Captain Hall’s Remarks on the Utility of Chain-Cables. 317 
sufficiently great to break them, they do not give way at the 
point where the links have been welded in this manner. Cap- 
tain Brown adopted various forms in the links of his cables : at 
first they were twisted, and without what is called a stay-pin, or 
internal support across the middle of its length. In the same year 
Captain Brown availed himself of the powerful aid of the 
hydrostatic-press, and devised a proving machine, by which 
every cable, before leaving the manufactory, was subjected to a 
severe test ; and since the introduction of this contrivance, the 
accidents, formerly complained of, have very rarely been heard 
of. So far there is no dispute as to the originality of Captain 
Brown’s inventions. He obtains accordingly full credit for 
them, and certainly deserves the gratitude of the country. What 
may be still more satisfactory to hear, perhaps, he receives from 
every corner of the globe the heartiest thanks of the practical 
seaman, from whose mind this admirable invention takes away 
a thousand anxieties, and gives him rest and security, at mo- 
ments when the horrors of shipwreck would stare him in the 
face. No one, indeed, but a person who has navigated on rocky 
and stormy coasts, or even in milder regions, but where the 
ground is thickly set with coral reefs, utterly destructive to 
hempen-cables, but which make no impression on the chain, can 
have anjr conception of the superiority of the one over the other. 
It is often absolutely indispensable to come to an anchor ; and 
there are numberless occasions when the safety of the ship and 
crew depends wholly upon the cable not breaking ; no one, I re- 
peat, but a sailor, can enter fully into the painful anxiety of such 
moments, or judge of the fatigue of watching, through the long 
dark nights of high latitudes, for the fatal event, hangingon a few 
threads, perhaps worn and rotten, which is instantly to decide 
the fate of all on board. Captain Brown’s chain never wears, 
never rots, is never cut by coral reefs, is always fresh and effi- 
cient, and is, perhaps, the greatest boon given to seamanship 
in modern times. 
It was not to be supposed, however, that an invention of such 
extensive practical utility would be allowed, in this country, to 
remain in the hands of one man, or that the ingenuity of others 
would not improve upon the original idea. Accordingly, early 
in 1813, Messrs Brunton and Company took out a patent for an 
improved chain-cable. This improvement was said to consist in 
VOL. XIII. NO. 26. OCTOBER 1825. 
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