CONQUEST OF DISTANCE BY WIRE TELEPHONY 355 



period of several hours. This event dramatized the need for storm-proof 

 communications to the capitol, and led to a decision by President \'ail that 

 a complete underground telephone cable system should be established along 

 the Atlantic seaboard, between Boston and Washington. Vigorous de- 

 velopment activity on the new t^-pes of cable and loading coils that would be 

 required got underway early in 1910. A full discussion of this develop- 

 ment is given later on under the heading "Boston-Washington Loaded 

 Duplex Cable Project." 



By the spring of 1909, the development work on quadded cable had 

 reached a stage which made it desirable to start the development of new 

 types of cable loading coils suitable for use on phantom and side circuits. 

 This work benefited from the earlier work on the open-wire phantom load- 

 ing. Since it then appeared that there would be little use for duplex cable 

 on a non-loaded basis, the work on the cable loading coils was coordinated 

 with the further work on the new type of cable, leading to a joint trial in 

 1910 on the Boston-Neponset project described later. 



1910 Achievements 



Progress during 1910 was especially important and interesting. It 

 included the first (Bell System) loaded submarine cable installation, which 

 is of special historical interest even though it was not directly related to the 

 major transmission projects previously discussed. During 1910, the initial 

 objectives of these major projects were realized in full measure, and before 

 the end of the year the gains in the new engineering knowledge were being 

 consolidated for very important new engineering projects, notably the New 

 York-Denver line and the Boston- Washington underground cable. All of 

 these various projects are separately discussed below. 



Chesapeake Bay Loaded Submarine Cable 



This was the first Bell System submarine cable to be provided with sub- 

 marine loading. It was an intermediate cable, crossing upper Chesapeake 

 Bay, in an open-wire line providing service from Baltimore to the Eastern 

 Shore points, greatly shortening the route. It was a 17-pair, 13-gauge, 

 paper-insulated cable and had two underwater loads. The engineering 

 and installation of many loaded submarine cables that were subsequently 

 installed in shallow water crossings of river or bay include practices that 

 originated in the 1910 Chesapeake Bay project. 



Open- Wire Phantom Loading 



Returning to the story of the major transmission developments in which 

 Jewett's department took a leading part, attention will first be given to open- 

 wire phantom loading. This was proved feasible in a commercial trial on an 



