The Battery and the Boiler: Adventures in Laying of Submarine Electric Cables

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER SIX.

  TELLS OF OUR HERO'S VISIT TO THE GREAT CABLE.

  Robin Wright returned home with a bounding heart. Since his electricalappointment he had become, figuratively speaking, an indiarubber ball--asort of human "squash." His heart bounded; his feet bounded; if hishead had fallen off, it also would have bounded, no doubt.

  On arriving he found his father's elder brother--a retired sea-captainof the merchant service--on a visit to the family.

  There was not a more favourite uncle in the kingdom than uncle Rik--thushad his name of Richard been abbreviated by the Wright family. UncleRik was an old bachelor and as bald as a baby--more so than many babies.He was good-humoured and liberal-hearted, but a settled unbeliever inthe world's progress. He idolised the "good old times," and quitepleasantly scorned the present.

  "So, so, Robin," he said, grasping our hero by both hands (and uncleRik's grasp was no joke), "you're goin' in for batteries--galvanicbatteries an' wires, are you? Well, lad, I always thought you more orless of a fool, but I never thought you such a born idiot as that comesto."

  "Yes, uncle," said Robin, with a pleasant laugh, for he was used to theold captain's plain language, "I'm going to be an electrician."

  "Bah! pooh!--an electrician!" exclaimed uncle Rik with vehemence, "aswell set up for a magician at once."

  "Indeed he won't be far short of that," said Mrs Wright, who was seatedat the tea-table with her husband and Madge--"at least," she added, "ifall be true that we hear of this wonderful science."

  "If only half of it be true," interjected Mr Wright.

  "But it _ain't_ true," said Captain Rik firmly. "They talk a deal ofstuff about it, more than nine-tenths of which is lies--pure fable. Idon't believe in electricity; more than that, I don't believe in steam.Batteries and boilers are both bosh!"

  "But, uncle, you can't deny that they exist," said Robin.

  "Of course not," replied the captain. "I know as well as you do--maybebetter--that there's a heap o' telegraph-wires rove about the world likegreat spiders' webs, and that there are steamboats hummin' an' buzzin'--ay, an' bu'stin' too--all over the ocean, like huge wasps, an' a prettymess they make of it too among them! Why, there was a poor old lady theother day that was indooced by a young nephy to send a telegraphicmessage to her husband in Manchester--she bein' in London. She was veryunwillin' to do it, bein' half inclined to regard the telegraph as aplant from the lower regions. The message sent was, `Your lovin' wifehopes you'll be home to-morrow.' It reached the husband, `Your lowerin'wife hopes you'll be hung to-morrow.' Bad writin' and a uselessflourish at the _e_ turned _home_ into _hung_. The puzzled husbandtelegraphs in reply, `Mistake somewhere--all right--shall be back threeo'clock--to-morrow--kind love.' And how d'ye think this reached the oldlady?--`Mistake somewhere--all night--stabbed in back--through cloak--two more rows--killed, love.' Now, d'you call _that_ successfultelegraphing?"

  "Not very," admitted Robin, with a laugh, "but of the thousands ofmessages that pass to and fro daily there cannot be many like these, Ishould think."

  "But what did the poor wife do?" asked Madge anxiously.

  "Do?" repeated Rik indignantly, as though the misfortune were his own--for he was a very sympathetic captain--"do? Why, she gave a yell thatnigh knocked the young nephy out of his reason, and fell flat on thefloor. When she came to, she bounced up, bore away for the railwaystation under full sail, an' shipped for Manchester, where she found herhusband, alive and hearty, pitchin' into a huge beefsteak, which he veryproperly said, after recovering from his first surprise, was big enoughfor two."

  "But what objection have you to steamers, uncle Rik?" asked Mrs Wright;"I'm sure they are very comfortable and fast-going."

  "Comfortable and fast-goin'!" repeated the old sailor, with a look ofsupreme contempt, "yes, they're comfortable enough when your berth ain'tnear the paddles or the boilers; an' they're fast-goin', no doubt,specially when they bu'st. But ain't the nasty things made of iron--like kitchen kettles? and won't that rust? an' if you knock a hole in'em won't they go down at once? an' if you clap too much on thesafety-valves won't they go up at once? Bah! pooh!--there's nothin'like the wooden walls of old England. You may take the word of an oldsalt for it,--them wooden walls will float and plough the ocean when allthese new-fangled iron pots are sunk or blowed to atoms. Why, look atthe Great Eastern herself, the biggest kettle of 'em all, what aprecious mess _she_ made of herself! At first she wouldn't move at all,when they tried to launch her; then they had to shove her off sidewiselike a crab; then she lost her rudder in a gale, an' smashed all hercabin furniture like a bad boy with his toys. Bah! I only hope I maybe there when she bu'sts, for it'll be a grand explosion."

  "I'm sorry you have so bad an opinion of her, uncle, for I am appointedto serve in the Great Eastern while layin' the Atlantic Cable."

  "Sorry to hear it, lad; very sorry to hear it. Of course I hope foryour sake that she won't blow up on _this_ voyage, though it's nothin'more or less than an absurd ship goin' on a wild-goose chase."

  "But, uncle, submarine cables have now passed the period of experiment,"said Robin, coming warmly to the defence of his favourite subject."Just consider, from the time the first one was laid, in 1851, betweenDover and Calais, till now, about fifteen years, many thousands of milesof conducting-wire have been laid along the bottom of the sea to manyparts of the world, and they are in full and successful operation atthis moment. Why, even in 1858, when the first Atlantic Cable was laid,the Gutta-percha Company had made forty-four submarine cables."

  "I know it, lad, but it won't last. It's all sure to bu'st up in courseof time."

  "Then, though the attempt to lay the last Atlantic Cable proved afailure," continued Robin, "the first one, the 1858 one, _was_ a successat the beginning, no one can deny that."

  "Ay, but how long did it last?" demanded the skipper, hitting the tablewith his fist.

  "Oh, please, have pity on the tea-cups, uncle Rik," cried the hostess.

  "Beg pardon, sister, but I can't help getting riled when I hear younkerstalkin' stuff. Why, do you really suppose," said the captain, turningagain to Robin, "that because they managed in '58 to lay a cable acrossthe Atlantic, and exchange a few messages, which refused to travel aftera few days, that they'll succeed in layin' down a permanent speakin'trumpet between old England and Noof'nland--2000 miles, more or less--inspite o' gales an' currents, an' ships' anchors, an' insects, an'icebergs an' whales, to say nothing o' great sea-sarpints an' suchlike?"

  "Uncle Rik, I do," said Robin, with intensely earnest eyes and glowingcheeks.

  "Bravo! Robin, you'll do it, I do believe, if it is to be done at all;give us your hand, lad."

  The old sailor's red countenance beamed with a huge smile of kindness ashe shook his enthusiastic nephew's hand.

  "There," he added, "I'll not say another word against iron kettles orAtlantic cables. If you succeed I'll give batteries and boilers fullcredit, but if you fail I'll not forget to remind you that I _said_ itwould all bu'st up in course of time."

  With note-book and pencil in hand Robin went down the very next day tothe works of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, wherethe great cable was being made.

  Presenting his letter of introduction from Mr Smith, Robin wasconducted over the premises by a clerk, who, under the impression thathe was a very youthful and therefore unusually clever newspapercorrespondent, treated him with marked respect. This was a severe trialto Robin's modesty; nevertheless he bore up manfully, and pulling outhis note-book prepared for action.

  The reader need not fear that we intend to inflict on him Robin'streatise on what he styled the "Great Atlantic Cable," but it would bewrong to leave the subject without recording a few of those points whichmade a deep impression on him.

  "The cable when completed, sir," said the clerk, as he conducted hisvisitor to the factory, "will be 2300 nautical miles in length."

  "Indeed," said Robin, recording the statement with solemn gr
avity andgreat accuracy; "but I thought," he added, "that the exact distance fromIreland to Newfoundland was only 1600 miles."

  "You are right, sir, but we allow 700 miles of `slack' for theinequalities of the bottom. Its cost will be 700,000 pounds, and thewhole when finished will weigh 7000 tons."

  Poor Robin's mind had, of course, been informed about ton-weights atschool, but he had not felt that he realised what they actuallysignified until the thought suddenly occurred that a cart-load of coalsweighed one ton, whereupon 7000 carts of coals leaped suddenly into thefield of his bewildered fancy. A slightly humorous tendency, inheritedfrom his mother, induced 7000 drivers, with 7000 whips and a like numberof smock-frocks, to mount the carts and drive in into the capacious holdof the Great Eastern. They turned, however, and drove instantly off hisbrain when he came into the august presence of the cable itself.

  The central core of the cable--that part by which the electric force orfluid was to pass from the Old World to the New, and _vice versa_, wasmade of copper. It was not a solid, single wire, but a strand composedof seven fine wires, each about the thickness of a small pin. Six ofthese wires were wound spirally round the seventh. This was in order toprevent what is termed a "breach of continuity," for it will be at onceperceived that while a single wire of the core might easily break in theprocess of laying the cable, and thereby prevent the flow ofelectricity, the probability of the seven small wires all breaking atthe same spot was so remote as to be almost impossible, and if even onewire out of the seven held, the continuity would remain. Nay, even allthe seven might break, but, so long as they did not all break at thesame place, continuity would not be lost, because copper would stillcontinue to touch copper all throughout the cable's length.

  In the process of construction, the central wire of the copper core wasfirst covered with a semi-liquid coating of gutta-percha, mixed withtar--known as "Chatterton's Compound." This was laid on so thick thatwhen the other wires were wound round it all air was excluded. Then acoating of the same compound was laid over the finished conductor, andthus the core was solidified. Next, the core was surrounded with acoating of the purest gutta-percha--a splendid non-conductor, imperviousto water--which, when pressed to it, while in a plastic state, formedthe first insulator or tube to the core. Over this tube was laid a thincoat of Chatterton's Compound for the purpose of closing up any smallflaws or minute holes that might have escaped detection. Then came asecond coating of gutta-percha, followed by another coating of compound,and so on alternately until four coats of compound and four ofgutta-percha had been laid on.

  This core, when completed, was wound in lengths on large reels, and wasthen submerged in water and subjected to a variety of severe electricaltests, so as to bring it as near as possible to a state of perfection,after which every inch of it was examined by hand while being unwoundfrom the reels and re-wound on the large drums, on which it was to beforwarded to the covering works at East Greenwich, there to receive itsexternal protecting sheath.

  All this, and much more besides, did Robin Wright carefully note down,and that same evening went home and delivered a long and luminouslecture, over which his mother wondered, Madge rejoiced, his fathergloried, and uncle Rik fell asleep.

  Next day he hastened to the covering works, and, presenting hiscredentials, was admitted.

  Here he saw the important and delicate core again carefully tested as toits electrical condition, after which it received a new jacket of tannedjute yarn to protect it from the iron top coat yet to come. Its jutejacket on, it was then coiled away in tanks full of water, where it wasconstantly kept submerged and continuously tested for insulation. Lastof all the top coat was put on. This consisted of ten wires ofpeculiarly fine and strong iron. Each of these ten wires had put on ita special coat of its own, made of tarred Manilla yarn, to protect itfrom rust as well as to lighten its specific gravity. The core beingbrought from its tank, and passed round several sheaves, which carriedit below the factory floor, was drawn up through a hole in the centre ofa circular table, around the circumference of which were ten drums ofthe Manilla-covered wire. A stout iron rod, fastened to thecircumference of the table, rose from between each drum to the ceiling,converging in a cone which passed through to the floor above. Our corerose in the middle of all, and went through the hollow of the cone.When all was put in noisy and bewildering motion, the core which rosefrom the turning-table and whirling drums as a thin jute-clad line, cameout in the floor above a stout iron-clad cable, with a Manillatop-dressing, possessing strength sufficient to bear eleven miles of itsown length perpendicularly suspended in water--or a margin of strengthmore than four and a half times that required,--and with a breakingstrain of seven tons fifteen hundredweight.

  When thoroughly charged and primed, Robin went off home to write histreatise.

  Then he received the expected summons to repair on board the GreatEastern, and bade adieu to his early home.

  It was of no use that Robin tried to say good-bye in a facetious way,and told Madge and his mother not to cry, saying that he was only goingacross the Atlantic, a mere fish-pond, and that he would be home againin a month or two. Ah! these little efforts at deception never avail.Himself broke down while urging Madge to behave herself, and when hismother gave him a small Bible, and said she required no promise, for she_knew_ he would treasure and read it, he was obliged hastily to give hera last fervent hug, and rush from the house without saying good-bye atall.