546 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. VI., No. 150. 



is in the dragging of ships' anchors across the line 

 of the cable. In this way the cable is caught in 

 the anchor and brought to the surface when the 

 latter is hoisted. A little intelligence combined 

 with good nature would enable the shipmaster to 

 release the cable and drop it uninjured ; but more 

 frequently, in his annoyance, he will deliberately 

 cut it in order to escape, although release without 

 injury could be accomplished in less time. In 

 putting in this cable, it was desirable to locate it so 

 that the chances of damage from both of these 

 sources might be reduced to a minimum. To this 

 end the officers in charge of its laying did not need 

 to seek advice from persons familiar with the 

 waters, for it was freely offered by every inhab- 

 itant of the islands. The multitude included a 

 few old sea-captains, who seemed to know every 

 foot of the coast, and to understand the nature of 

 the bottom of the sea ; and it is believed that their 

 words were words of wisdom. The route selected 

 lay across the sound several miles to the westward 

 of that already referred to. It is undoubtedly 

 freer from probable damage arising out of the 

 anchorage of vessels, but time alone can determine 

 to what extent. 



Every thing being in readiness, the barge was 

 towed to the starting-point, which was the north- 

 ern terminus of the cable on Naushon Island. 

 As there was a good deal of a ' sea ' running, it 

 was not possible to approach nearer than twelve 

 hundred or fifteen hundred feet from the shore. 

 The tug was anchored, and the barge was allowed 

 to drift in a few hundred feet farther. A stout 

 rope an inch and a half in diameter was then 

 attached to the end of the cable, eight or ten men 

 were put into a boat, and the other end of the rope 

 was carried ashore. The end of the cable was 

 dropped overboard, and the operation of pulling it 

 to the beach began. This was finally successful, 

 and the shore end was made fast to a stout post 

 which had been erected for the purpose. All 

 hands came on board, anchor was weighed, the 

 barge made fast to the tag, and the journey 

 across the sound was begun. The cable lay in 

 two great coils in the barge, and dropped into the 

 water over the stern. It passed around and over 

 a couple of large reels or drums, where a large 

 pulley -brake was applied to it in order to regulate 

 the tension to which it was subjected. To one of 

 the drums a counter was attached, so that the rate 

 at which it was paying out could at any time be 

 determined. Wind and tide opposed each other, 

 and the rate of sailing did not exceed five or six 

 miles per hour. The opposition of wind and tide 

 was favorable to a straight course, and good 

 pilotage secured a run across which undoubtedly 

 put the cable down in almost exactly a straight 



line from the point of departure to the southern 

 terminus on Martha's Vineyard. At this end the 

 landing was a little more difiicult. A rope was 

 first carried ashore, its length measured as it went 

 out, to determine where to cut the cable that it 

 might reach the beach from the anchorage. On 

 its next trip the little surf -boat carried a small, 

 weather-worn ' A ' tent, a rough bench, batteries, 

 galvanometers, resistance coils, and two shivering 

 signal-service men, who were to test the cable as 

 soon as it was landed. A rude testing-station was 

 soon established amid the hillocks of sand, and the 

 instruments were in position when the cable was 

 at last landed, and secured to a portion of the 

 wreck of an unfortunate vessel that had stranded 

 upon the shore many years before. But the high 

 winds were still rising, darkness was coming on, 

 and the captain of the tug, declaring that he had 

 had enough of cables for one day, ordered all 

 hands on board forthwith. It was impossible to 

 leave the instruments in that condition, and the 

 prospects for a night on the beach seemed good, 

 when the hospitality of the owner of the one 

 house within sight brought relief, furnishing a 

 storehouse for the appliances, a well-supplied 

 table for keen appetites, and a wagon-ride at night 

 through the woods to the hotel, seven or eight 

 miles away. 



On the following day the termini were again 

 visited, the ends properly secured, and the cable 

 tested. A trench was dug in the sand down to 

 low-water mark, in which the cable was 

 buried. At a point above high tide on the beach 

 a strong post was erected, to which the cable was 

 secured by means of a heavy chain ; from which 

 point, still underground, it was carried higher up 

 the sand-hills on which it had been landed, to the 

 foot of an ordinary telegraph-pole. It extended 

 up the side of this, being enclosed in a box until 

 it reached the top, where it entered the cable-box 

 proper, the end being secured to a binding-screw 

 ready for connection later with the land-line. 

 Some of the party had been sent to Naushon 

 Island, carrying with them an ordinary telegraph 

 instrument and key. By previous agreement it 

 was to be connected with the cable at once on the 

 arrival of the party. A few cells of battery and a 

 similar instrument were joined to the end on 

 Martha's Vineyard, and the two expeditions had 

 been timed so accurately that almost instantly 

 responsive ticks proved that intelligence was at 

 work on the other side. Much interest is often 

 felt in the first message transmitted through a 

 cable or telegraph line. Brushing aside the 

 romance of the thing, it is safe to say that in nine 

 cases out of ten the first message is that Which 

 traversed the river first on this occasion, being 



