THE CABLE SHIP ON EEPAIES. 295 



which are of fin. or lin. barrel, are fastened rigidly to- 

 gether, as shown in the illustration, and are also attached 

 to guides at side of tank, so that they maintain a central 

 position when being raised or lowered. Blocks and falls are 

 fixed, as shown, by which the men can raise or lower the crinoline 

 according to the height of cable in tank, the position for the 

 lowest ring being about 1ft. or 2ft. above level of cable. 



To save time, it is customary to make the necessary splices 

 between coils while paying out is going on. When there is a 

 coil of the required type, uppermost in one of the tanks, and 

 sufficiently long to cover the distance to the buoy, no splices 

 are of course necessary ; and this arrangement of cable is gene- 

 rally made beforehand while ship is steaming out to her first 

 position, the type of cable at the position being well known. It 

 is, however, sometimes more convenient to relay the cable which 

 has just been picked up, provided it is in good external condition 

 and tests well. If the repair has been simply that of a total 

 break of the cable, it is usual to splice on at once the lengths 

 picked up and relay them, adding on the extra length necessary; 

 but if the repair has been that of a fault, the last length 

 picked up which contains the fault must be coiled in a different 

 tank. And whenever the same cable is relaid after picking up, 

 it generally lies in short coils which, to save time, are spliced 

 together as the ship proceeds, so that when the end of a coil is 

 reached it is only necessary to slow down a few minutes while 

 bight of splice is lifted, instead of waiting two hours. 



Wnen ic is necessary tu ctiauga tanks — tnai is, to continue the 

 paying out from another tank — the splice ia made in the same 

 manner between the underneath end of first coil and the top end 

 of coll in the other tank, but a special arrangement is neces- 

 sary to allow the bight of splice to lift free ©f the rings in the 

 first tank, For this purpose each ring is provided with a joint 

 or opening of a similar description to that in illustration 

 (Fig. 178), the construction of the joint here shown being that 

 employed on the ships of the Silvertown Company, by whose 

 courtesy the sketch is lent. A piece of curved iron, A, is fixed 

 across the gap in the ring, so as to form a loop or pocket 

 when the ring is complete. It will further be seen by the 

 illustration that the short length B of the ring which can be 

 withdrawn to form a gap, or replaced to complete the ring, is 



