The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-07-05

| pressure and strain upon the cable and
| that the average depth by the route select
! of the task marked out by these sound nes
becomes sufficiently impressive. The route
| 1888 and 1880 miles. On the first. between
| San Francisco and Hawaii the mean depth
| is ESQ fathoms with a maximum Of 1908:
| on the second between Hawaii and Midway
| Island the mean depth Is 2.00o the maxi
mum 3.O2S; on the third. from Midway Is
land to Guam. the mean depth is 200. with
| n maximum of 1900 and with sudden and
great fluctuations: on the fourth, from
| Guam to Iuzon. the average depth is ZOO.
| the maximum 3.4o0 fathoms
To bring home the significance of these
| immense depths in cable laying, II may be
| explained that the amount of cable in sus-
| pension necessarily varies according to the
| depth and rate of paying out. In 300 fatn-
| oms. with the ship steaming at eight knots
per hour. no less than twenty-five miles of
cable are in suspension in the water. Two
and n half hours are occupied in such case
by any particular point in the cable from
the time of leaving the ship to touching the
bottom. Then. at any time during the pay
, ing out, which may last. with long sec
ton. some ten or fourteen days, II storm
may arise or some mishap may occur on
board. resulting in the loss of the cable IN
depth of three miles below the surface.
In such n case the date of its recovery
cannot possibly be predicted: the interrupt
ton may last for three or four GAYS, or 1t
may be for as many weeks or months.
CONTRACTS AWARDED.
The contract for the first section of the
cable from San Francisco to Honolulu was
, awarded to the India Rubber Gutta Percha
England The reason for placing the order
with an English firm was the lack of SUI
ficiently high development in the methods
of manufacture of submarine cables in this
country. In an enterprise where the pen
atty for failure would have been so serious.
and where the risks were unusually numer-
Gus. 1t was necessary to take aqyan 1,, %.
all the skill and experience which English
manufacturers had gained during years or
practice in tins business.
The cable steamer Silvertown. with the
first section of the Pacific cable on board.
consisting of 2.4l3 nautical miles. and weigh
ing 1907 tons. left the English Coast on sep
December T. The shore end of the cable hay
ing been laid with appropriate ceremonies
the Silvertown left for Honolulu on Decem-
Der 10, arriving off the islands on Christmas
Day and on the morning of December &c
the cable was buoyed during a heavy gale
at point about thirty miles from
Honolulu. During the trip from San Fran
cisco to Honolulu 200 miles of cable were
The Cable Company had undertaken to
complete the line to Manila by 1904; but the
work of manufacture had been so diligently
pushed, and the business Of laying the ca
Bile was So thoroughly systemized that tho
representative of the company was able to
announce at the time the shore end was
laid in San Francisco that completed COM
muuication would be established with the
Philippines by the Fourth of July. 1903. A
separate contract had been awarded to the
Telegraph Construction and Maintenance
Company for the remaining sections of the
cable from Honolulu to Midway. Guam and
On April and 10 the steamships Colonia
and Anglia. belonging TO the manufactur.
ers, left London with over 5000 miles OF
laid the longest section of the cable. that
between Guam and Midway. e6o6 nautical
miles. is the largest cable ship atioat. She
has dead weight capacity of nearly H.
0Q0 tons. and is capable of carrying close
upon 1000 nautical miles of cable in the
four large tanks built up in her holds Not
ment was much larger. could find room for
half the mileage of cable which the Colonia
can comfortably carry. The dimensions of
the steamship Anglia are somewhat smaller
than those Of her sister ship, the Colona.
She can carry $3.50 tons dead weight. and
during her recent operations in the Pacific
did carry some $500 miles of cable.
START FOR MANILA.
The Anglia arrived at Manila on May %,
and having landed the shore end on May "a.
she paid out the cable through St Bernar-
dino Strait and on toward the Guam. She
arrived at Guam on June and established
Guam on June l. The Colonia had proceed
ed direct to Guam, where she arrived on
May q. AT that point the engineering and
electrical STATS were transferred from the
Anglia to the Coionia. and the latter vessel
began to perform her snare of the work by
laying the cable from Guam to Midway.
The Work was performed WIN marvellous
precision and success. and with but single
interruption, at the rate of 200 miles day
and an average speed of nine knots an
hour.
The Co!onia arrived at Midway on June
10. and communication between Midway and
Guam was thus established, connecting
world. and leaving only the small section
between Midway and Honolulu to be laid
TO complete the encircling of the globe. The
Anglia had proceeded from Guam to Mid.
way and on the arrival of the Coonia at
that point her engineering and electrical
stans We're transferred back to the Anglia,
and the latter began to pay out the Md
way and Hawaii section of the cable. Wal
kiki. near Honolulu, is the landing place
of the San Francsco-H Honolulu and the Hon;
oluu-M Midway sections of the cable. ana
with the news of the arrival of the Anglia
Mt this point the announcement went out
to the world that the great enterprise s, ,, o,
had passed into history. and that an Amer
lean Pacific cable was at last a realty.
RATES REDUCED.
The commercial Pacific cable Is a work
which cannot fail to be of great benefit to
the country commercially. politically and
Commercial Cable Company has made its
advent on the Pacific the signal for the
reduction Of cable tolls. Prior to the in
corporation of the Commercial Pacific Ca
BILE Company. in September. 1901. the rate
for messages from New York to the Phil
ippine Islands was s2.S5 per word; in No
European cable companies to 81 per word.
The simple announcement of the intention
of the Commercial Company to lay Pa
citic cable thus effected saving of 60 cents
per word.
Before entering on the execution of its
contract the Commercial Pacific Gable Com
pany bound itself to charge but 81 per word
from San Francisco to China. 81 a word
from San Francisco to Manila and 80 cents
from San Francisco to Honolulu. the last
named rate to be reduced within two years
TO IS cents word. This Pacific cable will
greatly increase the value and efficiency of
the United States Navy. 1t will keep the
Government in close touch with the mill
tary and civil authorities In the Philippine
Islands. and will in many other respects
United States and its possessions in the
Pacific. The extension of the cable to China
Will be the next step in its development,
and by no means the least important one.
since the advancement of American COM
mercial interests in the Chinese Empire
imperatively demands the provision of an
all-American line of ocean telegraphy.
MACKAY'S PART.
Fo: all tho benefcen; results which are
likely to attend the completion of this great
enterprise the country has to thank the late
John w. Mackay,' whose energy and per
severance hld done so much Tor commerce
by the introduction OF new enterprise into
the business of Atlantic telegraphy, and
without whom IL is safe to say that there
would have been no American Pacific cable
for years to come. Mr.. Mackays history is
too Well known to require recapituation,
but that simple businesslike letter of his TO
the Hon. John Hay, Secretary Of
of exceptional value and significance. 1t
was on August %. 1901. that Mr.. Mackay
wrote:
Il beg leave to state I wish TO lay and
operate submarine cable. or cables. from
California to the Philippine Islands by way
of the Hawaiian Islands. by means of an