ALL-RED ROUTE

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 63, 12 September 1921, Page 7

ALL-RED ROUTE

WAR-TIME CABLE WOBK.

"Shortly after the declaration of war between Great Britain and Germany a complete 'all-red' route.from London to Australasia was inaugurated," states the Chief Telegraph Engineer in his report upon his recent visits to Europe''and, America. "Germany owned a cable which was laid from Emden to the Azores and from the Azores to New York. With creditable despatch after the declaration this cable was cut on the English side of the Atlantic and brought into Penzance, and on the other side of the ocean New York was severed and tlie cable diverted to Halifaxj This 'all-red' cable is • worked automatically throughout. Cable code from Halifax is received ill London through repeaters at Penzance; this.code is automatically tianslated into Whe'ktstono perforated forwarded tape, which in turn passes through what is known as' 'Creed apparatuG,' and. issues a cablegram " printed in Roman characters ready for delivery to the addressee.

"Whilst on this subject I should like to mention the wonderful work done by British telegraph engineers sind navigating officers on cable-ships, when one considers what an easy prey a cable-ship fast, to cables is for submarines and drifting mines. On one occasion a ship hove up a mine with the cable. Despite all this, France, Belgium, Holland, and A Torway were all kept in communication ; and the cables to Ireland and the outlying islands all round the United Kingdom were regularly repaired throughout the war. In addition to tli6>British Post Office engineers' cable-ships Alert and Monarch, the Department at one time or o(lisr chartered every available cable-ship, including the largest in the world; also, one was brought jfrom Canada. During the war three cableships were lost,' including the British Post-Office Monarch, which was mined in the English Channel anil* sank, entombing three of her crow."