The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-10-21

vessel to carry and pay it out. The Great
Eastern. at that time the lev.athan CT
the ocean. was selected for the task.
Three enormous tanks were built in the
fore, middle. and aft holds. from so to
60 feet in diameter each, by 20 IL feet
deep, and in these the cable was de-
posted in three vast coils. On July %,
1865, the Great Eastern started from Va
lentia with her burden, and all went well
until August 2, when the cable snapped
from over-straining, and sank in 1000
fathoms of water. Then commenced the
remarkable process of dredging for the
cable. A five-armed grapnel, suspended
from the end of strong iron-wire rope.
five miles long, was thrown overheard,
and when it reached the bottom it was
dragged to and fro across the line of
cable by slow steaming OF the Great
Eastern. The attempt, however, was I'M
successful, and the Great Eastern re-
turned to England, leaving Gncluding the
operations of 1S57-5S) nearly 400 tens of
electric cable useless at the bottom Of
the Atlantic Ocean.
Another cable was constructed, and on
July 10, 1866, the Great Eastern set forth
from Valentia, accompanied by the steam
ers Terrible, Midway, and Albany, which
were to assist in the submersion and in
subsidiary matters. The line Of route
was chosen midway between those of
the 1858 and 1865 cables, a few miles from
each. The Great Eastern after few IN
important mishaps, at length entered on
the 9th, the harbor of Hearts Content,
Newfoundland. in triumph, accompanied
by the subsidiary vessels. After congrat
ulatory messages had been sent and re-
ceived on both sides the Atlantic. opera
tions were commenced for recovering the
end of the 1866 cable. and completing the
submersion. The Albany, Midway, and
Terrible set off, on August 1, to the spot
on the ocean beneath which the end Of the
cable was lying, or as near to it as cal
culations could establish. Certain buoys,
left anchored there twelve months rrevi-
ously, had been carried away by the
storms of the preceding winter, but the
latitude and longitude had been very
carefully registered.
The Great Eastern steamed from
Hearts Content on the 9th, and started
series of graphing operations which con-
tinued through the remainer Of the month.
The cable was repeatedly caught and rails
ed to greater or less height from the
ocean bed, but something or other snap
ped or slipped every time. and down went
the cable again. At last, when the pa
thence Of the crew was was well-night ex-
hausted, the end of the cable was safely
fished up on September 1, and electric
messages were at once sent from the
spot to Valentia, describing this ultimate
success. The relaying of this cable was
begun at once, and successfully completed.
1t would require a considerable amount
of space to enumerate the accidents and
mishaps that have, in the past, interrupt
ed the Atlantic cable system. Suffice it to
say, however, that continued experiments
have SO perfected submarine telegraphy
AZ - HI ri Nv
tremely rare occurrence. Should one hap
pen, the exact point affected is at once
ascertained by an automatic electrical
continuance at the stations where mes
sages are sent and received, and the most
complete repairs could be accomplished in
a very short space of time.
There is surely no greater instance OF
mans ingenuity at the end of this nine
teenth century than the ocean telegraph.