The Atlantic Telegraph Part 6

27. Sh.o.r.e will take time from the s.h.i.+p; should any irregularity in the reception of signals from the s.h.i.+p occur, such irregularity must be entered in journals, and must not form a ground for sh.o.r.e's altering his time, but sh.o.r.e must follow blindly every change (should one take place), as if the most correct time had been kept.

28. A proper supply of lamps, gla.s.ses, oil, and wicks; instrument ink and instrument paper, in sufficient quant.i.ties; paraffin, wicks, and spare lamp-gla.s.ses for the instrument lamps; lamp-brushes, tools, sulphate of copper, stationery, &c., to be always ready for use.

29. No person, except those on duty, and the officers authorised by the Atlantic Telegraph Company, to be allowed in the instrument room on any pretence.

30. The batteries to be kept in an efficient state, especially those for sending reversals--their force taken periodically, and if any variation occur, they must be renewed, or brought up to the original force.

31. Supplies of all materials necessary for such purpose to be in constant readiness.

32. The actual end of the Cable to be brought to the instrument tables, and well insulated.

Sh.o.r.e SIGNALS.

33. Ordinary.--5 reversals, each two minutes, commencing C to E.

34. To open communication on acknowledgment.--8 reversals, each minute, commencing Z to E.

As the voyage of the Great Eastern promised to be so interesting to electricians and engineers, several young gentlemen who worked in the testing-room and in the engineer's department received a pa.s.sage, as we have mentioned, but there was no person on board who was not in some way or other engaged on the business of both companies, or connected with the management of the s.h.i.+p. The voyage commenced most favourably. The rate of speed was increased to 3 knots, then to 4 knots, then to 5 knots, and finally, to 6 knots an hour, and the Cable flew from each coiled flake as if it were eager to push up through the controlling bands of the so-called crinoline, and to plunge into the sea. At 10p.m., Greenwich time, 50 miles of Cable had been payed-out, and the process continued to midnight with equal ease and regularity. In order to make each day's proceedings distinct, and to take the reader over the course so that he can follow the expedition readily by the aid of the accompanying chart, I propose recording events in the form of a diary.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLE 1865.

Chart

Shewing the Track of

THE STEAM s.h.i.+P "GREAT EASTERN" ON HER VOYAGE FROM VALENTIA TO NEWFOUNDLAND

WITH THE SOUNDINGS, THE DAILY LAt.i.tUDE AND LONGITUDE, THE DISTANCE RUN

AND THE NUMBER OF MILES OF CABLE PAID OUT

???? DAY & SON (LIMITED)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: From a drawing by R. Dudley London. D.T & Sou. Limited.

Lilh.

SPLICING THE CABLE (AFTER THE FIRST ACCIDENT) ON BOARD THE GREAT EASTERN JULY 25TH.]

_Monday, July 24th._--The morning was exceedingly fine, and the s.h.i.+p proceeded steadily at an average rate of 6 knots an hour, with a light favouring wind and a calm sea. Those who were up betimes had just taken a turn or two on deck, watching for the early dawn, when they observed some commotion in the neighbourhood of the Testing-Room, and soon afterwards the s.h.i.+p's engines were slowed and stopped. According to Professor Thomson's galvanometer, which is used in the system employed in testing, a ray of light reflected from a tiny mirror suspended to a magnet travels along a scale, and indicates the resistance to the pa.s.sage of the current along the Cable by the deflection of the magnet, which is marked by the course of this speck of light. If the light of the mirror travels beyond the index, or out of bounds, an escape of the current is taking place in the Cable, and what is technically called a fault has occurred. At 315 a.m., when 84 miles of Cable had been paid out, the electrician on duty saw the light suddenly glide to the end of the scale, and then vanish. The whole staff were at once aroused--the news soon flew through the s.h.i.+p. After testing the Cable for some time by signalling to and from the sh.o.r.e, Mr. de Sauty satisfied himself that the fault which had occurred was of a serious character, and measures were taken accordingly to rig up the picking-up apparatus at the bow, to take in the Cable till the defective portion was reached and cut out.

Such an early interruption to our progress caused a little chagrin, but the veterans of submarine telegraphy thought nothing of it. Whilst the electricians were testing, to obtain data respecting the locality of the fault, the fires were got up in the boilers of two small engines on deck to work the picking-up machinery. At 4 a.m. a gun was fired by the Great Eastern to call the attention of the Terrible and Sphinx to our proceedings, and they were also informed by signal of the injury.

Notwithstanding the skill and experience of the scientific gentlemen on board, there was a great vagueness of opinion among them respecting the place where the fault lay. Some believed the defective part was near the sh.o.r.e, and probably at the splice of the sh.o.r.e end with the main Cable; others thought it was eastward or westward of the same place; and calculations, varied by uncertain indications given by the currents showing that the fault itself was of a variable character, and permitted the currents of electricity to escape irregularly, were made by the scientific staff, which fixed it at points from 22 to 42 miles--one at 60 miles--from the s.h.i.+p. But repeated observations gave closer results.

Mr. Varley came to the conclusion that the fault was not very far from the s.h.i.+p; and Mr. Sanders, a gentleman who had much experience in fault-finding, arrived at the conviction that it was not more than 9 or 10 miles astern.

The best test taken by Mr. Saunders, 130 a.m., Greenwich time, July 25, after the Cable had been cut down to 785 miles, gave--

Resistance, sh.o.r.e end disconnected, 2,600 units.

" " to earth, 312 "

Let _a_ and _b_ be the lengths of Cable-conductor, having resistances equal to the first and second of these numbers; _l_ the length of Cable, and D the distance of the fault. The ordinary formula gives

_____________________________________ D=_b_--v(_a_-_b_)(_l_-_b_)

Hence, _l_ being 785, and _a_ and _b_ being calculated from the observed copper-resistance of the conductor in the after-tank, and various a.s.sumed temperatures of the sea, we should have, were the measurements perfect, results as follows:--

+---------------------------------------+----------------------------------+ |Copper resistance of Cable | Distances of the fault calculated| |in after tank, per nautical mile, | accordingly from end in s.h.i.+p, | |observed 4.44 units at 61 temperature.| when cut at 78.5 miles of | | | cable from sh.o.r.e end. | +---------------------------------------+----------------------------------+ |Hence 442 units at 59 temperature | 67 miles. | | 437 " 53 " | 101 " | | 425 " 40 " | 220 " | | 402 " 35 " | 272 " | +---------------------------------------+----------------------------------+

This would give 22 miles for the most probable distance of the fault, as 40 is the most probable mean temperature of the first submerged length of 75 miles. The true distance proved to be very nearly 3 miles. The discrepance is owing partly of course to want of absolute accuracy in the measurements, but probably more to the variation of the resistance of the fault during the interval between the two measurements.

Iron chains were lashed firmly to the Cable at the stern, and secured to the wire rope carried round outside the s.h.i.+p to the picking-up apparatus at the bows. As the paying-out stopped, a strain came on the Cable, which was down in 400 fathoms of water, and it needed nice management to keep the s.h.i.+p steady, as she had no steerage way. The Cable, having been shackled and secured, was severed at 850 a.m., and flew with its shackling into the sea, plump astern. The stoppers which held the wire rope were released, and the rope was payed-out rapidly as the Cable sunk, in order that the s.h.i.+p's head might be brought round, if possible, so as to take the Cable in over the bows in a straight line with its course.

The Great Eastern dropped to leeward when her engines stopped. When the end of the Cable was got in over the bows, and the picking-up engine was set to work, it was discovered that the locomotive boiler intended to keep up a head of steam for the machinery, was defective. Steam was then supplied by one of the boilers of the s.h.i.+p: the drums and wheels of the picking-up machinery began to revolve, slowly dragging in the Cable over the bows, with a strain which at times rose from 10 cwt. to 30 cwt., leaving a very large margin before the breaking point was reached. The s.h.i.+p's bows were kept up to the line of the Cable with great cleverness, and Mr. Canning and his a.s.sistants were perfectly satisfied with their progress. It would be too much to expect that all on board should be so easily contented; for in fact the process of picking-up is of the slowest--a mile an hour was considered to be a fair rate of speed, and a mile and a-quarter was something to be very thankful for. Still, the prospect of returning to Ireland and getting back to the sh.o.r.e end, at the highest of these retrogressive celerities, did not prove attractive.

Our position, by observation at noon, was Lat. 52 2' 30'', Long. 12 17' 30''. As the Cable was in fair working order, Mr. Canning transmitted a message to Mr. Gla.s.s at Knightstown, to send out the Hawk, in order that he might return in her, and ascertain if the sh.o.r.e end of the Cable were defective. If that were not the case, he proposed to sacrifice the portion of Cable already laid, to return and make a new splice of the main line with the sh.o.r.e end, and to start afresh. In the course of the evening a message was received from Mr. Gla.s.s, informing Mr. Canning that the Hawk should be sent out as soon as she had coaled the Caroline. The Terrible sent her First Lieutenant, Mr. Prowse, on board, to see if she could render us any a.s.sistance. The Sphinx was busied in taking soundings all round the s.h.i.+p, which showed depths varying from 400 to 480 fathoms. The operation of picking up proceeded all day and all night--the weather being fine but cloudy.

_Tuesday, July 25th._--The Hawk was observed soon after daybreak coming towards the Great Eastern. The wind was still light and the sea moderate. All during the night the process of picking up was carefully carried on, the Big s.h.i.+p behaving beautifully, and hanging lightly over the Cable, as if fearful of breaking the slender cord which swayed up and down in the ocean. Indeed, so delicately did she answer her helm and coil in the film of thread-like Cable over her bows, that she put one in mind of an elephant taking up a straw in its proboscis. At 715 a.m., Greenwich time, 9 miles of Cable had been picked up from the sea, and the thin greyish coating of mud which dropped from it showed that the bed of the Atlantic here was of a soft ooze. The Cable had been cut twice on board, to enable the electricians to apply tests separately to the coils in the tanks. At 9 a.m., s.h.i.+p's time, when somewhat more than 10 miles had been hauled in, to the joy of all the "fault" was discovered. The Cable came in with flagrant evidence of the mischief.

The cause of so much anxiety, delay, and bitter disappointment turned out to be a piece of wire of the same kind as that used in the protecting strands of the Cable itself. It was two inches long or so--rather bent in the middle, with one end sharp and bright, as if from a sharp fracture or being cut by a pair of pliers--the other end blunt and jagged. This piece of wire had been forced through the outer covering of the Cable into the gutta percha, so as to injure the insulation, but no one could tell how it got into the tank. The general impression was, that it was a piece of Cable or other wire which had been accidently carried into the tank, and forced into the coil by the pressure of the paying-out machinery as the Cable flew between the jockey-wheels.

Measures were at once taken to make a new splice and joint, rejecting the Cable picked up, a good deal of which had been strained in the process. Signals were made to the fleet that the enemy had been detected, at 9 a.m., and the Terrible replied, "I congratulate you."

First a splice was made in the Cable where it had been cut, for the purpose of testing between the after and fore tanks, and all admired the neatness and strength with which it was performed--the conducting wires soldered and lapped over--the gutta percha heated and moulded on the junction; and, finally, the strands carried over the core and secured.

During the operation the Hawk returned to Valentia with our letters, and with the good news, which, however, must have been antic.i.p.ated by the Cable itself. The splice and joint of the end of Cable towards the sh.o.r.e and the end from the after tank was next made. Then these splices were carefully tested and found perfect, and the stream of electricity was once more sent direct to Valentia. After a detention of some twelve hours, the paying-out machinery was again put in action, and the Cable glided out rapidly astern. All seemed to go well. About half a mile of wire had been paid out, when suddenly all communication between the sh.o.r.e and s.h.i.+p ceased altogether! From great contentment there was sudden blank despair! The operators were in consternation. The news spread from end to end of the s.h.i.+p, which again lay in restless quiet on the waters. The faces of the most cheerful became overcast--gloomy forebodings filled men's minds all at once. Why had the Hawk been sent back? Why were not more tests made before she left? Away worked the electricians in their room, connecting and disconnecting, putting in and taking out stops--intensifying and reducing currents. Not a sign! Not a shadow of a sign! Mr. de Sauty suggested they had got hold of the wrong wires, and professors opined that the operators had done wrong in spending time over the splice between the two tanks at the critical moment when they should have been watching the signals from the sh.o.r.e.

Anxious groups gathered round the Testing-Room, and the bolder popped in their heads, as if they could learn anything from the dumb mute wires and the clicking of the chronometers, or from the silent operators who bent over the instruments. At 315 p.m. the Cable between the two tanks was again cut, and examination was made to make sure no error had been made in the communications. Again the wearisome energy of the picking-up apparatus was to be called into play--once more the Cable was to be shackled and thrown overboard, and hauled up to the bows and pulled out of the water. Such a Penelope's web in 24 hours, all out of this single thread, was surely disheartening. The Cable in the fore and the main tanks answered to the tests most perfectly. But that Cable which went seaward was sullen, and broke not its sulky silence. Even the gentle equanimity and confidence of Mr. Field were shaken in that supreme hour, and in his heart he may for a moment have sheltered, though he did not nurture, the thought that the dream of his life was indeed but a chimaera. Who could bear up against a life of picking-up? And our paying-out seemed to have such an undue share of the reverse process attached to it! But there was a change in the fortunes of the s.h.i.+p and of its freight. The index light suddenly reappeared on its path in the Testing-Room, and the wearied watchers were gladdened by the lighting of the beacon of hope once more. Again there was one of those mutations to which the flesh of submarine telegraph layers is born heir, and after a few moments of breathless solicitude, it was announced that the signals between the s.h.i.+p and the sh.o.r.e had been restored, and that every instant developed their strength. Mr. de Sauty came out of the Testing-Room to inform Professor Thomson of the fact, and Mr. Canning's operations at the bows of the s.h.i.+p for picking up were most gratefully suspended by the intelligence that the machinery would not be required. At 415 p.m.

the s.h.i.+p steamed on ahead again, and the Terrible and Sphinx were signalled to come on, 37 hours and 10 minutes having been lost by the fault, and consequent detentions. Our position, at noon was found to be, Lat. 51 58', Long. 12 11'; total distance from Valentia, 66 miles; total Cable payed-out 74 miles (per centage of slack being 14 miles), distance from Heart's Content, 1,596 miles. The communication with sh.o.r.e continued to improve, and was, in the language of telegraphers, O. K.

The alternations of hope and fear to which we had been exposed were now pleasantly terminated for the evening, and the saloon became the scene of joyous and animated conversation, and of a good deal of scientific discussion, till the approach of midnight.

The cause of the detention was argued fully, but it was not easy to determine how it came to pa.s.s the signalling had been interrupted; it was generally accounted for by the supposition that the order of the tests had become deranged whilst the splices were being made on board, and some of the electricians were inclined to think that the system was defective, because the intervals were so long that the fault might be overboard some time before it could be detected.

As the sea and wind rose a little, the speed of the s.h.i.+p was diminished from 6 knots to 5 knots, at which rate the Cable ran out beautifully throughout the night.

_July 26th._--The course of the Cable ran smoothly all throughout the night. At 8 a.m. the Great Eastern was 150 miles from Valentia, and 161 miles of Cable, including the sh.o.r.e end, had been laid--the loss by slack being only 763 per cent. The morning was hazy, and a strong wind from the north-west brought up rather a heavy sea, but the Great Eastern was as steady as a Thames steamer; indeed the stability of the vessel was a never-ending theme of admiration. Our consorts were not so indifferent to the roll of the Atlantic. The Terrible thumped through the heavy sea, and buried her bows in foam with dogged determination.

The Sphinx gave very unmistakable indications of having a harder enigma than she bargained for, as she engaged in her task of taking soundings, which now had become important. We were getting into deep water, having pa.s.sed the bank on which there is only 200 fathoms, and had come suddenly to the slope beginning with 700 fathoms, and running in one degree to 1,750 fathoms. This slope is not, however, severer than that of Holborn-hill, though it looks very severe upon the map. Towards noon the sea and wind increased. The Sphinx, which first sent down topgallant masts, finally sent down topmasts, but was unable to make head in the sea way, and dropped further and further astern. At noon our course was W.N.W. W., the wind being strong on the port bow, and the weather thick all round, with drizzling mist. Our position was made out to be Lat 52 18' 42'', Long. 15 10'', distance run 111 miles, Cable paid out 125 miles, total distance from Valentia 178 miles. At 145 p.m. the Terrible signalled that the Sphinx was unable to keep up with us, but the Cable was running so easily it was resolved not to diminish our speed. Later in the afternoon, the Terrible sent down topgallant masts; later again, she signalled that we were going too fast for the Sphinx; but as the Great Eastern was not exceeding 6 knots an hour, at which rate the Cable rolled off easily from the drums, the engineers did not think it advisable to reduce her speed, and so the Sphinx was left further astern, till at length she was hull down on the grey horizon.

Each hour it became more important to know what depth of water we were in; and the inconvenience of parting with the Sphinx was felt, as well, perhaps, as the defective nature of the arrangements with the Admiralty, which had furnished only one sounding apparatus. The Terrible had got no deep-sea sounding apparatus. There was none on board of the Great Eastern. In deep-sea soundings a special apparatus is requisite, and the leads and the lines ordinarily used by men-of-war only penetrate the upper strata of the waters of the Atlantic. It was conjectured that we had pa.s.sed over the 2,050 fathoms' soundings, and the Cable proved, by a slightly increased pressure on the dynamometer, that its trail was lengthening in the watery waste ere it ruffled the smooth surface of the ooze two miles below. The insulation tests showed an improvement, and the transmission of signals between the s.h.i.+p and the sh.o.r.e afforded most satisfactory indications. At night the wind came round to the north-west, the sea somewhat decreased, and as evening closed in, the Terrible drew up on our beam, working two boilers; but when night fell, the Sphinx was scarcely visible on the distant horizon.

[Ill.u.s.tration: E. Walker, lith from a drawing by R. Dudley

London, Day & Sons. Limited, Lith.

VIEW (LOOKING AFT) FROM THE PORT PADDLE BOX OF GREAT EASTERN SHOWING THE TROUGH FOR CABLE &c.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: G. McCulloch, lith from a drawing by R. Dudley London, Day & Sons, Limited, Lith.

THE FORGE ON DECK. NIGHT OF AUGUST 9TH PREPARING THE IRON PLATING FOR CAPSTAN.]

_July 27th._--Morning broke on a bright bounding sea and clear blue sky.

From the Testing-Room came gratifying reports of the improved insulation of the Cable, which had been caused by the immersion of the Cable in colder water. We were now approaching an undulation in the bed of the Atlantic in which the soundings decreased rather abruptly from 2,100 to 1,529 fathoms. The engineers were perfectly satisfied with the manner in which the machinery was working, and the mode in which the Cable ran out. The complete success of the enterprise, after this fair start, appeared to be a matter beyond doubt. The fore tank was now got ready for the paying-out of the Cable as soon as the coils in the after tank should be exhausted, and the framework for the crinoline was erected over the hatchway. At noon, our position by observation was Lat. 52 34'

30'', Long. 19 0' 30'', distance run 141 miles, distance from Valentia 320 miles, Cable paid out 158 miles. The Terrible was on our port beam at some distance, but the Sphinx was nowhere visible, although our speed had not much exceeded 6 knots an hour. There was in the universal benevolence of the moment a feeling of sympathy for our lagging guardians. The conviction grew that the work was nearly accomplished.

Some were planning out journeys through the United States, others speculated on the probability of sport in Newfoundland: the date of our arrival was already determined upon. The sound of the piano, a tribute to our own contentment, rose from the saloon, and now and then the notes of a violin became entwined in the melodious labyrinth through which the amateur professors wandered with uncertain fingers. The artists sketched vigorously. Men stretched their legs l.u.s.tily along the decks, or penetrated, with easy curiosity for the first time into the recesses of the Leviathan that bore them. None of them indeed found out the hiding-place of the ghost who haunts the s.h.i.+p; but they discovered crypts under the tanks, and meandered and crept about the shafts and boilers of the tremendous gloominess--vast and dark as the Halls of Eblis. The ghost on board the Great Eastern, to which I have alluded, is believed to be the disembodied essence of a poor plate-riveter, who disappeared in some aperture of the nascent s.h.i.+p, never to be seen of mortal eye again, and who was supposed to have been riveted up by the hammers of preparation so closely that not even his spirit could escape.

And so it, or he, is heard at all hours, with ghostly hammer, tap-tap-tapping on the iron walls of his prison as incessant as that cruel Raven, even through the clangour of donkey-engines and the crash of matter. There was now and then a slight indication of unsteadiness, which made one uncertain whether the wine was very strong or the Great Eastern unusually frolicsome; but, as a matter of fact and truth, not a man aboard could imagine as he sat in the grand saloon that he was at sea at all. Every hour on board the s.h.i.+p increased our regard for all her qualities, except her capacity of making noise and producing smoke, but both of these were tokens and necessary conditions of her high working energies.