The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-05
NEW PACIFIC CABLE OPENED.
MESSAGE no TAFT
Goes THROUGH AT N r. W.
Wires Greetings to GOV. Tart nj Manila
with the Completion OF the New Link
OF our Farthest Possessions
Words TeIeEraphed Round the world.

Words Telesraphed Round the world.
President Roosevelt at HOT O'Clock last
night sent this message to Gov. Taft at
Manila over the newly completed Pacific
cable:
OYSTER BAY, July 4.
Cor. T0fi, Mdni0:
l open the American-Paciiic cable with
greetings to YOU and the people Of the Philip
pines. THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
From an early hour yesterday morning
all the heads Of the Postal Telegraph Com
pany were on duty. II was expected that
the last connection, at Honolulu, would
be made at about o'clock New York time.
Vice-President W. H. Baker, Edgar G.
Bradley, the assistant general manager,
and about u dozen other officials spent the
whole day in the Office in this city waiting
for the opportunity to send through the
Presidents message.
At 9 O'Clock last night the message come
through from Honolulu that the ends Of the
cable had been spliced but that it would be
impossible to send an electric current
through the wire, n process which, accord
ing to Mr.. Baker, would take about two
hours.
At 9:2O last night Mr.. Baker received
this message by the Atlantic cable from
his company's manager at Honolulu:
About to make final splash The time
this despatch was sent from Honolulu was
$50 in the afternoon,
The Cable Building was decorated from
the ground to roof yesterday with flags
and bunting to celebrate the opening Of
the new cable. The entrance to the build
ing was arched with an artistic arrange
ment of the national colors,a and from every
window flags were flown.
Clarence Fl. Mackay, who remained in
Oyster Bay to send away the Presidents
message, was in constant communication
with Mr.. Baker and was informed by tele
phone of the progress Of the work Of join
ing the ends of the cable in Honolulu.
To give an historic surrounding to the
first message sent under the Pacific the
officials Of the Postal Telegraph Company
arranged that one section of the wire over
which the Presidents message should
travel would be made up Of pieces of wire
which are identified with the development
of Geographic, telephone and power trans
mission, from the time when Morse demon
strated the practicability Of his invention.
This Historical section az it was described
by Mr. Baker yesterday, consisted Of
portions Of the wire over which Morse
sent his first message, OF the wire
over which Bell transmitted his first
telephone message, a section of the first
cable used by Cyrus W. Field to commu-
nicate with Europe under the Atlantic;
strip of the wire used by Edison when he
lighted his first incandescent lamp from an
electrical lighting station; a section of the
wire through which a current was sent in
Richmond, Va, to provide motive power
for the first trolley railroad, strip of the
wire through which the current Of cleo
tricity was sent by President Cleveland when
he opened the Worlds Fair in Chicago and
a section of the cable used to carry the first
current of electricity from the power plant
at Niagara Falls.
The message sent by President Roose-
welt Is in fact the first that has really
gone around the world. In 1898 when he
opened the National Electrical Exposition
at the Grand Central Palace, Senator
Chauncey NJ. Depcw sent despatch which
was supposed to have travell, d around the
globe. As matter Of fact, however,
it went TO San Francisco, came back through
New York, to India, China and Japan,
whence it was returned to this city. The
time of transmission was fifty minutes,
which was regarded then as wonderful
achievement
The course that We followed yesterday
by the President u message was complete
CircumnaviGation Of the world. From
Oyster Bay the message sped to San Fran
cisco. then by the new cable to Honolulu
then through the stations at Midway Island
Guam and Manila to Hong Kong. From
Hong Kong it was sent along wires and
cables already established TO I he Azores,
where it was taken up again by the Com
mercai cables and forwarded to New York.
The LAYING at Honolulu of the last sect ion
of the Pacific cable brought to successful
end great and difficult enterprise in ocean
'tclegraphy. Prior to the completion of
the new cable q message from this country
+" Manila had to traverse a 2ie-zag course.
which TOOK in Portugal, Egypt, India and
China, requiring fifteen separate trans
rpissions and covering a distance of A,0OO
miles For this service to the Philippines
the American Government WAS paying
about $500 GOO year.
The need for Pacific cable was dwelt
upon by President Mckinley in a message
to Congress in February, 1890 Congress
hesit ated to undertake the work, but in 1901
John w. Mackay offered to lay cable
without subsidy or guarantee. His pro-
posal was accepted, and the new cable
line was begun OH Dec. IA last year, when
the steamship Silver Town began raying
out the cable from San Francisco To Homo
lulu. The new route, ~ mapped out had
four great ocean stretches, the first, 2,276
miles long, between San Francisco and
Hawaii: the second ,254 miles, from Hawaii
to Midway Island the third, stretch Of
2,5O8 miles, from Midway Island TO Guam.
while the fourth section was one OF 400
miles from Guam to Luzon.
Different steamships were chartered for
the laying of the cable between these four
points, and with the arrival Yesterday of
the steamship Anglia at Honolulu. after
LAYING tho Midway laland-Hawaii section,
was marked the completion of the task of
sinking an s00O-me cable under the
Pacific.
Commercial Cable Company, was waiting
last night for information Of the splicing
of the last strands Of the new cal 3le, which
will permit the sending IT a message around
the world in about an ht - 9 time, he pointed
out the apparent para! ux which this
achievement will bring about.
If have made out table, he said, "Ihow-
inR the times at which cable despatch
sent around the world by the new cable
would pass the transmission stations. A
message starting from New York at >
niclock this morning would reach Homo