New-York tribune., 1906-07-15

~
is 10 take soundings at every opportunity and
plot out charts showing the coniguration OF
the bottom, so that if hiocks or crevices exist
in the vicinity the steamer will skirt round
being laia<
Among the most vexatlous incidents In the
repairing OF cables is the picking up and cut
ting Of some "liye" wire and the black mark
this makes against the ship if the line belongs
10 her c0nlpany or the claim for DAMAGES which
follows II it is the property of some rival: or the
lifting of section Of some dead cable cut
out in some previous repair job by some other
ship. and doubly provocative OF profanity be-
cause Il is valueless TO anybody. In the sec
ton of the Atlantic about the Grand Banks
there are thousands of miles OF these discarded
cables, which cost a kings ransom originally,
but now are worse than useless because they
entail only useless labor The Newfoundland
Banks crossed by most OF the fourteen kr-
lantic cables, and as these intersect and overlie
one another, with scores IL not hundreds OF cut
OUT sections lying between or about them. IL
is wellnigh impossible to avoid this contingency,
and of late years the ca BILE companies have had
an understanding TO lay their cables fifty miles
apart and so prevent this annoying and ex~
pensive complication, since Il takes twenty-four
hours TO grapple and lift a cable from 1000
fathoms of water, and as the strain occasioned
by the ship pitching often disables her ma
TO break anew, the loss of time and contingent
expense due to securing hold on these aban-
ooned lines are the most vexatiOus features Of
the business.
the most unpleasant feature of cable repairing
is winter work off the Grand Banks, when the
reSlstloSS icebergs, sweeping south over the
shoals, crush the cables fat against the pre-
adamite rock or cut them clear in half A few
years ago one Atlantic cable had TO be twice
repaired in the same winter because OF Ice
bergs, it being destroyed on both occasions
while the last winter four cables were broken
at the same time. and three steamers spent
more than a month at repairing them, it being
supposed that the whole damage was done by
the one vast island Of ice This is the work
the cable men dread-repalr1ng in midwinter
The banks are scOurged by violent storms
infested by far stretching foes. frequently COM
peInng the ship to abandon her work and re-
treat to port, while sometimes a buoyed section
may be caught, the buoy torn off by the grind
ing masses and the cable allowed to sink TO
the bottom, forcing her to grope for it
returning TO the scene Every process under
taken in these waters at this season is per-
formed amid furious billiards., maybe and cer-
tainly amid intense cold, the frost being away
below zero and the ironworl1, cables and deck
swept with the chilling spray. The greatest OF
all midwinter repairs was made last season at
a depth of 1900 fathoms. two and half
miles This had occupied one ship for four
months without success. and later a second
ship was engaged for like period in a futile
essay at a similar cable the outlay for the two
ships during the period beipg nearly S:9G0 600
besides the value of the cable required to re-
place that rendered worthless in the endeavOr 10
recOuple each line effectively. The third ship
though obliged to undertake the task in the
middle of the winter, repaired both of them
within three months and with the utilization Of
only DOB miles OF new cable.
In one well authenticated few years
ago 2JS miles or new cable required to
complete effective splice. In another case
some famous cable repairers as an experiment
laid 300 miles of cable sheathed with manila
rope only. instead of steel wire in repairing
some deep sea breaks, and it proved such
failure that within five years it had to be re-
placed with the standard type to insert this
however, requiring an outlay OF almost 800
miles OF wire -armOred cable, this venture and
its aftermath costing S1000O00 Another ST.
TO repair one of the earlier cables which was
believed to be good enough except i'll a few
spots, but after prolonged attempts and the
enormous expenditure above stated the idea
was given up and the first two Atlantic cables
abandoned altogether The condition of the
ocean bottom and the circumstances under
which the cables laid have frequently much
TO do with this. Pieces OF the earliest "a bles
are occasionally recovered from the bottom of
the ocean in good state OF preservation. while
cables have been brought up in a perfect shape
which had been submerged for twenty years
Theoretically, the life of a we'll made and care
fully laid cable in the cold waters of the At
lantic may be indefinitely prolonged. Two
years ago, when two of the finest modern cables
laid iii deep water were broken, seismic action
was declared to be the cause, but it found
by the men who effected the repairs thai the
trouble was due TO the bad laying Of these
lines.
All parts of the ocean are visited at different
times by repair ships, within the areas where
the cables are laid and it is not uncommon for
them to be mistaken, they lie motonless
while testing splicing or moving slowly
through the water while graphing for a sun
dered line, for crippled steamers in which there
is Il prospect of salvage; and il is not until the
oncomer gets near enough to distinguish their
business that she turns tail and flies
Occasionally. on the other hand cable ship
while engaged in her work is able to report
some marine mishap disaster which comes
within her purview. or some midocean tempest
making east or west thereby enabling the ship
ping world to govern itself accordingly. The
work of cable repairing demands the. keenest
judgment, and the masters Of cable ships are
not only skilful navigators but capable hy-
drographers and electricians. 1t will readily be
recognized that it requires more than ordinary
merit TO be able to trawl for All injured ca bic in
midocean, at depth of two or three miles be-
meath the sea, bring it to the surface and effect
It's repair at all seasons and under all condi-
tons of weather, and really efficient cable
snip master is man almost without price be-
cause of the tremendous savings he may effect
II his work is promptly and satisfactorily done
whereas enormous expenditures may be in
CURED II the reverse conditions prevail The
cable companies would earn far larger profits
were it not for the heavy annual outlay on ac-
| count of repairs, and hence the endeavor to
accomplish these quickly and cheaply some
times leads to a result that multiplies the cost
many times over, through misfortune attending
! the first effort
NAVAL 4RMAMENTS.