The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-07-04
(By Pacific Cable)

Anglia arrived here this morning.
bearing the Honolulu end of the trans
Pacific cable, now extending from Ma
Mia, via Guam and Midway Islands.
to this port.
The cable will be landed at once and
connected with the section of the line
from Honolulu to San Francisco. al
ready in operation. Unless some unto
ward event should occur. the complete
line will be in operation by tomorrow
morning, in accordance with the an
nouncement made long since by Clar-
ence Mackay, president of the Pacific
Commercial Cable Company.
No hitch in the arrangements is an
ticipated and the first message over
the new line will almost certainly be
transmitted by President Roosevelt to
Gov. Taft promptly at noon to-mor-
row.
The Commercial Pacific Gable Com
pany was incorporated under the laws
of the state of New York on Sept. %
1901, with a charter authorizing it to
lay and operate a submarine cable
from California to the Philippine Is
lands, by way of the Hawaiian Islands.
Some years previous the Navy Depart
ment had taken sOundings across the
Pacific ocean for the purpose of deter
mining a suitable route for a subma.
rine cable, and after a careful survey
that department had recommended the
route from San Francisco to the Ha-
waiian Islands, thence to the Midway
| Island Island of Guam, and the Phil
ippines. After Congress had decided
against a government cable, and an
amicable understanding had been ar
| rived at between the cable company
| and the government, these soundings
were turned over to the company for
their information. When 1t is remem
bered that the greater the depth the
greater the pressure and strain upon
the cable, and that the average depth
| by the route selected was about three
miles, the magnitude of the tasl
| marked out by these soundings be-
! comes sufficiently impressive. The
route had four great ocean stretches OF
| 2,276, 1854, 1888 and 1,490 miles. On The
first. between San Francisco and Ha-
wall, the mean depth is $500 fathoms
with a maximum of 3,073; on the sec
ond. between Hawaii and Midway Is
land, the mean depth is 2,o00, the max
imum 9,026; on the third, from Midway
| Island to Guam, the mean depth is g..
800, with a maximum of 1900, and with
sudden and great fluctuations on tn,
fourth, the Guam to Luzon, the aver
age depth is 1900, the maximum 3,40t
| fathoms To bring home the signifi
| canoe of these immense depths in ca
| BILE laying, it may be explained thai
| the amount of cable in suspension nee
essarily varies according to the depth
and rate of paying out.
The contract for the first section o.
the cable from San Francisco to Hon
olulu was awarded to the India Rubber
Quito Percha Telegraph Works Com
| pany, of London, England. The rea
son for placing the order with an Eng
| lish firm was the lack of sufficient,
| high development in the methods o
manufacture of submarine cables il
| this country. In an enterprise wher
the penalty for failure would hav
been so serious and where the risk
| were unusually numerous, it was nee
essary to take advantage Of all tn
| skill and experience which Englisl
manufacturers had gained during year
of practice in this business.
The cable company had undertaken
to complete the line to Manila by 1904
but the work of manufacture had beel
so diligently pushed and the bushes
of laying the cable was so thorough.
| systematized that the Representative
of the company was able to announce
at the time the shore end was laid il
| San Francisco that completed com
munication would be established will
| the Philippines by the Fourth of July
| 1903. A separate contract had beer
awarded to the Telegraph Construction