The daily Alaskan., 1913-04-07
I5N5N5 A GABLE
The Snapp.ng of a Submarine
 Line Entails Hard Work,
LOCATINe THE BREAK IS EASY

Sensitive lu1trum5ntsi and Then
 Comss yho Difficult Tack of GraPpIlns
 and Raiuins tho Severed Endo.
 The zoo mile cable that connected Hamilton. Bermuda, with HallfaE, Noya. scouo. bad snapped. Somewhere under many f5th0mg Of water lay the two broken ends, perhaps only few Inches upart.-more likely half a mile or 80 from each Otber-carried from their accustomed bed by the wash Of Che waves UntIl che two ends were connected the thousands and thou8ands Of dollars invested ln Che cable were bringing no Income
 As thc result of the accident Hamil- ton was practically Isolated from the rest Of Che world. for the only other cable went to Jamaica. By sending a message to Jamaica and having lt TO- layed to Newfoundland and thence by telegraph to New York it was possible to get few words through ln fairly short time Rot the tolls were enor mousIy high
 The moment Che operator at Halifax found that Che key on tbe Bermuda cable did not respond to hIs touch be reported the fact to his superior in the Halifax office. Orders flew back and forth. telephone bells rang messengers scurrIed ln and out Of the office, and In a few hours the cable repair steam CT was on lts way to Bermuda.
 The operators at HallfaI and Hamll ton had located the break It was about six miles From the Hamilton end of Che cable Thls they calculated with sensitive instruments used to re- cord the resistance"
 The writer was In Hamilton when the Macgoy. Bennett steamed Into the harb0r and through the courtesy Of Che captain was on board when the steamer went out and grupplcd for the ends Of Che cable and restored it to usefulness.
 Even when Che captain of a cable TO pair ship knows that the break ls about six miles from one end its no easy aTalr to pick rp Che big wire ropes. The floor or the ocean is uneven, and be must allow for slack,
 The crew was ready when the ship stopped With a splash the blg grap. nel went overheard. and yard after yard Of line was paid out until the hook touched bottom. The water was l2O fatboms r72O feeh deep at that spot
 Luck was with tho cable ship. So well hnd Che captain calculated that the very first cast Of the hook brought up one end Of the broken cable. It was hauled on board The electricians attached their Instruments and called Hamilton. The station answered im' medIateIy.
 A huge buoy was attached to the heavy wire rope and lowered Into the water Then we set out to and the other end
 Cast after cast of the grapplng hook and not even nlbble from the missing part Of Che cable Farther and far. tber the cable ship worked away from Che buoy At last 8fter three hours work. the wapnel resisted the pull The Gsh had been caught There was cheer from the crew as lt was pull ed on board, about a quarter of mile from the other end
 This end was connected with Q teIo- graph instrument and Che operator at Halifax, about 700 miles away, an' swcred. There was nothing moro to do except to join the broken ends
 A new section of cable was carefully gDlIccd to Che cable that had Just been picked up. The cable was paid out over the stern as we steamed back to Che buoy This was hauled on board and the broken end spIIced to the new piece Of cable, an operation consuming less than bali an hour The repaired cable. as good as new, was dropped overheard to resume its place on the oceans bed
 Rarely does a cable repair ship have such gooa luck Often storms arise which drive the ship from her course, tear Che buoys from the ends they hold and compel the work to be done oyer again
 In northern waters these conditions are felt at thelr worst The ship be- comes crusted with Ice, It i8 dlmcult to maucuvcr and doubly 30 to deal with a cable on bow or stern when the roll of the seas threatens to fracture it again. and the launching of boats with men in them to buoy a loose end ls hazardous
 From theso causes occasionally. cable ships get short Of coal and have Co abandon work temporarily at critical periods. or they are enmesded among the fee Goes or bcrgs and have to let go an and retrcat-Karl K. Kitchen in New York World.