The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-11-25
PACIFIC CABLE
PICKED UP
Continued from Page One,

| crushed, so that electrical eommuniea
ton through it was stopped. The dam
age was done by the mooring of
buoy being dropped on it. The moor
ing consisted of cylinder filed with
| cement. The buoy was being placed TO
mark yhe entrance to the channel lead
ing to the harbor. The instant the
mooring dropped on the cable it crush
| ed the core and communication stopped.
| The cable people at Guam told the
government there that the dropping of
the mooring had probably caused the
interruption, and the smooring and buoy
were removed, so that when we got
there there was no buoy marking the
channel at this point.
1.-THE place where the buoy had been
placed and the cable was damaged was
bad place to work in. The channel
is narrow and there is aAreef on both
sides, with not as much water above
it as there is above the reef that lines
the channel to this harbor. The water
is breaking over it all the time. There
is no room in which tc turn vessel
around So we went inside, turned
around, and picked up the cable fur
Their inside, in q fathoms of water.
Then we cut the cable and moored the
Guam end with buoy, and proceeded
to follow out, taking up the cable as
we went until we should find the dam
aged place, intending to cut it out,
splice and lay back: The buoy having
been taken away we did not know ex-
actly where the break was, except as
it was located by the electrical tests
made by the chief electrical engineer.
He located it within two feet by this
means.
''We had a. little bad luck at This
stage, and after we had cut out the
damaged place we lost the Midway
end This obliged us to go out into
500 fathoms of water to pick up the
cable. The bottom of the sea drops
right down from the point where the
break was, which was in thirteen
fathoms of water, down to 600 fathoms.
But Just at this time there was
every evidence that typhoon was
coming. The barometer went down
and there was the typhoon appearance
of the sky. So we were obliged to
go into the harbor and prepare for
it. That is we put out both anchors
with all the chain, and everything
aboard furled and made fast The
typhoon, however, passed off to the
west, but We were delayed several days.
9Then we went outside, as I said,
into 600 fathoms and picked up the
cable there. We cut it, spliced new
cable on and laid the cable right back
on through ths channel to where we
had buoyed the Guam end in 81
of water, and spliced again, ,
and the work was completed.
In relaying the cable through the I
channel we laid it nearer the center
If the channel, so that it Will not be
nterfered with in mooring buoys. These
ouoys, in order to be of service, have
% be moored at the edge of the reef.
With the cable in the center of the
'hannel, these buoys can be moored
without interfering.
f'The break in the cable was not
more than 200 yards from where the
Scotia, the cable ship that was then
in her way from the Orient to be the c
at the Honolulu station. as
he Restorer is now, was wrecked and
ost. The remains of her are to be
cen there yet
After completing this work we
waited for orders. It was expected
hat these would send us to Nagasaki,
nut after waiting some time for them
hey sent us back here We left No
ember S. For the first five days we
7ere in the tail end of a typhoon, not
xaetly in the typhoon itself but in T.
he effects of it, From that time on
re had heavy northeast winds and bois- o
erous seas, making a nasty voyage
hat is why we were SO long in com
lg. We ought to have been here two r.
r three days ago. But, of course, we II
-ere not like mail boat that had to u
lake time. no matter what the con
itions, and so burns coal to do it. We lie
ook on 600 tons of coal at Guam. NJ
1--WE are very glad to get back to II
honolulu. The cable force at Guam VI
very comfortably situated. They have ID
cen furnished with every convenience Il
rat can be given them, and where d'
ley are it is fairly cool There are IN
20 operators there who were formerly Sc
ere. Young Cation is. one of them. bi
hey seem to like it very well.
- Affairs in the government are now
charge of Mr.. McNamee, an Amer
an naval officer, who is the Acting
1vernor vthe Governor HAVING rnne @