THE ELECTS 1C TELEGRAPH. 



Fig. 43. 



Fig. 44. Zuyclcr Zee. 



lofty masts erected on their banks. 

 This method, however, was found to 

 be attended with such effects as to 

 render the maintenance of the wire 

 impracticable. The masts were blown 

 down by the violent storms and 

 tornadoes incidental to the climate, 

 and were not unfrequcntly destroyed 

 by lightning. 



The project of depositing the con- 

 ducting wires in the bottom of the 

 river was then resorted to, and has 

 been carried into effect in several 

 cases. The Ohio is crossed at 

 Paducah by a cable containing one 

 conducting wire, of which the fol- 

 lowing description is given in the 

 American journals. 



"It is composed of a large iron 

 wire, covered with three coatings of 

 gutta percha, making a cord of 

 about five- eighths of an inch in 

 diameter. 



" To protect this from wear, and 

 for security of insulation, there are 

 three coverings of strong Omaburg, 

 saturated with an elastic composition 

 of non-electrics ; and around this are 

 eighteen large iron wires, drawn as 

 tight as the wire will bear, and the 

 whole is then spirally lashed together 

 with another large wire, passing 

 around at every f of an inch. The 

 whole forms a cable of near two 

 inches in diameter." 



This cable is 4200 feet in length, 

 being the longest yet laid down 

 in the United States. It was con- 

 structed by Messrs. Shaffner^ and 

 Sleeth. 



Mr. Shaffner has also constructed 

 and deposited subaqueous cables in 

 the following places : 



Across the Tennessee river, four 

 miles above Paducah, near its 

 164 



