IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRIC TELE- GRAPH CABLES OR ROPES, AND IN APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Rowett at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
December 1873.
I, WILLIAM ROWETT, of Netherfield Road, Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRIC TELE-
GRAPH CABLES OR ROPES, AND IN APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as
follows:-
The Invention consists in a method of making electric telegraph
cables or ropes so that they shall possess the greatest amount of tensile
strength with the least possible weight when submerged in water, and
that they shall be preserved from decay during transit to any part of
the world, and when and after being submerged; and in placing two
or more wire conductors in a single cable for ocean purposes without
adding to its bulk, which I effect by constructing such cables or ropes
in the following manner :- The electric telegraph wire conductor or
conductors may be placed in any desired position in the cable, each
conductor being inserted in a separate strand or as worming on the '

page_text: outside of the cable; or it may be placed in the centre of the cable,
which latter mode I prefer.
The conductor or conductors may be covered with any known and
approved insulating substance, or with Rowett's elastic non-masticated
india-rubber; but I do not confine myself to the use of any particular
form of conductor or insulating cover.
My envelope, hereafter mentioned, being available for any form of
conductor or core, the core may be formed with one single conductor
or by two, or by any other desired number of them, each of them being
a separate insulated electric-conductor, either twisted together or in
straight lines, secured by a tape or sufficient twine fastening. The
latter form of core I prefer for economising the length of the conductor,
and in the exterior interstices of such combination of core, prior to
securing with a tape or twine, as before mentioned, I propose to place
the strongest Manilla or hemp lines, so as to form a perfect combination
of spherical core, of which every fibre will take its share of tensile
strain that may come upon the cables. These lines are to be made of
the best material and well preserved from decay by Rowett's well-known
preserving compound, or any other improved preserving compound that
will preserve fibrous substances from decay. In this way waste space
in the cable, which has been heretofore filled up with the jute and other
material that has comparatively no tensile strength, is utilised. and
made to contribute additional strength to the cable.
The several components of the core above described may be further
improved by being put together in combination with Rowett's preserving
elastic marine glue. The insulated conductor and the hempen lines
thus become solid as well as elastic, not only adding strength to the
cable but also improving the insulation of the conductor. A core may
thus be formed of several separately insulated conductors, fitted as
above described, instead of having only one conductor, without
thereby materially adding to the size or weight of the cable.
And further to meet the contemplated improvements in the trans-
mission of messages I propose to place the electric conductor simply in
a hemp envelope prepared with Rowett's preserving marine glue and
without any other insulating material, which may be termed a non-
insulated conductor or conductors, all or either of which must be
covered with four or more strands, as the intended size of the cable and

page_text: other circumstances may require, of yarn made from Manilla hemp,
New Zealand or African fibre, American or European hemp, flax, or
fibre, properly preserved from decay by Rowett's or other improved
preserving compounds, such as will not add to the specific weight of
the cable.
The fibrous articles named above may be mixed one with another,
as circumstances require it; but in deep seas I prefer to use the light
descriptions, such as Manilla cair and New Zealand hemp, which
render the cable comparatively much stronger for laying safely and
for being lifted again in deep water if it should be necessary.
And further I propose to add strength and solidity to the cable by
forming the strand thereof from what is technically called wrong-way
yarn, and also to use conical spindles, or bobbins of that shape, on
which the yarn is wound instead of the ordinary bobbins; the yarn.
coming end on off the conical spindle or bobbin keeps the turn in the
yarn instead of untwisting it, as is the case when ordinary bobbins are
used in the usual way.
The conical spindle bobbins are equally applicable to the strands and