AN IMPROVED METHOD OF SUBMERGING TELEGRAPHIC CABLES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Kennedy, of No. 28, Elgin Road, Notting
Hill, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF SUBMERGING TELEGRAPHIC CABLES."
Sealed the 31st October 1865, and dated the 5th June 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION, left by the said James Kennedy at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th June 1865.
I, JAMES KENNEDY, of No. 28, Elgin Road, Notting Hill, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "An
IMPROVED METHOD OF SUBMERGING TELEGRAPHIC CABLES," to be as follows:--
My Invention consists principally in submerging marine telegraphic cables
by suspension, instead of laying them at the bottom of the sea, as usually
done.
In carrying out my Invention I propose to suspend the cable by means of
lines, cords, or chains of any suitable material from buoys or other similar
contrivances placed at suitable intervals along the line of communication, and

page_text: floating at the surface of the water, so that the submerged cable shall be
suspended (say) at a depth of about from one hundred to two hundred fathoms
below the surface of the water from coast to coast. By thus submerging
telegraphic cables on the principle of suspension, the length of the conducting
wire between two given termini is considerably shortened, and the expense is
greatly diminished. The portion submerged may, at any time while laying
the cable, be thrown clear of the vessel in case of emergency (such as a storm,
for instance), and afterwards taken up with ease. This method also affords
greater facility for under-running, testing, and repairing in case of an
accident or fault during the submersion; and also in case of failure after
having been in operation, the portion of the line at fault can be more readily
ascertained and remedied.
Another advantage of this method of submersion is that in some cases it
admits of the use of a floating telegraphic station between the two coasts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
っこ
by the said James Kennedy in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th December 1865.
T
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
KENNEDY, of No. 28, Elgin Road, Notting Hill, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
21
יר
זכריה זני
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord. One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Kennedy, Her special licence that I, the said James Kennedy, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such, others, as, I; the said James
Kennedy, my.executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein, expressed, should, and lawfully might, make,, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great, Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF SUB
MERGING, TELEGRAPHIC. CABLES," upon, the, condition (amongst others), that I,
the said James Kennedy, my executors, or administrators, by, an instrument,
in writing, under my, or their, or one of their hands, and seals, should par-

page_text: ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE; that I, the said James Kennedy; do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, and on référence to the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings; that is to say:
t
.. My Invention consists principally in submerging marine telegraphic cables
by suspension, instead of laying them at the bottom of the sea, as usually
done:
time while laying
In carrying out my Invention I propose to suspend the cable by means of
lines; cords; or chains of any suitable material from buoys or other similar
contrivances placed at suitable intervals along the line of communication, and
floating at the surface of the water; so that the submerged cable shall be
suspended (say) at a depth of about from one hundred to two hundred fathoms
below the surface of the water from coast to coast. By this submerging
telegraphic cables on the principle of suspension, the length of the conducting
wire between two given termini is considerably shortened; and the expense is
greatly diminished. The portion' submerged may, at any
the cable, be thrown clear of the vessel in case of em
of emergency (such as a storm,
for instance); and afterwards taken up with ease. This method also affords
greater facility for under-running, testing; and fépairing the cable in case of
an accident or fault during the submersion; and also in case of failure after
having been in operation, the portion of the line at fault can be more readily
ascertained and remedied.
Another advantage of this method of submersion is that in some cases it
admits of the use of a floating telegraphic station between the two coasts.
Such being the nature and object' of my said Invention for Ad Improved
Method of Submerging Telegraphic Cables," I will now proceed to describe
more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or
carried into practical effect; and in order that the same may be distinctly unde
stood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and
have marked the same with figures and letters of reference cofferin
corresponding
with those in the following explanation thereof; that is to say:
.
Auns ca plaon dings
J
'
of
In the annexed Drawing, Figure 1 illustrates' the improved method³ öf
submersion,. showing portions of a telegraphic cable' suspended at three

page_text: different depths (say) fifty fathoms, one hundred fathoms, and two hundred
fathoms.
The line a, a, represents the telegraphic cable; b, b6, the suspending cords
or chains; and c, c, the buoys floating at the surface of the water.
The telegraphic cable a, a, consists merely of copper wire surrounded by a
coating of insulating material, and its specific gravity reduced, so that it will
only just sink in sea water, and will not exert any undue strain upon the
suspending cords or chains. This reduction of the specific gravity of the
cable may be effected in a variety of ways; for instance, at intervals of (say) one
mile each floats d,'d, may be attached to the cable; the said floats being made
of a hollow cube of vulcanized india-rubber filled with cork, wood shavings,
or dust, as shown at Figure 2, or of any other suitable form or material; or
the cable may be made with a tubular covering (either its whole length, or
at intervals only), and the space between the said covering and the cable filled
with cork dust or other material of a less specific gravity than water.
Instead of using buoys floating at the surface of the water as above described,
the suspending lines may be made in a tubular form, and, themselves contain
the buoyant principle; for example, if a vulcanized india-rubber tube two
hundred fathoms in length (Figure 3) be attached to the cable and filled with
cork dust, it will float in a perpendicular direction (its upper end merely.
appearing at the surface of the water), and will suspend or support the cable
at a depth of two hundred fathoms; or a tube of larger diameter (Figure 4)
and one hundred fathoms in length will support the cable at a depth of one
hundred fathoms; or if it be required to suspend the cable at (say) fifty.
fathoms, then a tube of still larger diameter (Figure 5) and fifty fathoms in
length should be employed.
It will of course be understood that the distance apart of these buoyant
tubes, their diameter, and the quantity of cork dust which they contain, must
be so proportioned to the weight of the length of cable which each has to
support that it will float in a perpendicular position in sea water with its
upper end just appearing at the surface.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for
"An Improved Method of Submerging Telegraphic Cables," together with
the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into
practical effect, I would remark in conclusion that I claim as my Invention the
method of submerging telegraphic cables by suspension, substantially as above
described, and represented in the Drawing annexed, without confining myself
to the precise means or apparatus indicated, so long as the principal or main

page_text: feature of my Invention (that is to say, suspension at a certain definite depth
below the surface, is adhered to.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Kennedy, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
BRISTOW HUNT,
Sol. and Patent Agent,
1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn.
JAS. KENNEDY. (L.B.)