REPAIRING A CABLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19311, 26 April 1926, Page 10

REPAIRING A CABLE.

STORM ADDS TO DIFFICULTY. IRIS MEETS GALE IN TASMAN. HOVE-TO FOR FIVE DAYS. Stormy weather in the Tasman Sea delayed the work of repairing a fault in tho Wellington-Sydney cable by the Pacific Cable Board's steamer Iris, which returned to Auckland yesterday morning.' The fault was estimated to be about 370 miles west of Wellington. The Iris sailed from Auckland on April ; 12 and reached the locality of the fault i at six o'clock in the evening of April i 14. Next morning the steamer com- j menced grappling in 380 fathoms . oi ! water, and the accuracy with which the vessel had been navigated was shown by the fact that in three-quarters of an hour the cable had been hooked by the grapplings and lifted on board. The cable was then cut and both ends tested. The test showed that the portion con j nected with Sydney was in good order j so this end, with a buoy attached, was ; dropped overboard. Then the, bad por- j tion of the Wellington end of the cable j was located and cut away and the good j portion spliced on to a new length of ' cable. Tho new cable was then paid out and tho Iris steamed toward the buoy attached to the Sydney end. The wind, which had been somewhat j boisterous during the work, increased to a hard north-east gale, accompanied by high seas, and in consequence at eight j o'clock that night the new cable had to ! bo cut and the end buoyed and dropped overboard. The gale blew for five days and during that time the Iris was hove to, pitching and tossing in the heavy seas. Last Wednesday the weather moderated sufficiently to enable the, officials on the Iris to resume the, repair work, and that afternoon the new cable was again raised from the bottom of the sea. The trouble, however, was not over, and at two o'clock next morning there was a return of bad weather, which necessitated the cable being again cut and dropped overboard. The blow, however, only lasted a few hours, and at eight o'clock that night tho cable was again in working order, the bad portion having been replaced with about four and a-half miles of new cable. The Iris then set a course for Auckland. Strong south-east winds and a moderate north-east swell prevailed to Cape Maria Van Diernen, and light winds I and an east-north-east swell were met j with on the run down the coast. Tho damage to the cable, it is understood, is due to age. The original cable was laid in 1878."