The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1905-10-18
FIFTH ATLANTIC
CABLE Of THE
POSTAL
Immense Task Completed on
October g. Description of the
Great Work.

--AE ND---AlAcl ildl 0d9le 1Oluldut
fifth Atlantic cable from Canso. Nov
Scotia, TO Waterville, Ireland, wa
completed and put in operation on
Oct. 9th. This makes seven Trans
Atlantic cables worked in direct con
necuOn with the lines Of the POsta
. Telegraph Company. All of them az
. dupleXed so that their combined ca
+ pacity is fourteen messages at one
time.
The new cable is the best and mos
/ expensive submarine cable ever laid
+ IL was manufactured by the Iele
graph Construction and Maintenance
I Company, of London, having been be
gun in March, 1905. and finished and
shipped on board the CONSTRUCTION
Company's steamer Colonial on Au-
gust Bird, 1905
Atlantic cables are always laid from
West 10 East, because the prevailing
winds IN the summer months on the
Atlantic are from the West and ships
make much better weather gOiEg
Eastward consequently the Colonial
sailed direct from England to Amer
ca, arriving OF the coast of Nova
Scotia on August 10th, and landed the
heavy shore end Of the cable on the
morning of August 18th. Moving out
from shore she struck a rock and re-
NAMED fast on ii for four days. Inc
injuries she sustained compelled ncr
10 90 into che drydOck at Halifax
with 23O0 miles of submarine cable
aboard. She was the largest ana
heaviest ship ever taken on that dry
dock, exceeding by thousands of tons
the United States battleship Indiana
of ten thousand tons, which went into
the drydOck there a couple of years
ago. Repairs were made and the COl-
onial took the sea again. On Septem-
Der 23rd she passed through a hurri-
cane In Mld-Atlantic. although on that
day on both sides OF the Atlantic it was
reported hne. with gentle winds Or
October 3rd she arrived without mis-
hap at point 187 miles from Tie
Coast OF Ireland, where the tiDAl
splice was 10 be made between the
cable that she had paid out from the
American side and the 1S7 miles of
cable previously laid Westward from
the Irish Coast by the Steamship
Cambria in the month of June. The
weather was heavy and the Colonial
was compelled TO heave TO for sever !
al days waiting smoother seas to en- i
able her TO make the final splice. 4
which was made on October 9Th.
At some points the cable was laid 4
5t the depth OF nearly three miles be- /
low the surface of the sea The
quantities of material used in the /
Of the cable were LII I
200 ponds q copper; 799, 68S pounds /
lf gutta percha; 1900 600 pounds of /
brass tape jute. yarn, iron wire and
)reservatve compound.
The signalling speed Of this cable
S fifteen percent greater than that o.
my Other cable OF equal length in the
The cost of the cable va
led from one thousand dollars TO six
thousand dollars per mile. according
@ the character OF the ocean bed and
epth of water. the great variation IL
0st being due to the different diam
er and weights of the sections of the
able, the cable which is laid In the
eepest water being the hghtest 1Cr
be important reason that 10 would be
npOssible to retrieve a heavy cable
rom deep water because Of the enor-
nous pressure. cable In deep water is
ractically safe from mechanical in.
NY and therefore does not need 20
e strong, so that the sections laid
} deep water are of smaller diane
pr and lesser cost The sections J
id near shores are Of massive con
ruction and very expensive. In the
aighb0rhOod of the fishing grounds ]
d the coast Of New Foundlano. a
pc Of cable midway between deep
alter ana shore cable is used. This {
termediate size is made strong to
ssist injuries from the anchors Of ,
shing craft. the most prolific source
danger co submarine cables This q
termedia-e type is made Just heavy S
Rough to afford reasonable prospect z
retrieving 70 I'm the event Of its be- {
g damaged by the anchor NJ a fish v
z vessel
The completion of this cable in {
eases SO grestly our already large t
cilities for ocean cabling that 10 v
her company can now excel or even =
.ual our cable service. f