The Washington times., 1904-12-25

/ for the waters of the northern Pacific
| never become warm, even in the sum-
mer when the climate is comparatively
warm ashore, it was cruel hard work.
and the men who performed it are de-
serving Of great praise.
Worked Night and Day.
! When the Burnside was loaded with
cable a straight course was laid and
| there was no stop night or day until
| that section of the submarine telegraph
was laid. It was ticklish work at times
during the dark nights many OF
which were made even darker than they
should have been by the dense fogs
which are frequently found in those
northern waters. The ship was well
| lighted by electricity in all the parts
where light was needed and the ca BILE
paid out as fast at night usually as in
the day. Working night and day kept
the men OF the jump in spite of the
fact that there were different watches
and they were relieved from time to
time. The cable was laid at an average
of six miles an hour. Submarine cables
have been laid by the Signal Corps at
4 rate of eight miles an hour in the
Hawaiian Islands, but the work was
done there with d larger steamer The
longest continuous cable laying in the
Alaskan waters lasted in the neighbor-
hood of one hundred hours OF four
nights and four days. About six hum
dred miles of cable We're laid on that
single trip.
One dark night as the Burnside was
steaming steadily ahead with the cable
paying out over the stern came a ter
rible crash, and then a long grinding
sound. The brakes shut doHn on thei
cable with a jerk The ship had struck
an iceberg Admirable order prevailed
on board and it was found that the
ship was badly, though not seriously
damaged. But it was necessary TO cut
and buoy the cable and then steam back
to port for repairs When daylight
came there Were a hundred or more
small icebergs in sight similar to the
Let Her Sink.
An electrical engineer VINO had con-
seientiously kept log during the whole
time he was aboard the Burnside was
off duty at the time the ship struck the
iceberg, asleep in his berth. He was
wakened by the noise and some one
calling to him, Wake up: ships struck
an iceberg and is going down"
What time is ii, asked the engineer.
reaching for his log book Two thir-
ty, you say" He entered it in his book,
''2:30 d. H., ship struck iceberg. Sink
ing closed the hook and went to sleep
again.
Hundreds OF bergs Were sighted dur
ing the various trips of the Burnside.
which was operating part of the time
in the path by which they come down
from the glaciers still farther north.
Most of them Were brown with dirt
and hard TO distinguish on that account
at night.
In order that the cable should not be
laid in British waters. it was necessary
to keep we'll out from land along the
coast OF British Columbia. For that
matter, however, during almost the
whole course OF her journey the Burn
side was out of sight of land The cable
was laid in an average, depth of 1,G00
:athoms of water. anG in an extreme
depth of 1.700 fathoms.
Tremendous Friction.
AS the cable was laid IL uneoiIed from
about a huge cone. Large wooden and
leather brakes prevented it from paying
out too fast In order TO prevent the
destruction of the brakes a constant
flow of water was kept on them while