SMART WORK.

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3894, 12 January 1929, Page 4

SMART WORK.

REPAIRING A CABLE. AUCKLAND, Jan. 10. Particularly smart wtvrk was done by the cable steamer Iris in repairing a break in the Eastern Extension cable between AVell.ington and Sydney. The Iris left Auckland on January 3, and the cable was in use again early in the evening of January 7, in spits of bad weather delaying work on the vessel. Leaving Auckland, the Iris steamed 510 miles to a position about 180 miles west of Cape Farewell. A buoy was streamed at this point last Saturday evening in 300 fathoms. A fault had been located approximately in this position by an automatic apparatus at Wellington, but as tho sky was too cloudy for accurate observations when the' Iris arrived, she hove to in the vicinity. Conditions improved early next morning. and »: he position of the buoy was verified by observing the planet Venus, the moon, and later the sun. The cable was then picked up, and tests showed that the fault lay between the ship and Wellington. The Sydney end was buoyed, and the Iris then hauled in four and a-half miles ol cable. Towards the break the cable was found to be in poor condition, and ono and a-half miles from the fault the conductor line parted, and it became necessary to buoy that end. The Wellington -end was then picked up, and the break was located at 10 o’clock on Sunday evening. Joining and splicing the ship’s stock cable to tho broken end was started at once, but had to bo abandoned before midnight owing to bad weather. The weather cleared on Monday morning, leaving a fresh south-easterly wind and a moderate swell. The work was resumed, and by seven o’clock that evening 7.6 nautical miles of new cable had been laid. The final splice was slipped at 7.15 p.m., and the mark buoy being recovered, a course was set for Auckland.