The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-07-07
COMMENTS ON MEN AND
 MATTERS OFTHE WORLD

N TIER thirty years of discus WA cussion In congress the great
 Pacific cable has at last been completed. and the world is engirdled with the message-bearing wires. It is probable that the cable would not yet have been laid but for the energy and en- terprise of John W. Mackay. who came forward and offered to undertake the task as private enterprise. Although America lead the way in spanning the Atlantic with cable we are behind in the case of the Pacific, for the British cable from Canada to Australasia has been in opera ton for nearly year.
 The remarkable feature of the Pacific cable is the rapidity and success with which 1t was laid. Three attempts were made to lay the first line across the Att, lantic before the enterprise succeeded, and 1t was eight years before 1t was in re- liable working order. The actual work on the Pacific cable was begun last Decem- Der. In the brief time which has elapsed the work has been finished without break, and perfect communication around the world to the west Is established
 The question of a Pacific cable was first preached in 1870. but no active steps were taken until 1879. when Cyrus ". Field made an effort to organize Pa- cifc cable company. Tn 1891 the roure was surveyed by two ships of the American navy from San Francisco to Honolulu, and In 1894 an appropriation of $500, coo was made for the work. but 1t failed to pass the house. From that time until the actual laying began the question was agitated at different times in congress.
 One of the most serious obstacles met with was an unexpected abyss discovered in the floor of the Pacific about 800 miles east of Guam. This depression was five and one-half miles deep, and the strain on the ship while lowering the cable was greatly increased. When a cable ship is steaming at the rate of ei yht knots an hour and laying a cable at the depth of 290o fathoms, twenty-five miles of the strand are in suspension in the water, while two hours and a half are required for the cable to reach bottom. When the depth is increased to over five miles the strain on the vessel Is vastly increased. However this difficulty was successfully overcome, and the Mackays. both father and son. have handed their names down to posterity by the success with which the stupendous task has been aecomp- lisbed.
 PfprpoOf Moroap ba dpapnfoi dIofofor Is temporarily under eclipse as a result of his disastrous deal styled the Interna- tional Mercantile Marine corporation or the shipping trust. Just now the enter prise seems to be in bad shape and the companys stock Is slow proposition in the market No doubt Morgan will be able to pull through without being mate rially damaged, but his reputation for financiering has suffered a slight decline, which is reported to be troubling the money king more than he cares to show. It Is reported that one of the principal causes of the failure to successfully or ganize shipping trust was the enormous price paid for all vessels purchased. In addition the ships were much inferior to their competitors, and were not worth near as much as was paid for them h. stead of diminishing the business of the competing lines the shipping trust seems to have enlivened 1t greatly.
 President Loubet of France has de- parted for his visit to England, which promises, to be a most inter- esting state affair. The president will cross form Boulogne- -On-The-Sea to Dover and will be escorted by some of the fin- est war vessels In the French navy. The Duke of Cannaught will receive the dis tinguished visitor at Dover and King Ed