A BICYCLE FEAT

Evening Star, Issue 4048, 16 February 1876, Page 3

A BICYCLE FEAT

We learn by telegraph that Mr Douglas M'Lean has accomplished the feat of travelling from Wellington to Napier on a P^y™ o ™ six days. The'route taken was 5?-i £ st Coasb and through the Forty Mue Bush. The roads were much cut up by drays after the recent rains, and travelling was consequently slow until within K 7 0r &h y- miles of Napier* which Mr H l>3an ran m one day, with a strong head wind against him." With the roods in good order-and bridges completed, aoit&at foul-' mg can be avoided, it is believed that tho journey can easily he perfor&ed in three or WUtjdays.

THE LAYING OF THE NEW ZEALAND CABLE.

As considerable interest attaches at the present time to the laying of the cable that is to connect the Australian Colonies with New Zealand, we extract from the ' Sydney Echo' the following description of the steamer Hibernia, now engaged in the work :—" Her gross tonnage is 3,180 tons, her length is 380 feet, and her breadth of beam is 40 feet. She is fitted* with powerful engines, and some of the most complete appliances for cable-laying that _ modern science has devised, The Hibernia has on board about 1,200 miles of cable—sufficient to reach the whole direct distance from Sydney to New Zealand—but it is always necessary in laying a cable to make some allowauce for ♦slack,' so tfc«b In the event of a fault occurring, the cable may be raised without risk of breakage. Two hundred miles of cable are allotted for this purpose, and the extra length thus allowed is on board the I Edinburgh, which will connect with the i Hibernia when the latter vessel has paid out all the wire she has on board. The apparatus on the two ships is almost identical in its designs, and consists of two parts that used for the paying-out process, and that required for what is technically called 'picking up.' On board the Hibernia the cable is coiled away in three enormous iron tanks, each containing about 400 miles of wire. These tanks are about thirty-four feet in diameter and the cable is coiled up in; the tanks so that it runs out of ;the centre, being guided by a series of iron rings, so as to prevent any jumping. There is a telescopic frame fixed in each tank, means of which each section of the cable is kept in it? proper position as it is paid out. The part of the cable in the after tank will be paid put first, after that the main tank, and last of ali the foremost tank. When" the cable leaves the hold it is conducted by means of leading machinery along the deck, over a series of friction rollers, which prevent it running out too .slack. Then it passes along three grooved WnCpl 8 * called 'jockey wheels,' after which it paSs£? through a dynamometer, by which the exact strain upon the eable, while in the process of laying, c&ti be seen at a glance. It also passes over & large drum, attached to which ar* indicators, showing not only the length of the cable paid out, but also the speed at which it is being laid. In fine weather the operation of laying the cable is comparatively an easy one, but should the elements be unpropitious it is very possible that considerable difficulty might arise. To meet this event, the ship has on board a number of buoys, to which the end of the cable may be attached in case it is necessary to sever the connection. There are also other buoys, to be used if it should be necessary to grapple for the portion of the caisle so cut off. There are mooring lines for the buoys, arranged on deck, so constructed that they can be attached to the buoys -at a moment's notice, and let go at once; these

lines will reach the bottom at a distance of three miles, although it is believed that two and a-half miles will be the utmost depth encountered this Colony and New Zealand. The paying-out apparatus is of course in the after-part of the vessel, but there isj in the bows a mechanical arrangement foi: picking up the cable if necessary. During the first part of the voyage the Edinburgh will accompany the Hibernia, taking soundings, and performing other duties of the like nature; but when near the New Zealand coast the position of the two vessels will be reversed. The cable itself consists of a centre of seven small copper wires, twisted into a cord, through which the electrical current will pass. This central arrangement is covered with gutta percha, forming what is called the 'core,' being about . a quarter of an inch in diameter. This is 'served' with a thickness of jute yarn, outside of which is a protective covering of fifteen twisted steel • wires. Bound around these are two ' servings ' of hempen yarn, twisted in opposite directions, and further protected by coatings of a mixture of tar and pitch. Should the weather be favorable, something like 140 miles of cable can be paid out in a day, and it is hoped that the whole connection between .the shores of Botany Bay and New Zealand earn be completed in about ten days. In addition to the apparatus already described, both vessels contain complete sets of instruments of the most delicate and beautiful construction, by means of which the cable is tested as it is laid, constant communication with the shore is kept up, and in the event of a flaw occurring, its whereabouts can be ascertained with unerring precision."