THE CABLE SHIP ON REPAIRS. 



35a 



bottom, tapering from l|in. at the aides to lin. at tiie centre. 

 Cable is kept in its best condition when covered with water, 

 but when turning over cable the water has to be discharged 

 to allow the men to work inside. 



A site is always selected as near as possible to where the 

 ship can be moored, so that cable can be transferred easily. 

 The Cape Town tank house is built on the promontory of land 

 from which the new breakwater starts, immediately overlooking 

 the docks and within 100 yards from where the ship can be 

 berthed. To ship cable from the tank house or vice versa, pairs 

 of legs are rigged up every 20 yards and guyed, and a wire 

 rope is stretched along the top of them from tank house to ship. 

 The cable then runs on V sheaves suspended about 10 yards 



Fig. 204.— In-leads to Tank House. 



apart on the wire rope, as in the illustration. Where it enters 

 the tank house the cable passes between a pair of vertical 

 rollers, as in Fig. 204, and then passes over a sheave fixed to a 

 bracket on the inside wall and thence to the hauling machine. 

 Cable sheaves, as in Fig. 205, are used inside the tank house 

 for conveying cable to the tanks as required. These are 

 mounted in frames which can be opened to take in or remove 

 cable. The hauling engine, a double-cylinder with reversing 

 gear, transmits the power through bevel gear and a vertical 

 shaft to the hauling machine above, the speed reduction being 

 about 8 to 1. 



If situated at a distance from the office and cable house it 

 is convenient to have a small testing room fitted at the 

 tank shed. Cable is overhauled at the depots and tested; 



