Year: 1866

PROGRESS OF THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS THE WIRE


IN THE HOLD OF THE GREAT EAsTERN-INTEREsT.
ING EXPERIMENTS APPARATUS


[From the London Daily News, April 30,l


The slender Birmingham wire, which we


recently traced from its arrival at the gut


ia percha works in the City-road, through


the various processes of manufacture, un-


til it left Morden-wharf, Greenwich, COM


plete submarine cable, is now being coiled


at the rate of two miles an hour in the vast


tanks of the Great Eastern. The AmethySt


hulk, which we saw receiving its precious


freight the other day, is now moored along
side the great ship off Sheerness, while the


IRIS is being laden in her turn at Green


wich, and will supply the Anaethysfs place


directly the latter is emptied Thus, manu-


facture and stowage 60 on concurrenty,


and at the moment one part of the great


wire is receiving it's elementary coating of
Chattertonss compound, or perhaps being


spun at Birmingham, other portions are


being laid down in the great ship ready
for the final and momentous paying ont.
Standing ON the deck of the Great Eastern,


a few yards from its stern, you see the


cable slowly pass up the ships side, and


over series of wheels and pulleys, all in


geniously constructed and carefully watch
ed, and follow it under its covered way un-


til it disappears into the large wooden hut
erected for its reception. This hut is the


size of moderate barn, and is the deck
covering of the aft tank Entering by its


doorway, you look into a yawning, dimly-
lighted circular gulf, the bottom of which


seems to be composed of light oak sym
metrically turned. The uniformity of the
slightly corrugated circles within circles


the mathematical exactitude with which


each appears to fit into and be part of, its


neighbor-the seeming solidity and unity


of the great whole-all speak of the lathe !:


and it is only when the eye has become, as


it were, acclimatized to the pale glimmer
O. the swinging lamps below, that the


silent white figures squatted at regular
! intervals, and moving noiselessly around,


are seen to be cable-men, and the apparent


wood carving to be the cable The exter-


nal distinction between last years electric


rope and this is now seen to be very mark
ed the absence of the tarry coating, and


the clean, substantial lock of the manila


stand, giving an impression of mingled
strength and ductility, which is auspcious


in itself 1t may be repeated that this
years galvanization of the outer protecting


wires affords all the security against cor
roson given by the final coat of tar former
ly applied, while in the event of an unlucky


bit of wire defying precaution and finding
its way into the tank, the chances of its
sticking in the rope are sensibly diminished,
through the latter being repellently yield
ing instead of glutinously adhesive. Very


gradually and regularly are the circles in
creased. No word is spoken as the rope
slowly passes the officer on guard at what


we may call the top story of the tank, and


is received by two of the white figures be-
low. These march slowly round, handling
the gracefully descending coil as tenderly
as if it were alive, and under the close and
constant inspection of the officer on guard


below pass it to other white figures, who,
with equal tenderness, fit it into and steady
it in its appointed place Thus ring after
ring is formed, each layer beginning with
the large outer circle of the tank ITSELF and
ending with the centre frame work of wood,
which is it's bull's-eye. and serves to "shore-
up" and keep all steady, Every man en-
tering the tank is searched before going in,
puts on the nailless gutta percha shoes
provided by the Company, and goes through
his work of cabel-stowing under the con-
slant and watchful supervision of tried and
experienced officers.


Besides these precautions, tests both of
insulation and continuity are being cease
lessly put by the electricians. Nor are
these confined to this years venture. The
old cable on board is for this purpose con-
nected with the new, and messages were
transmitted on Saturday through a tota |
distance of 500 nautical miles. There
were then 485 of these miles in the after
tank, $50 in the main tank, and 265 in the
fore tank and to make the test more
searching and complete, communication has
lately been established between all these
and the shore An end from each tank is
brought into the testing g-chamber on deck,
is there joined together, so as to make for
electrical purposes one cable, while another
end is passed over the ships side, laid in
the mud and oozy bottom Of the unsavory
Sheerness waters, in which the Great East
ern rides, and landed on the stony slippery
bank hedging on the shore. The portion
thus running from ship to land has been re-
Gently added for the sole purpose ofproving
Mr. W1ILoUGHBY SMITHS improvements in
process of testing and to do this it has
not even been thought necessary to use the
completed cable. This particular succursal
ltdFcs lAc oulp NitlOul dAy OIuel plOlcCllOH
than its guta-percha covering, and runs to
land, and into the cowherds cottage, where
room has been borrowed, a mere string
of slender piping, like stick of chocolate.
Yet, unfair as it seems to work this bit of
CORE without the jute, galvanized iron, and |
Manila strands, which are its proper pro-
tectors, the experiments tried have been
eminently satisfactory. On Saturday, mes
sages were sent from ship to shore, and
from shore to ship, with neverfailing regu-
arity /; and, more interesting still, upon
artificial faults being created, the life-like
indicator betrayed them instantly and un-
erringly. This was tried several times,


and in different ways for, through the
ends of the different lengths passing up to


and being joined in the testing chamber, it


is easy to create fault, now at distance
of few hundred miles, now at a distance
Of as many yards from the operator. In all


cases the exquisitely delicate apparatus
made instant and decided protest, and the
result of the experiments proved that, as
in the forthcoming expedition insularity
and continuity will be tested concurrentlY
and constantly, instead of at intervals, as