THE COOK'S STRAIT CABLE REPAIRS.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1791, 17 November 1879, Page 3

THE COOK'S STRAIT CABLE REPAIRS.

WELLINGTON, November 16. The cable Bteamer Agnes is awaitiDg orders for her departure. The following are the particulars of her recent cable repairing operations. Over fourteen miles of cah£s 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 stowing accommodation was overtaxed, and some of it had to be put out temporarily at Worser's Bay. About two miles of cable was found so muob. • damaged by chemical action that it was cut out altogether. This piece was right in the line of D'Urville's Island copper reef. The bottom over which the damaged piece was laid was soft blue mud, yet when the cable was brought to the surface it was so muoh oxidised aB to be quite useless. On eaoh side of this piece of ground, however, the cable was as good as when laid thirteen years ago. In re-laying, a more northerly route was taken, in the hope of avoiding the bad ground which proved bo destructive to two new pieces of cable previously laid. The complete interruption of telegraphic communication whioh occurred for several hours was caused by the new cable being grappled instead of the old. Though the new is but a single-wira cable, its shore end is quite as heavy as the other cable, the only difference being that one has a twelvo-Btrand covering, and the other ten; but when hooked, two strands had been torn out, so that it was impossible to tell whioh 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 tho faults discovered was that which caused the complete interruption, and whioh was due to the cable being laid over a sandstone rock, where, as the preserved pieoe shows, it had been steadily grinding away for the last thirteen years with the motion of the tides or other forces until the core of copper was reached, when communication immediately ceased. When the cable was originally taken over as in good condition from the manufacturer the insulation of one wire was defective, but the leakage was so ■light as to be almost impossible to locate without stripping the whole cable, and as the fault was practically not detrimental to the working capacity of the cable, no objection was raised. During the operation of repairing the piece containing this fault has been out out, so that now the old cable is really better than ever' it was, ai_d in 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 and arranged for

cable repairing purposes; yofc no provision was made to oontend with tide rips and currents running with millrace speed, such as are encountered in Cook's Strait, and all engaged had an anxious and harrassing time of it, the steamer being on the ground eyexj morning between three and fire, and out all day till nightfall. Dr. Lemon and Mr Shapley, of the Gable Externum Company, were with Captain Sims the whole time.