170 SUBMAKINE CABLE LAYING AND BEPAIRING. 



chain the buoy bounces up and floats free, and is then with the 

 boat and crew hoisted up on board. Meanwhile the mooring 

 chain, and rope is hove in until the mushroom and cable end 

 appear at the bows, veering away at the same time on the other 

 cable end through the stoppers. 



Sufficient length of the end is hauled inboard to make the 

 splice, and then stoppered at the stern. Sometimes more of 

 the cable is picked up — say a quarter of a mile or so if the depth 

 is about 500 fathoms, or more if in deeper water — to ascertain 

 If any kink has formed near the buoyed end, and if so to cut it 

 out. The end is then connected to one of the test-room leads 

 and the shore communicated with. Tests for insulation, 

 copper resistance and capacity are then taken, and if these 

 are satisfactory the joint and final splice are made. 



On a laying expedition it is customary to make the final 

 splice at the stern and slip it from there, not from the bows as 

 in repairing work. When the splice is completed, the bight is 

 lowered over the stern through the stoppers, and when down to 

 the surface of the water a wood block is placed under the slip 

 ropes and, with one swoop of a sharp hatchet on the block the 

 ropes part and the bight is seen swirling down into the sea. This 

 completes the arduous work of the expedition, the strain of 

 constant watching is relieved, and the last act, witnessed by 

 almost all on board, is usually greeted with a lusty cheer. 

 Bearings are taken of the position, and the ship then proceeds 

 to port to coal up for home and take back on board the testing 

 instruments and those members of the staff who have been on 

 cable-house duty. One or two responsible electricians are left 

 behind with instruments to take the final tests before officially 

 handing over the cable to the purchasers. 



Where the distance between the factory and the scene of 

 operations is not too great, and it is convenient from considera- 

 tions of loading the ship, very long cables are laid in two 

 separate expeditions. Many Atlantic cables have been laid 

 this way, both shore ends and intermediates in the first expe- 

 dition and the deep sea portion in the second. For example, on 

 one Atlantic cable laid by Messrs. Siemens Brothers, the ship first 

 laid the Irish shore-end and 150 miles westward from this coast, 

 then crossed the Atlantic and laid 400 miles from the Nova 

 Scotia coast over the Newfoundland banks. Leaving the sea- 



