GIRDLING- NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13866, 28 September 1908, Page 6

GIRDLING- NEW ZEALAND

LAYING A NEW CABLE. MAINLAND TO BARRIER. A SUCCESSFUL TRIP. For three days last week the Government steamer Tutanekai was moored ionjside the big steamer Kia Oni at ohe street Wharf. From the big steamer to the smaller steamer a- coil of white cable about an inch and a-kalf in diameter slowly unwound. The coil was apparently an endless one. Passers by saw the cable, hour by hour, coiling away in the Tutanekai s interior on Wednesday. On Thursday the process continued, and on Friday it was still unfinished. The explanation was simple enough. The Tutanekai is the steamer specially builo to the order of the New Zealand Government some years ago for Laying the Dominions submarine telegraph cables, and she was carefully stowing away into her cable tanks 30 knot's of submarine cable worth £130 per knot in London of good solid casn. And a portion of this expensive material w.is required for the latest addition to New inland's submarine communication—the cable connection between the mainland and the Great Barrier. When most of the people of the Dominion were in bed and asleep in the early hours of Saturday morning the Tutanekai, with her cable carefully and symmetrically coiled in her tanks,- left Auckland for the Great Barrier. The previously ascertained best route for the cable was from Tryphen- Bay, at the Great Barrier, almost straight across to Port Charles, or Charles Cove, just below Cape CoHlle. The intention was to start from the Barrier,' and Lay the cable across till the mainland was reached, and when the task was safely done the Tutanekai would steam back to Auckland. CABLE LAYING DESCRIBED. The operation of cable laying is delicate to perform, and interesting to watch. A steamer has to be specially constructed for the work. She has two large tanks in her hull — fore and one aft. Each tank, in a steamer of the Tutanekai's size—Bll tonswill contain about 30 knots of shal-low-water cable. The tank, which is really a small hold, has a large cone in the centre. Round and round this the cable is coiled most carefully, layer on layer. When it is put in ready to be laid it is coiled from the outside, and winds inwards. When the coil is complete it is brought across to the outside and another coil started. *

How is the cable taken out of the tank and placed in its ocean bed? " The cable laid between the Great Barrier and the mainland weighs six tons to the knot, and therefore takes some handling..... ft is also necessary that the precious link that connects civilisation with civilisation- should be put down with the greatest, attention. The line must pay-out well and truly into its ocean bed. There must be no kinks, and the surveyed line of route must be scrupulously adhered to. To do this special machinery is necessary. ..- The machinery, of winch principle, is erected in the fore part of the Tutanekai, right in front of the fore tank. The cable runs from the tank through two bellmouthed "leads," as they are called/then is passed twice or thrice round a huge revolving drum, and is carried by four guiding sheaves straight ;. over the bow of the vessel and into the sea. A,dynamometer stands midway between the machinery and the bow, and this instrument indicates the strain on the cable as the latter 'rushes over the bow sheave into the ocean. The engineer in charge of the machinery can regulate the run of the cable by . the perceptible motion of the dynamometer. The machinery is worked by steam engine, But when the cable is running smoothly rteam is shut off, and the cable pays-out with its own weight, regulated merely by the pressure- of the brakes which the engineer controls. , . As the cab!© leaves the hold it is kept fairly close to the cone by a " crinoline —a gigantic hoop of'iron piping, which encircles the cone like a material &>.-i ■ Very wonderful is the cable, which in hL t P a A ih T OC6an flasl *> 3 messages from land to land. It can be easily muLstood that a cable must have great resisting power to the action of the sea, as aw interruption to telegraphic communication means, great inconvenience, and heavy expense to repair. Consequently every precaution- is taken in its preparation, as its high price indicates. ~.'. . If an end of : the thick wire protected, tar-coated cable is unravelled— tiling tliat can only be accomplished with proper anpliances, the life, , the core of the submarine messenger, will be found— seven' sti-ancja of thai copper wire. .'■: The copper wme is the electric conductor of the message. It is surrounded by a thick covering .of gutta-percha, which, acts as insulator Itoase are the two precious parts of •* the submarine cable, and every care is taken to prevent the fretting and corroding sea netting to them. They lie-in a snug bed of rope yarn, which is spun around them, and the rape yarn is covered with a:seaproof casing of thick armoured wire. Then comes a, final layer of tarred rope yarn Ihe armoured wire is, of course, the principal protector, for the outer coat soon wears off in the sea. But well as the cable is equipped' to stand a deep-sea life it not infrequently decays, through various causes. In Cook Strait, for instance, the cable has several times been disconnected through the corroding action of some mineral at the bottom of ' the sea which cats through it. And when the cables- armour perishes through. this cause, or through abrasion, there '■& nothing to hold the line intact except the inner core which soon rots. The work of finding the defect in a cable, fishing up the bad section, and splicing in a good piece, is of the most interesting nature. Space, however, will not permit of its being described

A START MADE. Shortly, after ■■'seven o'clock on Saturday morning the Tutanekai came to an anchor in the secluded little Tryphena Bay, within a biscuit throw of the. wooded bluff that juts out from its south-west extremity, and prepared to commence the work of the voyage. A blazed post showed white in the wooded slope near the water's edge as the starting-point. The steamer's trim white oil launch darted about in the smooth waters of the cove, preparing preliminaries and waiting to assist in getting the ship's surf boat to the shore with the end of the cable. On deck stood a number of empty casks each with a short length of rope attached. These were to buoy up the cable till it was made fast to the ■startingpoint. A dozen stalwart seamen tumbled into tho boat, and with them went Mr. MacDermott, one of the Government cable staff, who was to superintend the fixing of the cable on shore, and stay behind on the Great Barrier to test the line for insulation as it was laid. For this purpose he took with lam the necessary telephone instruments, and strange enough this apparatus of modern civilisation looked in that lonely spot. Seagulls wheeled rapidly round m crowds, shriekinglv resenting the intrusion, but they shrieked in vain; The boat pushed off, and then the ban-els were hopped over the bow, connected, by ": an ordinary rope. The telegraph cable was attached to this rope, and followed it in J* course. : The launch threw a, rope to the boat, and towed it in, shore. There the crew got out, waded ashore, and started, to heave in the cable to the accompaniment of a sailors' chant that floated musically across the water to the anchored stieeuner. Captain Post, the 'commander of the Tutanekai, stood in the bow of the steamer and directed the men's work through a megaphone. . - The cable was made fast to the post; the boat and the launch came back, collecting the casks as .they, returned g. thai casks were, hoisted onj

board, and men and boats followed. '£},-' * first stage in tlio work bad been splendidly ' accomplished. * ■'">. LAYING THE CABLE ACROSS ' " On board the . Tutanekai everything" M~- "' now in readiness for the work of laying' tlwlpf cable across- the ■': stretch :of • sea—some 13 , knots in width—between the Barrier arid the mainland. The Barrier end was fast " \ and it remained to pav out the huge '"coils' ! l - in the circular tank till the other side wag • reached. Captain Post.very gently brought his vessel around till her nose pointed for ' the distant mainland shore. , Then the: steamer started on her journey. There Was' - " a rattle of machinery, the circular drum■ started to revolve, and the cable paid out with a rattle over tho bow, and disappear-,, ed into the green, water. A stream of water played constantly on the drum and sheaves near the winch, to prevent them, j getting red-hot with the friction. As ft .-,' was, they smoked. The cable rushed out. at a rate which gradually increased to over eix knots an hour. The white limy'' composition with which it was covered'to prevent the coils adhering together, slither- ■ I ed off it as it rushed along, and spattered everybody in the vicinity with White Thai, running out of the cable was not only care- I'''l fully supervised on the bow, but down in .. the tank were a dozen seamen, whose■'' duty it was to fee the coil did not get . tangled there. Nothing was left to chance.'. V Tlio cable laying machinery was stepped; shortly- after the run a*ross started, and for practically the rest ot the journey the 1 cable paid itself out, carefully guarded' ' above and below. AH went well. There-■■« was. something fascinating in the spectacle A as it rushed smoothly and noiselessly hue" the 27 fathoms of water beneath the bow. : And the Tutanekai kept her nose due : south for the mainland. ' ,i»t; TRF TELEPHONE AT WORK. Communication was constant with Mr. MacDermott, at the Barrier, the whole of' 1 the voyage across. In the testing-room' was a group of Government telegraph offiV . cials. There were Mr, J. K. Logan, superb - ; intendent of electric lines, Mr. W. i.l. Med. dings, telegraph' engineer, and the follow* ' ing members of the cable staff: Mr. ft/. '' M. Baird, electrician Mr. Plank, assistant-' electrician; Mr. Gannoway, jointer. 4 In the testing-room the telephonic an- ■'■"■;■. paratus-was fitted up. The connection'-:'. was made with the other end of the cable - in the tank aft. That meant that the speaker's voice had to be conducted round i and round the 30 knots of coiled cable in. the tanks, over the rushing cable that was 'g '■ running rapidly into the sea, and along V j the line at the bottom across to the Great > Barrier. And the voice of sender and re-' ceiver could be heard as easily as in an- ! ordinary conversation. It impressed one! : .with the power of human intelligence. . - " Speak to him yourself," suggested Mr. Logan, shortly before the mainland was ; reached. The writer took the transmitter, ,'' and, could think ot nothing more original ' to say than, "Hullo!" ",._ ' f . ! The reply was . clear and distinct, /■-. "Hullo! Things are going nicely here. No" i tramcars to interrupt the messages. Are :,t ; you speaking loud?" gju "No, in ordinary voice." 1.." " Then . you must have a better instru- V; I ment than mine. lam speaking fairly., loud. I'll drop my voice. Can you hear !'• me now?" :j: "Quite distinctly." "We. laid the last knot in nine \: minutes," said Mr. Baird, entering the • testing-room, and the information was " transmitted to the watcher, on the Great. >;, Barrier. And the whole of the voyage; 4 messages were received and despatched* The connection was perfect throughout, ' ON THE MAINLAND. The actual laying of the thirteen knot" < of cable, exclusive of the time in fixing up each end, was one hour 55 minutes.; . Captain Post was justly gratified at his ' achievement. _ Here let it be remarked■' that cable laying is essentially a seaman's S job, and all bands and the cook on the 1 Tutanekai turned to with a will. Captain 7 I Post supervised the whole of the task,"?. and was as active a worker as any of the l men who were promptly carrying out his . I infractions. The captain is an expeiienced hand at cable-laying, and nobody,' 'could teach him points about it. ' ' , The Tutanekai came to an anchor 400yda : ;: from the wooded shores of the pretty li|iJii bay known-as Port Charles, and the rim-.; ning of the . cable was stopped. A bo it put off, and the distance to the shore was, 1 * measured with a line. Then a correspond- : . ing amount of cable was dragged out •>{ > the hold by a gang of sturdy sailors. The ; £ j cable was coiled on deck in a large figure If eight, so as to prevent it. from tangling!- ' The boats went ashore, and the crawfS hauled in the, rope to which : the end oiithe cable was attached. It was dragged|§ ashore, buoyed to barrels, and the Tutane-' t ; kai's work of laying the cable was' } finished. ■•'-■. m .- v * '..".'"■' -.-''■ ...:■'." .V ■■.':.".' ■■'■■''.'. ]" ■ - ■■'■"•:■ V-i;\l't;i;^ A GREETING FROM THAMES. The skilled work of making the final' 1 connection' was carried out by Mr. Med-1 dings,- Mr. Baird, and Mr. -Plank. They 1 went off in the boat for the purpose' •? tarry these gentlemen ashore," com-: : manded the boatswain, when the boat hadgrounded in the inlet, and pickaback It ; was, on the broad, backs of three sailors. . ihe.cable lay on the rocks like a sea set- 4i pent s tod, and it was earned to a nestles - into the ground, above high water' mark *rom the top of this post a line stretched, away over ,the hill top. This was the K overland wire from Thames, 40 mil:-' away. I '. Mr. Plank "shinned" with agility 'up'-' '- the post, and perched insecurely on. the . ; top. He opened the box at the top, fixed' : on a transmitter, and " tried" Thames.; lie was soon able to announce to those'"" below that he .had "got" , Thames. The > Ihames wire and -the transmitter were,V gently lowered to the ground. THE FIRST THROUGH MESSAGE,; ; It was an exciting moment, the linking - 5 up of the cable just laid with the \ land line, but it was accomplished with % skilled ease. The armoured wire of the 4 cable was unwound with the utmost care, ' and the insulating wire was spliced on to ■■* the lhames wire. , i K "Are you there, Barrier.?" Yes." ''■~•-': i,,p! "Are, you there, Thames VYes." -'<3»i Mr. Baird took the transmitter, and sent tlie first messages through to Thames ff tor Mr. Wan and Captain Post Teepee-'V tively. They were:— \j I • Mr. Buckley, Wellington. Great Bar-. " ' ner cable finished 11.30. All went sue- - cessfully.—J. K. Logan." n x°s* J - A - Miller. Wellington, 1 Great Barrier cable laid 11.30 to-day.- .- C..F. Post, Port Charles." v Hullo Thames! Got that last word?' 1 Yes, all right! That's all." . v Ihe first message was transmitted; thai ■"'■-;" Great Barrier cable had been laid.