The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-10-16

The Pacific Gable Company will not
use the cable surveys and soundings
made by the United States Navy in the
cable sounding ship Nero. The COM
pany refuses to comply with the condi-
tions imposed by President Roosevelt
upon which the data secured by the
Nero was to be turned over to the cable
company.
Such is the statement made by S. s.
Dickinson to a number of people here.
One of the conditions imposed by Pre-
sident Roosevelt was that only Ameri-
cans should be employed as operators
on the system This it is said is a
practically impossible condition, as
there are not enough capable American
operators that could be secured to man
the system, once the cable is laid. Oper-
atOrs cannot be made in a day Few
men become expert operators who do
not begin their apprenticeship at as
early an age as sixteen or seventeen,
and serve continuously for several
years. Among those who do become
expert operators who begin their ap-
prentiCeship at a later age, it is said
there is a marked tendency to break
down from the nervous strain. a much
more marked tendency than among
those trained to the profession from a
younger age.
As large proportion of the operators
required to operate the system will be
in isolated places where substitutes
cannot easily nor quickly be obtained,
it is of the utmost Importance to the
company that it shall have the whole
field of cable operators to select from,
so that it can get the best fitted men
for the work and thus reduce the prob
ability of breakdown in the operative
force to the minimum.
With the use of the Nero surveys de-
MED it, it will be necessary for the COM
pany to make it's own surveys. This
Will be done by the cable ship Colonia,
5. 5. Dickinson going along as the re-
preventative of the cable company. This
is much more important mission than
it was supposed the Colonia was going
on. When it was first announced that
she was going from here by way of
Midway Island and Guam to Manila,
1t was stated that her object in this
voyage was to select the cable landings
at these places, and that it might be
necessary to make some soundings and
surveys for this purpose
About two years ago the L. S. S. Nero
surveyed a route clear across the Paci-
fic Ocean following the line of American
lnsular possessions. The Nero was
equipped with the latest and most i'm
proved appliances and devices She
made thousands of sOBndings. The
character of the ocean bottom was
learned clear across the wide sea- In
the course of this survey the greatest
ocean depths ever discovered were
found and to them was given the name
of the Nero Deep. The results of the
Nero's voyage have been carefully
worked out and are a part of the most
valued scientific data of the navy archi-
yes. From it can be figured to a knot
the best known cable route across the
Pacific. The Mackay company made
application for the use of this data soon
after 1t was determined to lay a Pacific
cable. The friends of a government
cable have never been very anxious for
1t to be given out The president IN
authorizing it's use by the cable com
pany attached conditions which the
company deems too onerous and now
1t is proposed to make its own surveys
and soundings and the Colona starts
out al o'clock this afternoon to make
them.