New-York tribune., 1905-02-20
TO LAY NEW CABLE SOON.
Plan OF MACK4Y, co.
Viii Run from NoUa Scotia to Ire
land-Contract Goes to ENGLAND.

new Atlantic cable is to be laid for the
Commercial Gable Company before many
months. The company already has four Atlantic
cables. and the fifth is said to be demanded by
growing business. No fear that the wireless tel
egraph will take away cable business between
New-York and London is entertained apparent
ly, for the cable is to have larger copper
wire than any of the others. to make 1t of higher
speed and 1t is to be a heavier. stronger and
more expensive cable. Bids for making and lay
ing the cable have been received already and
the company expects to have it in operation
some time in the coming summer The cable
will be laid from Nova Scotia to Ireland by the
"northerIy'' route, a distance of about 2.3O0
miles, and its cost will be about 1900 mile,
or So 300 600
Clarence H. Mackay said yesterday that no
new stock would be issued on account of the
new cable, but the cost would be met by the
Mackay Companies, because of the desire to
keep the reserve fund Of the Commercial Cable
Company intact He said the first report of
the Mackay Companies would be made to the
shareholders within the next fortnight. The
Mackay Companies were incorporated about a
year ago. the shareholders being the stoekhod-
of the Commercial Gable Company. in order
to provide larger capital for the latter without
increasing it's stock BY providing the new ca
BILE. therefore the stockholders of the CONNER
ciaI Gable Company really increase the value of
the stock they hold in the company without
making new issue of stock
Although the bids asked for and received have
not been formally accepted, it Is probable that
the cable contract will be awarded to
both of two English corporations, the Silver
town Company and the Telegraph Construction
Company, both of London In order to hasten
the task of making and laying the cable. Mr..
Mackav and his associates NAV give the
tract for the shore end sections to one company
and the contract for the mid-Atlantic section to
the other company.
No American company requested 10 bid
for the contract. When asked for information
as to the reason for inviting only English COM
panes to bid for such an important work George
Gray Ward. president of the Commercial
Cable Company, said last evening: ut was not
because our company is failing in patriotism, but
because there is no American cable company
so we'll equipped for the task that it could make
and lay ca BILE of the standard Of excellence we
require I'm the time want it ready for use.
The English companies have complete facilities
for the manufacture of the cable and. in addi-
tion they have steamships specially designed
and manned for the work of laying the cables
Probably it will take two such steamships 10 lay
the new Atatnic cable.
when we put a cable down 1000 fathoms in
the Atlantic Ocean IL must be a good cable TO
stand the enormous pressure to which tt is sub
tected without loss of insulation. The copper wire
in the new cable will be about six hundred
pounds to the mile. The English companies in
sulate the wire with covering of gutta-percha.
held in place by covering OF steel wire. The
more pressure on such cable the better the In
sulation. 1t would be something OF an expert
rnent we think to put down the floor of the
Atlantic a cable with insulation of rubber or
other material than gutta-percha.
Then the cable must be made perfect, every
inch of its 2,3OO miles. for if there is a slight
defect in one inch of the total length the insu-
lation of the whole cable may be destroyed. The
new cable will not only have a larger copper
wire to increase its speed, but 1t will be more
heavily armored. We expect the cable to be so
strong that it will not be broken near the shores
by anchors of ships dragging against it. The
manufacture of such cable is gigantic piece
of work but the English companies can turn it
out at a rapid rate and have every inch tested
by trained
''The increase in cable business which has
made another Atlantic cable necessary for our
company has been due in great part to the mes
sageS passing between members of the London
Stock Exchange and the New-York Stock Ex-
change. Interchange Of information in arbitrage
transactions between English and American
brokers has been increasing recently, and the
cable permits information to pass between the
two exchanges In a minute. It may surprise
some people, but 1t Is fact that English
brokers sometimes have message sent by
cable to New-York and retransnritted by cable
to a broker in France or Belgium to save time
instead Of sending it direct.