The Story of the Atlantic TelegraphField, Henry M. (Henry Martyn)
History
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
Field, Henry M. (Henry Martyn)
Transatlantic cables
"At noon, observations showed us to have made good one hundred
and thirty miles from noon of the previous day, and about three
hundred and sixty from our starting-point in mid-ocean. We had
passed by the deepest sounding of twenty-four hundred fathoms,
and over more than half of the deep water generally, while the
amount of cable still remaining in the ship was more than
sufficient to carry us to the Irish coast, even supposing the
continuance of the bad weather should oblige us to pay out the
same amount of slack cable we had been hitherto wasting. Thus
far things looked very promising for our ultimate success. But
former experience showed us only too plainly that we could
never suppose that some accident might not arise until the ends
had been fairly landed on the opposite shores.
"During Sunday night and Monday morning the weather continued
as boisterous as ever, and it was only by the most
indefatigable exertions of the engineer upon duty that the
wheels could be prevented from stopping altogether, as the
vessel rose and fell with the sea, and once or twice they did
come completely to a standstill, in spite of all that could be
done to keep them moving; but fortunately they were again set
in motion before the stern of the ship was thrown up by the
succeeding wave. No strain could be placed upon the cable, of
course; and though the dynamometer occasionally registered
seventeen hundred pounds as the ship lifted, it was oftener
below one thousand, and was frequently nothing, the cable
running out as fast as its own weight and the speed of the ship
could draw it. But even with all these forces acting
unresistedly upon it, the cable never paid itself out at a
greater speed than eight knots an hour at the time the ship was
going at the rate of six knots and a half. Subsequently,
however, when the speed of the ship even exceeded six knots and
a half, the cable never ran out so quick. The average speed
maintained by the ship up to this time, and, indeed, for the
whole voyage, was about five knots and a half, the cable, with
occasional exceptions, running about thirty per cent faster.
"At noon on Monday, August second, had made good one hundred
and twenty-seven and a half miles since noon of the previous
day, and completed more than the half way to our ultimate
destination.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account