Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

372 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. The Great Eastern having stopped picking up when the bight was about eight hundred fathoms below water, she proceeded to resume the operation as soon as the intentional rupture of the cable had eased the strain sufficiently. Slowly but surely, and amid breathless excitement, the long-lost line at last made its appearance (for the third time) above the surface. This was a little before one o’clock (early morn) of September 2nd.* Eventually the precious end was got on Fig. 16.—DIAGRAM TO EXPLAIN HOW THE 1865 CABLE WAS PICKED UP. A, Point where cable was buoyed by the Great Eastern. B, Point where cable was broken by the Medway. C, Bight of cable ultimately brought to the surface by the Great Eastern. board, and signals were exchanged with Valencia. The line was then Success tested, and much suspense etc was relieved when it was found to be in a perfectly healthy condition throughout. Before leaving this subject, a remarkable incident, indicative of smart navigation, should be referred to. This was the bumping of the Great Eastern—whilst in the act of picking up—against a buoy put down to mark the supposed line of the cable. Let us now turn for a moment to those patiently watching day after day, night after night, in the wooden telegraph cabin on shore.f * Submarine Telegraphs. f This description may also be taken as applicable to present-day experiences of those at a cable-testing hut ashore during repairing operations. So much, time had elapsed since the expedition left Newfoundland that the staff at Foil- hommerum frequently felt that there was no more hope of a successful issue. Suddenly, at about six o’clock on a Sunday morning, the electrician on duty observed the tiny ray of light from the reflecting instru- ment moving to and fro across the scale. The long speechless cable then began to talk, and the welcome assurance arrived :—“ Ship to Shore : I have much pleasure in speaking to you through the 1865 cable ; just going to make splice.” The recovered end was joined on to the cable aboard without further delay, where- upon the Great Eastern started paying out towards Newfoundland. When within a few miles of the latter— just after receiving a summary of the news in the Times of that morning—a fault showed itself on board. This was, however, soon made good without further trouble, and the rest of the main cable successfully laid shortly afterwards. The Medway then landed the shore end in Heart’s Content Bay ; .and the final splice having been duly effected and passed over- board, a second line of com- munication across the Atlantic The 1865 was completed that evening Cable K & completed. (September 8th, 1866). The total length of this cable, commenced in 1865, was 1,896 N.M. Conclusion. The main accomplishment in connection with the second and third Atlantic cables (1865-6) was, without doubt, the recovery of the former from deeper water in the open ocean than had. ever been before effected ; just as in the first (1858) line, it was the demon- stration that a cable could be successfully laid in such a depth and worked through electrically. Professor Thomson’s reflecting apparatus for