The bee. (Earlington, Ky.) 1889-19??, 1906-04-19
wNNYs cAsLE LINES.
&c cline Island Circuit Completes
lNon-Engiish System Around
the World.

When Cyrus w. Field proposed the
first ocean cable his ideas were charac-
terized by doubters all over the world
as Yankee nonsense" but the sable
was laid, and It's success as medium
of communication between the two
worlds was immediate and pronounced.
The result, says the New York Tribune.
was that deep sea cables soon became a
fad" with enterprising capitalists.
and to-day the electric spark traverses
the civilized world through the wires OF
the submarine cables. When, from any
accident, the wires are blocked and
. Communication ceases temporarily,
the world OF business suffers a shock
which almost paralyzes its energy, and
until the connection is again made the
commercial community is practically
at standstill
or all the nations of the globe Ger.
many is one of the most energetic in
the work of sinking electric cables in
the depths Of the ocean. She has just
completed a new line between Shang-
hal and zap, In the Caroline islands.
which covers the distance of more than
1000 miles. This cable is laid at the
greatest depth OF any in the vast sys-
TEN Of the world. and Il closes gap
which makes II the first continuous
uon.English line to encircle the earth.
The year 1905 was, for the German
cable industry, a most significant one.
II not only gave the kaiser's dominion
a great many new cables. but It showed
that the process OF layong these lines
had advanced wonderfully in its
technique. so that the work can now be
done rapidly, in comparison with the
records of past achievements In this
line OF industry. The number Of Ger
man cables which have a length OF
more than 62 miles has been increased
by this new cable to 10. These in.
clude lines to England. to Norway. to
ireland. TO Spain, to Sweden, two to
New York, q distance OF 4,790.4 and
1911 miles; two TO China. to Constan-
tinople and TO the Ladrone islands.
Besides these large ocean cables. there
are great number OF shorter ones.
which are partly In use between vari.
Jus 0CA man uEaVOAtog anu bCtWSCh
Germany and neighboring countries.
Altogether. Germany has more than
1856 miles OF submarine cable. of
which, however, only about 1928
miles are owned directly by the gov
eminent. The total cable length in
service in the world is between 273,-
402 and 279,6t6 miles. so that Ger.
many's percentage. Notwithstanding
the progress which she has made In
the last year. is very modest. Real
ly. only about one-fifteenth OF the total
cable length at the service of Germany
Is German In its proprietorship. while
England owns more than two-thirds
OF f. Not more than two years ago
however, Germany did not own more
than one-twentIeth OF the cable length
upon which she depends for service.
Up TO few years ago no ocean cable
was in a greater depth than 16,404
feet The American cable in the Pa
cIfc ocean was. In 1908. laid in depths
60 2O,469 feet The cable Menado-Yap-
Guam, laid by the German cable steam
er Stephan, in 1905. surpassed this
record, as It reached depths Of 3D.
966 feet. and in laying the Shanghai
Yar cable, It was necessary, in the vi
cinity Of the Liukin Islands, to reach
depths Of 26.246 feet. which is one OF
the deepest places to be found any
where in the oceans OF the world. The
new cable was manufactured in Ger
many, by the North German Sea Cable
- &lxa
OF the Weser.