ACCIDENT TO THE COOK'S STRAITS CABLE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 128, 2 August 1866, Page 2

ACCIDENT TO THE COOK'S STRAITS CABLE.

The first attempt to lay the Cook's Straits cable has proved a failure. At a quarter par-t 7 o'clock tliis morning, the cable broke in the tide rip, after passing Sinclair's Head. At half-past eight lasf evening, we were all on board, either of the Taranaki (where were tlie members of the General Assembly) or of the Weymouth, when a special few were permitted to be present to sec the details of tbe important undertaking. A de-lay of an hour and a half arrived before we started, owing to some business arrangements that had to be concluded on shore, and then the Taranaki took us in tow, and we went down the harbor with the bright moon shining over us, and tin- sea --,0. calm that every soul on board felt a hope almost akin to certainty that success was hefore us. The short time during which visitors had heen ahle to stndy the character of the superintending engineer. Mr. E. C. Donovan, had given them extra confidence, when they saw the ! promptitude and energy with wliich every order was ] given, and the thorough knov ledge of every requirement that he displayed. Away the two ships went past the point that hid tlie town's lights from view, nnd through the channel to the sea, with the Stnrt following in their wake, and doing " till she knew " to keep up with them. Off Worser's Uay a rocket was thrown up for a pilot, -tnd the steamer was put at " dead slow.*' lmt no notice had been sent that the pilot's services would be required, and as we did not stop altogether, he had to follow us round to Lyali's Bay in his boat. Then the first, real work began, nnd at a little before twe: v.; o'clock the shore end of the cable wa.s being coiled into the Wild Duck barge, to be taken +0 the beaih. The barge was not large enough to contain the whole of the cable required, and a portion had to bo put on the Sturt's deck. ! which tool: the brirg _ away at two o'clock. liy half- j past four Mr. Donovan and the party tliat accompanied him returned, having laid down 1.260 yards of cable, or jt^st sufficient to reach within a couple of foet of the signal honse. Then it was up anchor again, and ac a quarter-past five we wer; under weigh once more, with the cable paying out at the rate of threo anda half knots an hour, indicated by 10 revolutions of the drum wheel per minute. This speed was reduced to IS, and then 17 revolutions, at which it was continued for some time, and eveiything was going on most favorably. With the break of day the drowsy ones turned out, and seeing everything so bright turned in again, and were not again disturbed unti! the accident. At a few minutes past 7 o'clock, Mr. Donovan tested the revolutions, and fonnd them 30 per minute, or something over five knots; a few minutes after he tried again, and found them 3-1, upon which he at once checked the spec:;, and made the Sturt cease steaming and hang on astern. At a quarter past 7 there was a foul in ths tank where the cable was coiled; one. coil adhered to the adjoining one so tightly that it could not be freed in time to prevent its dragging the layer out of position. Tliis was the cause of the accident as reported by the overseer to Mr. Donovan, though other rumors were circulated "•n board to the effect that one of the men easing up the cable in the tank had caught hold of two coils at once, and before he could let them go a foul had occurred, and that a " kink" had occurred in one coil, which, getting underneath, lifted it through the hawse-pipe at the same time. However it may have been, this is certain, that in a minute the fouled cable c.uiu tearing through the machinery on deck, and btfore anything could be done to stop it, the great spur-wheel of the drum was broken, a piece leaping into the air as though it were a 'chip of wood ; the breaks flew out of thuir places, and the damaged cable was Hying through the conducting gear astern, stript of its covering, and gradually becoming wrenched and torn like pack-thread until it parted. A buoy was immediately thrown overboard to mark the spot, and the expedition now increased by the arrival of H.M.S. .I'-sk and the Lady 'Bird, returned to Wellington. — W. Advertiser, July 2S.