722 



TELEGRAPH, ELECTRIC. 



through wires of very great length or imperfect 

 conducting power. 



The u resistance " coils used for comparison 

 in determining the insulation of the core were 

 of great total length, and capable of subdivision 

 into small quantities, so as to measure the re- 

 sistance of the conducting wires of the cable 

 with great accuracy. These appear to have 

 b*e<a constructed in accordance with plans of 

 Professor Thomson, Mr. Jen kin, and Mr. Var- 

 ley ; while the continuity test was made at in- 

 tervals of a few minutes by means of a small 

 condenser devised by Mr. W. Smith. Mean- 

 while, by use of a battery, and Mr. Varlcy's 

 large condenser, equivalent to 85 miles of the 

 cable, impulses of definite magnitude could be 

 sent to and from the ship without interrupting 

 the insulation test ; and these being transmitted 

 according to any understood code of signals, 

 the shore could speak the ship, or the reverse, 

 at any time when desired. 



On the 7th of July, the steamer "William Cor- 

 ry landed at Foilhommerum Bay, opening into 

 Valentia Bay, the shore end of the new cable, 

 laid the shoal-water portion of it, 27i miles in 

 length, and buoyed the submerged end. The 

 Great Eastern, from Sheerness on June 30, and, 

 with the other steamers of the fleet and the 

 Raccoon, which had on board a party of visit- 

 ors, from Berehaven, Bantry Bay, on the 12th 

 of July, raised the buoyed end of the shore 

 cable on the 13th, spliced it to that on board, 

 and at 3:20 p. M., Greenwich time, began the 

 paying out of fresh cable ; the fleet then set- 

 ting forth across the Atlantic, while the Rac- 

 coon returned with her passengers to Valentia. 



By the programme arranged by Mr. Samuel 

 Canning, chief engineer of the expedition, and 

 approved by Mr. R. A. Glass, the managing 

 director, the Terrible was to maintain a posi- 

 tion ahead of the Great Eastern, on the star- 

 board bow. to warn passing vessels out of the 

 course, the Medway to follow on the port, and 

 the Albany on the starboard quarter, in readi- 

 ness to let go or take up a buoy, or do other 

 required work ; and between the great ship and 

 the other vessels communication was kept up 

 by means of Maryatt's and Coulomb's marine 

 signals. The course of the fleet was such as to 

 deposit the new cable about 30 miles to the 

 eoutli of that of 1865 ; the average speed of 

 the ship was a little less than 5, and length of 

 cable paid out about 5 J nautical miles per hour ; 

 and the strain on the cable, July 16, is stated 

 at a little over 10J- cwt, the depth of water 

 being then from 1,900 to 2,100 fathoms. July 

 18, at 2:20 A. M., a foul occurred in the after 

 tunk, some 500 feet of the rope becoming caught 

 up and badly tangled ; but the paying-out be- 

 ing stopped in time, the snarl disentangled, and 

 the tests showing the conductor uninjured, the 

 work was resumed without loss. 



Or. Friday, July 27, at 8 A. M., the squadron 

 arrived off Heart's Content, Trinity Bay, 

 Newfoundland, the distance run being 1,669 

 miles, and the cable payed out 1,86-1 miles, 



showing a total " slack " of about 11 per cent 

 On the same day the end of the cable was 

 brought to shore by the Medway; and Mr 

 Field telegraphed intelligence of the completion 

 of this part of the work to President Johnson, 

 and others to the former in these words: 



HEART'S CONTENT, Friday, Jnly 27, 1866. 

 To His Excellency, President Johnson, Washington. 



SIK: The Atlantic cable was successfully com- 

 pleted this morning. I hope that it will prove a 

 blessing to England and the United States, and in- 

 crease the intercourse between our own country and 

 the eastern hemisphere. 



Yours, faithfully, 



CYRUS W. FIELD. 



The fleet, having again taken in coal, pro- 

 ceeded to search for the cable of 1865, the Al- 

 bany and Terrible succeeding, August 10, in 

 grappling and buoying it in latitude 51 27' 30' 

 N., longitude 35 50' W., and the Great Eastern 

 and Medway arriving on the 12th and taking 

 part. The cable, which was here in a little 

 more than 2^ miles of water, was caught with 

 the grapnels ten times in all, being twice brought 

 to the surface, and on other occasions buoyed. 

 Finally, September l,the Great Eastern having 

 partly raised and buoyed the cable, and then 

 caught it again three miles to westward, the 

 Medway also caught it two miles farther on, and 

 the Great Eastern brought the " bight " on 

 board. A splice being effected, in latitude 51 

 52' 20", longitude 36 5' 20", on the 2d, at 

 6:45 A. M., the work of paying out was com- 

 menced ; and the laying of the remaining por- 

 tion, completing a second cable, was success- 

 fully accomplished. 



Communication having been made by the 

 American lines to the eastern shore of Nova 

 Scotia, a cable was, in 1856, laid thence across 

 the Gut of Canso, one and one-half miles, to 

 Cape Breton Island. From this, land lines ex- 

 tended northward on that island to Port Hood, 

 and thence to A?py Bay, on its northeastern 

 coast. In the year just named, also, a cabfe 

 was laid from Aspy Bay, eighty-five miles, across 

 the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to 

 Port au Basque, on the western coast of New- 

 foundland ; while a land line connected this 

 point again with Heart's Content. On the 

 landing, therefore, of the first Atlantic cable, un- 

 interrupted communication with Europe would 

 at once have existed, but for the giving-out of 

 the St. Lawrence Gulf cable in 1865. After 

 the second Atlantic cable had been completed, 

 the broken cable from Newfoundland to Cape 

 Breton was also repaired, and a second cable 

 laid between the same points. 



In the careful working of either Atlantic 

 cable, from ten to twelve or fifteen words per 

 minute can be transmitted ; the number, in case 

 of less strictness, rising to twenty or twenty- 

 four. The charges are 10 in gold for a mes- 

 sage of twenty words, all numerals to be writ- 

 ten out, and, with date and address of sender, 

 counted; messages in cipher at double the same 

 rate. 



