THE CABLE SHIP ON REPAIRS. 275 



ing at one end and Fqueezing the strip against the core in 

 every part till the whole is covered. When completely pressed 

 all round, the two sides of the strip stick up close together, 

 and are nipped together by the finger and thumb all along so 

 as to form a seam. The seam is then cropped close to the core 

 with a pair of scissors, and the ends, which now butt, squeezed 

 together. This coat is followed by another piece of G.P. sheet 

 put on in the same way, but with the full part of the strip over 

 the seam of the last. This second coat is a little more than 

 twice the length of the first — that is, about 81n. The joint 

 is then completed by working down smooth the ends of these 

 strips at A and B, so as to taper off gradually on to the core on 

 either side, and finishing with Chatterton well smoothed over 

 by rubbing it with the hands well moistened. A well-made 

 joint is, when finished, from Gin. to 91n. long, and not much 

 larger in diameter than the adjacent core. The beginner should 



Z=l 



A a 



Fig. 160. — Joint in Insulator. 



experiment on short lengths of core, and test his joint by com- 

 paring its insulation with a few feet of perfect core by Clark's 

 accumulation method, being careful to dry very thoroughly 

 that part of the core which is not immersed. Then, if sound 

 electrically, he should slice off half of the insulating covering 

 with a sharp knife, so as to lay the joint bare along one side, 

 and notice how near the jointed conductor lies in the centre of 

 the insulating covering. To get the joint central a good deal 

 depends upon working the hands evenly over every part of the 

 coatings as they are put on. In the first attempts the failures 

 usually are too little insulation on one side and too much on 

 the other, the separate layers distinctly visible in section show- 

 ing that they have not been united by the proper application 

 of heat and pressure, and too great bulkiness of the finished joint 

 due to insufficient working of the material by the fingers and 

 Emcothing iron, 



T 2 



