Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-24
Two Thousand Miles of Wire Under
the Sea.
MANY DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME
Maintenance of the System, Which
Is All-American, Presented
for Consideration.

i'll the army, this StupendOuS Undertaking
was referred and Immediately pronounced
feasible and possible. With him he as
sociated such veteran co-workers as Col.
James Allen of the Signal Corps service.
to assume charge of the cable-layins
work along the Alaskan coast; Capt.
Charles Stewart Wallace, to take COM
mand of the cable-iaying ship Burnside;
David Lynch. expert cable operator
and chief electrician. and Henry Winter.
to take personal charge of cable engineer
ing.
TO these men we owe the successful
building of the new cable and overland
telegraph system to Nome, under the arc
tic circle.
Almost insurmountable difficulties were
found on land and sea, and for several
years the Signal Corps men struggled
against climatic and other dangers until
their resources and nerves were taxed 10
the utmost. TO understand some OF their
troubles and problems would help us to
appreciate the achievements of the Signal
Corps men at their proper worth.
Regarded as Great Triumph.
The completion Of the all-American
Alaskan cable is triumph in many
ways, but particularly so as an indica-
'OOS
viduals can do in a short time.
1t must be remembered that prior to the
Spanish-AmeriCan war the United states
had no cable whatever, and the Sigma
Corps men had never had the opportunity
to gain any experience In handling Cable
ships or graphing machines. All of the
worlds cables up to that time were han
died by English, German or French ships
and wOrkmen.
When the war with Spain broke out the
army and navy Immediately felt the need
of cable-cutting and cabe-laying ships
The converted cruiser Yale one day cap
tured the Spanish merchant ship Rita off
the coast of Cuba. This minor incident of
the war may have left no impression
upon the minds of readers of the papers,
but the Rita was destined to figure as
most important factor i'm the future tri-
umphS of peace.
She was remodeled as cable ship and
rechristened the Burnside. 1t Is this ship
which has achieved such lasting glory
for the Signal Corps service. After serv-
ing as cable ship off the coast of Cuba
until the war ended she sailed for the
Philippine Islands. 1t was imperative
ferent islands of our new possessions in
the far east, and the Burnside proceeded
to reel out hundreds Of miles Of cable.
Miles of Submarine Cable.
Over 1900 miles of submarine cables
We're laid around Manila and the adjacent
towns of the coast. The Burnside was
then brought home and finally commits
stoned to lay the Alaskan cable. 1t is
estimated that at the end of 1904 the
United. States government had in opera
ton more than $500 miles of submarine
cables, nearly one-half of which were
laid by the old Spanish merchant ship
Rita, or, as she is now called, Burnside.
This makes our government the second
in the number of miles of submarine wire
laid and owned, exceeding the posses
siOns of Great Britain apd Ireland by
over 800 miles, and about 1900 miles less
than the number owned by France. And
this has all been accomplished within
the few years elapsing since the Spanish
American war, and the Burnside has the
glory of doing most of the work. Surely
the triumphs of peace sometimes select
strange agencies for the accomplishment
Of ends.
The new all-American Alaskan cable
was laid by the Burnside up the coast
from Seattle to Skagway near the head of
Lynn canal. Branches were run to Sitka
the nominal capital of Alaska, and to
Juneau, Haines Mission and two other
places along the coast.
The Alaskan coast in winter is wild and
rough, with the seas filled with great
cakes of ice, and even in summer danger
Gus icebergS float down from the north
The Burnside encountered great difficult
ties in Keeling out the cable. In rounding
Vancouver Island, near the Straits of
Juan de Fuca, the water was LOGO faith
Oms or about 10000 feet. 1t was a deli
cate and intricate work to lay the cable
at this point without breaking it. More
over, it was necessary to buoy the end Of
the cable in the middle of the straits
while the cable ship returned to Seattle
to connect the other end with the shore.
Weather Causes Suspension.
Then in the middle of the winter opera
tons had to be suspended. The weather
was too rough and the seas too boisterous
for work. Meanwhile the services of the
Burnside were needed elsewhere A cable
laid among the Philippine Islands a. year
before was out of order, and the plucky
little ship had to cross the Pacific to re-
pair it.
When she returned from this long trip
| she turned her attention once more to the
Alaskan cable. Beginning north, she
worked south, picking up the end of the
cable where she had left it, buoyed in the
middle of the straits. When her work
was finished the cable was found to work
perfectly. and Washington began to talk
with the cities of Nome, Juneau. Sitka
and Dawson.
But to make the cable an all-American
one 1t was necessary to lay another short
one from SkagWay to Valdez Without
this shorter cable the Canadian lines ex-
tending across White Pass and down the
Yukon to Dawson had to be used The
Washington government wished to have
an all-American cable and telegraph line
to our most northerly possessions, and so
the Burnside proceeded to finish the last
gap i'm the system.
Meanwhile strenuous work on land was
being performed by the Signal Corps men,
who were commissioned to string wires
across country to connect with the cable
at different points. The difficulties of this
work were in many respects greater than
those encountered on the seas Here was
wild. uninhabited country thousands Of
miles in extent, swept by bizZards in
winter and soft and marshy in summer.
across which wires had to be stretched
strong enough to resist the storms of
winter and Withstand the floods and
freshets OF the short summers. The
wOrkmen had to carry their supplies of
provisions with them. working weeks and
months hundreds of miles away from
| any base of supplies.