The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-01-03
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
 ACCOUNT OF CABLE LAYING.

Honolulu, January 2.-(By Pacific
 Cable.) )--Having buoyed the deer. end
 of the sea cable in the tur-
 bulent of Molakai channel at 5:2o o'clock on the morning of Friday, December 26
 after much difficulty and great risk. the
 Mackey- Bennett cable ship Silvertown
 came on to Honolulu. docking at the
 naval wharf at noon. The big ship was
 met in the harbor by tugs and excursion
 boats, carrying welcoming delegations
 with bands of music, and escorted to the
 wharf, where great crowd awaited. It
 was the intention of the engineer in
 charge of the expedition to take on board
 one thousand tons of coal as ballast and
 await favorable weather to return, pick
 up the sea end and bring 1t close in shore
 and buoy 1t. The shore end of the cable
 was then to be laid out and the final con
 nectlon made at that point.
 Saturday brought no improvement in
 the weather conditions. The winds blew
 great guns from the northeast and crafts
 arriving through the channel reported>the
 sea stirred maelstrom. It was then de-
 cided to make no move that day. but.
 delay the attempt until Sunday morning. December 2S, when a start was made.
 The vessel had not proceeded one mile from the dock when the full force of a gale behind the high hills struck her. The skipper at once decided not to go out
 side, as picking up the buoy in the chan mel was quite impossible. It was then de- termined to lay the short end while the conditions were favorable on that side of the island.
 SiIvertown Taken In Shore. l The Silvertown was taIen In shore within half mile of the coral reef and | preparations were made to hoist a line | ashore. The character of the bottom 1 which Is rock with a narrow opening | through the coral reef rendered great care necessary in placing the extremely heavy | type of cable. Throughout the day | crowds ashore watched the steam 1 launches running in and out and await | ing patiently the actual landing of the l long expected submarine telegraph At a | quarter to five in the evening the end of | the cable left the Silyertown's bow with | balloon buoys attached at intervals of l fifty feet. half mile of heavy line was l hauled ashore by steam power without | hitch or halt.
 One hour and five minutes from the
 
 | cable was hauled upon soil of picturesque | San soir park amid the shouts of thous- ands and the crash of a band of music | playing a cable march dedicated to Pres l ident Mackay. Just as the cable touched | the shore a heavy shower of rain fell l upon gaily attired multitude. but danger | of wetting was Ignored in the eagerness l to catch a glimpse of the magic line that | was to connect them with the rest of the world There was no official ceremony | at the time. further than the laying of a | lei. or native wreath, upon the end of the | cable by Mrs. Hawes, who repeated the customary native greeting "Alaha." The | Silvertown remained at anchor holding to | the line until near noon Monday. Decem- | Der 29. when she moved out upon the course prescribed by the chart in laying | out the cable Six miles were laid to d | point off Koko Head. At this point rough | seas were encountered and the line was | buoyed.
 Start Made for Channel. A start was then made for Molaka channel to investigate or not whether the buoy had weathered the buffeting to which 1t had been subjected for nearly three days. Some anxiety was expressed lest 1t had been overwhelmed and al- lowed the line attached to the end of the 2000-mile strand to carry away. Fortu- nately, however, no such disaster had occurred The buoy was riding Tn safety but the marked buoy which had been dropped near 1t on Friday morning De- cember 25 had disappeared. The seas were running even higher than three l days previously. The wind continued toe
 blow half a gale fin the northeasf V (Continued on Second Paa N. Hi