Arizona republican., 1914-02-08
BRITISH LOSE
 CABLE LINES
Last Photographic Link Be tween England and Amer lea Lost to British Con- trol; Thirteen Atlantic Cables.
By ". Hamilton RhodeSl

LONDON, Feb. 7.-(Special Cable) ! Tn the year 1912 all the British telegraph cables crossing the North Atlantic passed into the hands of a foreign eompany This statement, which is, of course, not news to those who have much to do with cable companies, IS yet news to great many people, and by no means | welcome. It is made in an article in | the "Quarterly Review on Imperial . Inter ertelegraphl," by MT. Charles Bright, who says that of thirteen | cables connecting the United King dom with Canada not one is under | British jurisdiction. Seven of them belong to the Western Union Tele- graph Company and five to the Commercial Cable Company, both of which are American According to MT. Bright's chart, the North AtSin- tic is crossed by eight cables from the west of Ireland, by two from { Cornwall, while one line from Ire l land and one from Cornwall go to | the Azores. whence two cables go to | the United States Three Atlantic cables have their shore ends at 1 Brest, and there is cable from Lis bon to the Azores. Thus, it seems i that fifteen cables cross the bed of the Atlantic in the region between | the Newfoundland shore and New York It is certainly remarkable that none of them should be under British con trol, and there should no longer be an Atlantic cable in British posses sion with both it's shore ends in British territory Such a cable seems an indispensable link in the world circuit of British telegraphs, and MT. l Bright is probably right by advocat l ing it's construction, if the existing l cables have passed out of British ! control for as long a period as nine | ty-nine years. Perhaps the introduce tion and rapid spread of wireless l telegraphy have caused a certain in i difference to the national control of submarine cables. Yet a cable has from a strategical point of view some advantages over wireless in stallation. It can keep secrets, whereas wireless communications can be listened to by foreign operators, and can also be interrupted by them. A deep sea cable is not easily cut, and short shore end admits of protection. It would be an advan- tage for England in case of interna- tional troubles to have her own ca bles completely connecting the var ious parts of the empire The cir cult Of the globe for British pur- poses would be completed by Bri- tish cable to Canada MT. Bright would like to see also British ca ble from Bathurst. on the West Coast of Africa, to Barbados He 1 estimates the cost of a new cable to Canada at $12,500,000, and the cost Illness of a cable, is, no doubt, the main reason why wireless installa- tions are preferred.
 The telegraphic communication be- tween all parts of the empire must | become of immense importance in tie of war, when the telegraph and cable systems of hostile powers will cease to be available, and when Bri- tish systems will be exposed to at tack at their vulnerable points.
 The Duke of Atholl, who celebrat- ed his jubilee recently, as head Of the house of Stewrat- Murray, an nounced in reply to d toast of his health at Blair Castle that he had now made over half his estates to his son, the Marquis of Tullibardine The duke owns about 900 acres. Remarkable enthusiasm prevailed at the celebration, and numerous congratulatory addresses were deliv- cred The company included the vet eran Donald Robertson, who was with the Duke of Atholl in 1878 when in two days the duke shot fourteen deer with fifteen shots Oes- pite that feat, it was humorously stated in Atholl that the duke felt a little annoyed at wasting a cart ridge.
 The scenes after dark were strik- ingly picturesque as bonfires from numerous surrounding hills flared in a fifty-mile chain round the district.
 Eight stalWart Atholl Highlanders, with flaming torches in their hands, danced a highland reel in the square in front of the castle, and the duke appeared delighted at the spectacle, leading the cheering which greeted the efforts of the kilted dancers. A fiTework display was given, with the stately castle and the dark deer forest to the north forming a fitting background, and an assembly in the drill hall, at which nearly all the in
 habitants of the district were pres ent, followed by an impromptu en- tertainment, brought the day to close.
 Unlike so many people with a long life on which to look back, the Duke of Atholl does not believe the pres ent age to be degenerate
 He points out that Highlanders are today, bigger and of better phy- sique than their predecessors of six ty years ago, and that the old uni
 forms of the Atholl Highlanders would be too small for the robust men of the present generation
 No fewer than twenty titles belong to the duke, who will be seventy | four in August He sits in the house of lords as Lord Strange, be- ing one of the five Scottish dukes who are not in the upper house in their ducal capacity
 His interest in the present is shown by the practical help he has given to aviation, as it was on his