298 THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL, JANUARY 1957 



boards of the trawlers. Final splices, either initial or as a result of repair 

 operations, are especially vulnerable to damage because of the difhculty 

 in avoiding slack bights at such points. It was desired, therefore, to 

 avoid fishing grounds if at all possible. 



If cables are laid in or near harbors frequented by merchant shipping, 

 damage must be expected from vessels anchoring off shore in depths of 

 less than 30 fathoms and proposed routes should, therefore, avoid such 

 areas. 



Cable Terminal Siting 



Location of the cable terminal stations must be considered from the 

 standpoints of suitability of shore line for bringing the cables out of the 

 water and also from the standpoint of amenities for the staff. This latter 

 factor is most important in keeping a permanent w^ell-trained staff. For 

 example, owing to staff difficulties, it w-as necessary to move a terminal 

 station of one company from the west side of Conception Bay in New- 

 foundland to a site within easy reach of St. Johns. 



A further factor in proper siting of the cable terminals is consideration 

 for onward routing of the circuits carried by the cables. 



And finally in view of the importance, generally, of submarine cable 

 facilities, it is considered desirable to avoid cable terminal locations in 

 or near a potential military target area and, if at all possible, consider- 

 ation should be given to underground or protective construction for 

 the terminal stations. 



Preliminary Selection 



The routes for the telephone cables were considered in the light of the 

 foregoing and after preliminary discussion it was agreed that the two 

 new cables should lie north of all existing cables, should avoid ships' 

 anchorages and should lie on the best bottom which could be picked, 

 clear of all known trawling areas. 



In 1930, A.T. & T. Co., in conjunction with the British Post Office, 

 gave serious consideration to the laying of a single coaxial telephone 

 cable between Newfoundland and Frenchport, Ireland (Route 1, Fig. 

 2). A tentative route was plotted and the cable ship Dominia steamed 

 over this taking a series of soundings. These soundings indicated that 

 good bottom w^as to be found about 20 miles north of the Hearts Con- 

 tent — Valencia cable of 1873. This cable was the most northerly of 

 the telegraph cables spanning the Atlantic. Study of its life history 



