226 BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL 



Loaded Cables Now in Service 



There are at present seven high-speed ocean cables of the permalloy- 

 loaded type in operation. Together they have a length of nearly 

 15,000 miles, which represents about five per cent of the total ocean 

 cable mileage of the world. Their location and lengths are shown 

 on the map in Fig. 1. With the exception of the Cocos Island- Perth 

 (Australia) cable of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company, these 

 loaded cables are comprised in three transoceanic lines, two crossing 

 the Atlantic and one crossing the Pacific. 



The first loaded ocean telegraph cable was the New York-Horta 

 (Azores) cable of the Western Union Telegraph Company which was 

 laid in September 1924. The great success attained with it led to the 

 installation of others, among which was the 1926 Horta-Emden cable 

 of the Deutsch Atlantische Telegraphengesellschaft. The New York- 

 Horta-Emden line thus formed provides not only for carrying a large 

 volume of messages between America and Germany, but also gives a 

 connection with the Italian cable at Horta. This line is now provided 

 with a 5-channel multiplex printing telegraph equipment which is 

 operated at a speed of about 1500 letters per minute and is expected 

 ultimately to be operated at a considerably higher speed. Four of 

 the five channels of this line provide direct communication between 

 New York and Emden, and the fifth serves for messages relayed at 

 Horta. 



A second transatlantic line is formed by the New York-Bay Roberts 

 and Bay Roberts-Penzance cables of the Western Union Telegraph 

 Company which were laid in 1926. Each of these cables is capable of 

 carrying more than 2500 letters per minute, but at present this line 

 is being operated at only about one half that speed. The construction 

 of operating equipment to realize the full 2500 letters per minute is 

 now in process. The combined traffic-carrying capacity of these two 

 transatlantic loaded lines is nearly as great as that which was previously 

 provided by the sixteen older non-loaded cables which served to 

 connect North America with Europe prior to 1924. 



The Pacific Cable Board, also in 1926, installed loaded cables to 

 parallel its non-loaded cables of 1902, connecting Bamfield, Fanning 

 Island and Suva. A speed of over 1200 letters per minute has been 

 reported for each section of this transpacific line. This speed is 

 nearly four times that which was afforded by the older non-loaded 

 cables over the same route. 



Such an extension of facilities for transoceanic communication 

 would be expected to have a pronounced effect on both the cost of 



