Year: 1860

sent out to take up the Newfoundland end
of the cable, has succeeded in raising a
portion of it, after some weeks Of labor,
and has discovered serious detect in it,
caused BY its resting and chatting on q,
ledge of sharp rocks, over which it was
laid, mile or two from Bay of Baffsl
Arm, Trinity Bay. 1t is Capt. Kell's in-S
tention to take up as much of the cable
as possib'a, and land it at New Perlcan,
making, that its future terminus. in case
the undertaking to bring it into working
order should prove successful.


Apropos of the cable, we read in the
London Times the following report, by
which it appears, that in legal point Of
fact, it has been judicialy settled that the
cable was laid.


In the Court of Queens, Bench, on
Tuesday, Mr.. Paterson, Glasgow
merchant, brought an action against an
underwater, named Harris, on a policy
of insurance, by the terms of which
the plaintiff was to be protected against
all risk accruing to him as the holder
of one share in the Atlantic Telegraph
Company, through the cable suffering
injury, or its successful laying down
being prevented by the ''perils OF the
sea- On behalf of the plaintiff, TIE
great object was TO show that the cable
had never been fully and successfully
laid. and that object had been prevented
by the injuries which the cable sustained
through damage fene to it after being
submerged in the sea. Several wit
nesses were called to support this view
of the case, among others Professor
Thompson, the gentleman who acted
as electrician on board the Niagara,
and Mr.. Saward, the secretary OF the
company.


Professor Thompson stated that be-
tween the I1th and.2 2lst off August,
which was the period dnring which the
cable might be said to have worked
best, its action was very good at GER
tain hours; however, in general, its
working was very irregular. He was
unable with certainty to account for
that, but he attributed it partly to the
incrustation of the surface wire. The
total quantity of cable manufactured
was $3.50 miles, of which 2,i3o were
submerged, and about 37O lost. The
cable submerged might be said to be
lost, and the original capital entirely
exhausted. Three days before the
landing at Newfoundland they cut away
60 miles of the cable on board the Nj
agara. The conducting wire had got
out of place, and had forced its way
through the gutta percha and even
through the tow, so as almost to touch
the cylindrical wire covering. After
that the signals were better. Before
the cable was taken on board 1T had
been exposed for some time at Green
witch to the heat of very hot sun, and
there was 10 doubt that in that way
some of the gutta percha had got sof-
tened, and it oozed through the tow and
the outside wire.


Mr.. Saward, the Secretary to the
Company, proved that 10000 words
passed backwards and forwards be-
tween the two ocountries during the three
weeks the cable worked, An expedition
had been fitted out to take up the 46
miles of the cable nearest Newfound-
land. The new cable would start from
u spot nearer to Europe by that~dist-
ance. 1t was thought that that portion
of the cable had sustained an injury,
and that the principal injury sustained
was about $50 mi les from Valentia. 1t
was likewise thought that when those
portions of the line were renewed the
whole cable would work. It was in
tended to raise 200 miles at the Valen-
tia end. There was no doubt that a
portion of the gutta percha had oozed
through at Greenwich in consequence
of its having been melted by the heat
of the sun. The cable had not been
tested under water, in consequence of
the fears of some of the Directors
that the strands of wire would getrgst-
ed. How aver, subsequent experience
proved the desirability of cable being
submitted to such test.


No evidence was called on behalf of
the defendant, but the contention On his
part was that the transmission of 10000
words proved that the cable had been
fully laid down; and even if that were
not granred, its complete laying down
was not prevented by the perils of the
sea, but through either its original
j.