REPAIRING OF THE COOK STRAITS CABLE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 957, 22 November 1879, Page 2

REPAIRING OF THE COOK STRAITS CABLE.

The following is a few particulars of the recent operations ; — Over 14 miles of cable were picked up, and wherever a fault was found the defective portion was cut out and the cable spliced. She picked up so much that with what she had on board her storing accommodation was overtaxed, and some of it had to be put out temporarily at Worser's Bay. About two miles of cable were found so much damaged by chemical action that it was cut out altogether. This piece was right m the line of D'Urville Island Copper Reef ; the bottom over which the damaged piece was laid is a soft blue mud, yet when the cable was brought to the surface it was so much oxidised as to be quite useless. On each side of this pieoe of ground, however, the cable was as good as when laid thirteen years ago. When relaying a more northerly route was taken, m the hope to avoid the bad ground which proved so destructive to two new pieces previously. The complete interruption to telegraphic communication, whioh ooourred for several hours, was caused by the new cable being grappled instead of the old one, and though the new one is but a single wire cable its shore end is quite as heavy as the other cable, the only difference being that one has a twelve strand cover, the other a ten > but where torn out, so that it was impossible to tell which it was without cutting. Further dredging showed that just there the new wire was laid over the old for a short distance. This is no longer the case. Amongst the faults discovered was that which caused complete interruption, and which was due to the cable being laid over a eand-stone rock, whereas the preserved piece shows it had been steadily grinding away for the last thirteen years with the motion of the tides or other forces until such time as the core of the copper was reached, when communication ceased. When the cable was originally taken over as m good condition from the manufacturers the insulation of one of the wires was defective, but the leakage was but so slight as to be almost impossible to ocate without stripping the whole cable and as the fault was practically not detrimental to the working capacity of the wire, no objection was raised. During the operations of repairing, the piece containing this fault has been cut out, so that the old cable now is really better than ever it was, and m all probability will last at least another thirteen years. The work of restoration was found to be a most difficult and trying task, notwithstanding that the Agnes was specially built for cable repairing purposes, yet no provision was made to contend with tide rips and currents running with mill-race speed, such as are encountered m Cook Strait, and all engaged had an anxious and harassing time of it, the steamer being on the ground every morning between three and five, and out all day till night-fall. Dr. Lemon, and Mr Shapley, of the Cable Extension Co., were with Capt. Sims the whole time.