Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

368 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. Sir Samuel) Canning was the engineer-in-chief, with Mr. Henry Clifford, Mr. John Temple, and Mr. Robert London as assistants. Mr. C. V. de Sauty served as chief electrician, assisted by Mr. H. A. C. Saunders and several others. As in the previous undertaking, on account of his proved skill, Commander H. A. Moriarty, R.N., was supplied by the Admiralty as navigator to the expedition. The At- lantic Telegraph Company was represented on board by Professor Thomson and Mr. C. F. Varley as consulting electricians. Both Mr. Field and Mr. (afterwards Sir Daniel) Gooch accompanied the expedition, the latter on behalf of the Great Eastern Ship Company. Unfortunately, trouble soon arose. The first fault revealed itself when only eighty- four miles had been paid out. This fault being some ten miles astern, picking up back to the fault was resorted to. As soon as the faulty portion had been cut out and a fresh splice effected, paying out was resumed ; but after 716 miles had been laid another fault caused trouble. The arduous operation of picking up had then to be repeated, until this fault was safely on board and the neces- sary repair effected. When two-thirds of the way across yet another defect was found to exist, involving the same operation, but in much deeper water. Only one mile had been recovered when an acci- dent to the machinery caused the line to part. Repeated efforts to recover one or other end of the lost cable seemed doomed to failure ; and the store of rope becoming quit© exhausted, the expedition had to return home — shattered in hopes as well as in ropes. The Second and Successful Attempt. The results of the recent voyage, disastrous as they were, in no wise abated the courage of the promoters. On the contrary, there was much to encourage them. During the heaviest The* Expedition fails. weather the Great Eastern had shown ex ceptional “ stiffness,” while her great size and manoeuvring power (afforded by the combination of screw and paddles) seemed to prove her to be the very type of vessel for such work. Since then it has been found that paddles are a source of trouble in cable operations, where the line has often to be passed from one end of the vessel to the other, besides being ill-adapted to rough weather in the open ocean. To meet financial difficulties, and for the purpose of a fresh venture in 1866, the At- lantic Telegraph Company was amalgamated with a new concern, the Anglo-American Telegraph Company, the same capital being sought for as before. In the financing of this the late Sir Daniel Gooch took a prominent part, and Mr. Brassey promised to bear a tenth of the total cost of the enterprise. Ultimately the Telegraph Construction Company led off with £100,000, whilst undertaking the contract under favour- able terms. In this fresh venture it was intended not only to lay a new cable across the Atlantic, but to make good the one already partially laid. In view of the unexpended cable, only 1,600 miles had to be manufactured for the Fig. 11.—SHORE END CABLE, 1866.