QUICK WORK

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 558, 10 January 1929, Page 1

QUICK WORK

Cable Ship Iris Repairs New Break

EASTERN EXTENSION LINE

Lifting gently on a lazy Tasmaii swell 300 miles west of Wellington, the cable ship • Iris performed her latest task with commendable dispatch, reestablishing communication with Australia on the Eastern Extension line that has been out of commission since Christmas Day. The Iris left Auckland a week ago to-day .and dropped anchor in the Waitemata once more at 7 o’clock this morning. . Officers and men alike are pleased with the speed at which they were able to carry out the work. In all, 7z miles of fresh cable were laid, and Australia and New Zealand talked once more on the Eastern Extension at 7.45 p.m. on January 7—15 minutes after the . long black rope sank below the surface.

It will be always a puzzle to the layman that the expert in a cable testing room is able to locate a break to within half a mile. This small margin of error enables the repair ship to steam practically direct to the scene of operations.

The Iris , arrived near the break on Saturday evening, but the weather was cloudy and, for some time, it was impossible to secure accurate stellar observations. Faces lengthened, for it appeared likely that visibility would not improve for some time. A mark-buoy was dropped, but the weather cleared fcthat evening in most accommodating fashion, and the Sydney end was picked up and buoyed. The Iris then hauled in 4k miles of cable toward the break. This, however, was in. poor condition, and 11 miles short of the exact spot. The conductor line parted during the lifting operation,- and it became necessary to buoy that end. . The Wellington end was then picked up, the operations taking until late on Sunday evening. The cable was spliced up to the supply in the ship’s tank to lay in to the other end. Bad weather came on before the completed cable could be paid out and the Wellington end was also buoyed. Then, on Monday morning the weather improved, the other end of the cable was spliced and the pay-out was begun. The final splice was put over at 7.30 o’clock on Monday evening, the mark buoy was picked up at 8.30 and a course set for- AvGkl;'ind.