THE CABLE SHir OX REPAIRS. 201 



the cable under these circumstances, Mr. Benest designed the 

 automatic retaining grapnel (Fig. 113), in which cable, once 

 hooked, is always held, whether the strain fails or not. In this 

 form, instead of the fixed gripping surfaces on the central bos?, 

 secondary movable jaws, EE (shown in section on the right-hand 

 side), are pivoted to the side brackets at FF and interlocked by 

 a few teeth in mesh with the flukes. The interlocking device 

 ensures the simultaneous approach of the movable jaw E and 

 its corresponding fluke to grip the cable when the pressure of 

 the hooked cable comes upon the short arm of the fluke. Each 

 jaw, E, is slotted longitudinally to receive a locking pawl, P, and 

 a tumbler, T, immediately below it. The tumbler and pawl 

 are seen in their normal position on the left hand of the illus- 

 tration, and in their active position, -when cable is hooked, on 

 the right-hand side. In its normal position the tumbler projects 

 slightly in such a way that the cable entering the fluke will tip 

 it and cause it to set the piiwl P into its locked position as in 

 the right-hand side of the figure. The cable is then prevented 

 from leaving the grapnel by the locking pawl barring its exit, 

 even though the gripping power of the jaws may be relaxed 

 owing to variations in the strain on the cable. Grapnels of the 

 foregoing description which can be depended upon to hold the 

 cable are of great use where cable is to be raised in the neigh- 

 bourhood of a total break. Without such means at hand cable 

 may be hooked too near the broken end and the end be lost by 

 slipping through the grapnel, or it may be necessary to grappJo 

 at a considerable distance from the end to avoid slipping, thus 

 taking up more time in repairs and probably abandoning more 

 cable than would otherwise be necessary. 



Another form of cutting and holding grapnel was brought out 

 by Messrs. Johnson & Phillips in 1885. The pair of flukes in 

 this grapnel swing on a centre on the shank, so that they are 

 canted to one side when cable is hooked, and the cable is thus 

 brought immediately under the centre of the shank. In the 

 body of the shank are sliding bars connected to the levers 

 through racks and pinions. When the levers are released they 

 are pulled upwards by chains taking the strain, and this action 

 forces down the sliding bars upon the cable, cutting it and 

 holding the desired end. 



Jamieson's grapnel (Fig. 114) is designed to prevent break- 

 age of the prongs through coming in contact with rocks. For 



