Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1908-01-30
Something About Ocean Cables.


The Island of Celebes, nearly hall
of which is still almost unknown, has
now been connected by cable with the
neighboring Island of Borneo and also
with the American Island Of Guam,
far to the north. 1t has been brought
into close touch with the rest of the
world, for it is joined to all parts of
the Eastern Hemisphere through Bor-
neo and to the Western Hemisphere
through Guam and San Francisco.
Before an ocean cable is laid Ves-
sci is always sent out to make 4 care
full survey of the proposed route.
The route is picked for these cable
lines Just as railroad engineers run
linee of levies before they finally locate
railway routes.
With piano wire for sounding lines
the cable engineer determines the lev.
els of the ocean floor and secures sam
pies of the bottom 80 that he may de-
eide where it is best to lay the cable.
Interesting discoveries were made
about the ocean floor between Oelebes
and Guam, but they mean more to
geologists than to the laity.
Gable lines look straight enough as
seen on the maps, but they are auy hing
but straight as they lie on the ocean
floor. DR.. Klotz, of Canada, said in
a recent lecture that the great Pacific
cable, 5000 miles long, between Van.
couver and New Zealand, was time
and again detected from a straight
line between the island stations at
which it touched in order to avoid
towering submarine mountains or
cratsrs or ground that was hard or
otherwise undesirable az a resting
place for the cable.
The samples of ground which cable
engineers most desire to bring up from
the bottom are the soft oozes or muds
that are found only in the deep seas
far from the continents and which are
composed largely of the pulverized
skeletons of marine animals. Cables
last longest when they repose in these
soft beds. They are not found every.
where in the deep ocean, but If they
are not too far away the cable route
will be DETECTED to cross them.
A great deal that has been learned
about the ocean floors in recent years
has been incidental to the laying of
cables. The United States steamer
Nero was sent to pick route for a
cable across the Pacific, and while en-
gagged in the work she found depth
of 5,269 fathoms, or six miles, the
greatest depth in the ocean Of which
we have knowledge.
Thousands of miles of cable are laid
at depths Of three to four miles below
the surface, and because at such depths
the pressure Of the water lie about four
tons to the square inch the cable sinks
very slowly to its resting place. The
line paid out over the stern Of the
vessel is often 90 miles away before
the cable finally rests on the bottom.
AT these great depths the water is
very cold. The many hundreds of
soundings taken during the cable sur
veys have established the fact that
there is very little difference betw cen
the temperatures of the deepest parts
of the ocean. Their waters are uni
formly only a few degrees above
freezing point.
1t is found also that the bottom Of
the deep parts Of the seas il more fsv.
orable for the longevity Of cable lines
than the harder ground of the shall
lower waters nearer the coast. This
is fortunate, for it is less expensive to
haul up and repair cable that needs
to be raised only from comparatively
shallow waters.