The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-09-28
THE TRANSPORTING LINES.
ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED
CABLES.
Hundreds Of Thousands Of Miles of Sub
marine Telegraphs and Millions OF
Messages-The Missing Link.

According to a publication of the
United States Bureau of Statistics, the
submarine telegraphs of the world at
the close of last February numbered
1900, had an aggregate length of 10000
miles, represented cost estimated at
$3.50, 900, 900, and transmitted annually
about 100000 messages.
The greater number of these sub
marine telegraphs are comparatively
short cables owned by governments
and employed in connection with forts,
lighthouses and signal stations. There
are about 800 commercial cables, own
ed by thirty-five companies. These con-
troll about 100000 miles of cable, leaving
for the governmental cables only about
20, 200 miles of the total. 1t is noted,
however, that the governments of the
world hold something more than 10000
miles of cable stock for war purposes,
ready at hand to be laid at a moments
notice when the emergency arises.
Every great body of water lying be-
tween any inhabited part of the earth
has been crossed and recrossed by sub
marine telegraphs. The Mediterranean
is traversed through its length and
breadth by numerous lines, the Gulf of
Mexico and the Caribbean Sea are al
most equally well supplied, and their
islands are connected with one another
and with both the northern and south
ern American continents; thirteen lines
connect the United States with Europe;
three span the ocean between South
America and the Old World; the Red
Sea and the Indian ocean are traversed
by lines bringing Asia into communi-
cation with Europe; while in the Pacific
ocean a series of cables stretches from
Siberia southwark to Australia and
from that continent other lines extend
to New Zealand and to New Caledonia.
The one link lacking to the compile
ton of the world system of submarine
telegraph is that portion of the Pacific
extending from America across to Asia.
Concerning that link the report says:
"The chief obstacle in the past to the
construction of a grand trans-Pacific
cable was found in the fact that mid
ocean resting places could not be salts
factorily obtained or arranged for, no
! single government controlling suffi-
cient number of suitable landing places
to make this seem practicable in view
of the belief that the distance through
| which messages could be sent and ca
| bles controlled was limited.
1.-THE results of the Spanish american
war have put the United States in a
position to overcome the difficulty of
the past. With landing places at Ha
wall Wake Island, Guam and the Phil
| ippines, the Americans can lay cable
no section of which would have a length
|
| tween France and the United States.
The length of the French cable from
! Brest to Cape Cod is $3.50 miles, while
| the greatest distance from land to land
on the proposed Pacific route would be
the 20S9 miles between San Francisco
and Hawaii.
| Along with the extension of ocean ca
| bles there has been an extraordinary
development and Improvement in the
methods of their operation. On the first
cable across the Atlantic the speed rate
| was but three words a minute, seVera
hours We're required for the transmits
! sion of message and the receipt of &
! response, and the cost to the sender
was 800 a message. At the present time
the speed of transmission averages fifty
words a minute, with higher speed or
the automatic transmitters the price
has been diminished to 20 cents pei
! word, and il is noted that a message
sent from the House of Representatives
| in Washington to the House of Parlia
men in London during the chess mattel
of 1898 was transmitted and a reply re-
ceived in 1872 seconds.
Summing up the benefits to be eX.
pected by the United States from the
construction of a trans-Pacific cable
the report says THE commerce of tn,
countries of Asia and Oceania amount.
to more than $4,000, 900, 900 annually
their imports alone averaging more
than 800, 100000 a month. OF this enor
nous market the United States at pres
ent obtains less than per cent. Will
direct cable communication across the
Pacific, direct water communication
through the Nicaragua canal, and ar
increase in the number and capacity o
American steamships, it seems not i'm
proper to suppose a material addition
might be made to the share obtained
by the United States in the trade o.
that part of the world"
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