner or later must
be met, and only those who have been
in Alaska know the millions Of dollars
and the hundreds Of lives such a line
would have saved, had it been in oper-
alton during the last two years.
/ In the joy over the new island pos
sessions with their Asiatic inhabitants,
~ Il