400
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TLC.O. 885
سسس
Welda in steel
wire.
Storage of cable.
Indicators.
Joint marks. Tests of cable.
Separate testing room
at worke,
Power to reject.
230
PACIFIC CABLE COMMITTEE:
the wire break under this test, such coil is to be rejected and not to be used in the manufacture of the cable.
No weld, or braze, in the sheathing wire of the cable shall, as far as may be practicable, be placed, or made, within 10 feet of any other weld, or braze, and all welds, or brazes, are to be galvanised or tinned.
The cable, when completed, is to be coiled in suitable water-tight tanks, so situated that the While in the tanks cable can be afterwards, at all tides, coiled on board the ships for transport.
The water is to be withdrawn by the the cable shall, as much as possible, be kept under water. contractors from the tanks and replaced by them as often as may be necessary.
The tanks and other parts of the works where the cable is manufactured, are to be roofed over and the coils of cable and core protected from the sun.
Correct indicators are to be attached to each closing machine, showing the exact length of cable manufactured.
Every joint in the core is to be marked outside the finished cable with a distinguishing mark. Each length of cable, as made from day to day, and before final shipment, shall be submitted for testing to the Government engineer, and the electrical condition of each length of cable completed shall be in every respect in conformity with, or at least equal to, the electrical condition of the sum of the single lengths of core constituting each respective length of cable, due regard being paid to variation of temperature at which the tests of the completed cable and the said lengths of core are taken.
A separate and convenient room for testing the core and cable, and suitable space for batteries. are to be provided by the contractors at their works for the Government engineer and staff (referred to in the agreement), and all connexions with such testing room are to be provided by the contractors. The contractors shall also provide a battery-man to be in attendance on the said representatives or electricians employed in testing the core and cable.
The Government engineer shall have the right to inspect and examine and to test the core, cable, and the materiale used or intended to be used in their manufacture, or any part thereof, and also the right to be present and to witness any of the tests to be made by the contractors of the said core, cable, or materials, and they shall have power to reject any core, wire, or other material, or completed cable, which are not in accordance with the specification.
PAPERS.
31
Every facility shall be afforded to the Government engineer, at reasonable times, to test the Testing. cable during shipment and transport. During the laying the testing shall be exclusively in the hands of the contractors, and shall be open to the inspection of the Government engineer.
The method of testing, and the instruments to be employed therein, shall be similar to those employed during the laying of Transatlantic cables, subject to such improvements as the contractors may deem it advantageous to introduce.
the cable when
The cable when laid shall be electrically perfect and in good working order, that is to say, its Condition of condition shall be such that electrical signals can be easily and regularly exchanged between the laid. two terminal points of the cable, and when not interfered with by earth currents, or other disturbing causes beyond the control of the contractors, such as shall permit of its being regularly worked for the transmission of messages. Its condition shall also be such that it shall be possible, with proper appliances and skilful operators, to obtain a speed of 12 words per minute, when the cable is not interfered with by earth currents or other disturbing causes beyond the control of the contractors.
The contractors shall provide accommodation and victualling for, at most, three representatives Accommoda- of the Government on board each ship transporting and laying the cable, during the times such tion for
Government representatives. vessel is engaged at sea for the operations forming the subject of this Specification.
The cable shall, while on board ship, be carefully guarded against the damage that may arise Protection. from exposure to heat, either from the proximity of boilers, steampipes, &c., or from the rays of
the sun
The
Trench for shore-end.
The contractors shall, at each landing place, bury the cable in a good and sufficient trench. cable to be buried shall have a length of not less than 100 yards, and may, at the option of the contractors, be of a lighter type than the shore-end cable.
No. 4.
6
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
Destination.
Shipping.
Ships and sp- pliances for laying, &c.
Position of cable.
Laying.
Observation..
B.--SPECIFICATION FOR THE SHIPPING, TRANSPORT, AND LAYING OF THE Cable.
The cable shall be shipped from the contractors' works, and shall be laid between a point on the coast of
and a point on the coast of
and shall be connected with the cable-houses provided by the Government at these points so as to give direct electrical communication between them.
The exact points of landing to be determined by the contractors.
The cable shall be put on board from the contractors' works by means of suitable machinery and in a proper and efficient manner. The cable shall be stowed in suitable tanks provided on board the vessel or vessels intended for its transport and laying. It shall receive at the same time a thorough coating of chalk and water, and shall be kept wet while remaining on board ship.
The contractors shall supply the necessary steamship or steamships for the transport and laying of the cable. Such steamship or steamships shall be provided for the stowage of cable with iron water-tight tanks of suitable dimensions and construction, and thoroughly secured. The ship or ships used for laying shall also be provided with a suitable testing-room or rooms, and shall be fitted out with all necessary machinery and appliances for laying and testing the cable, buoying, grappling, picking up, repairing, &c., including electrical instruments and batteries. The machinery and appliances to be similar to those which were used during the laying of Transatlantic cables. In any subject to such improvements as the contractors may deem it advantageous to introduce. case means shall be provided to indicate and record continuously the per-centage of slack and the strain on the cable while paying out in depths exceeding 500 fathoms.
The course of the cable shall generally follow the route given by the Government engineers, but the exact position in which the cable is to be laid and the per-centage of slack shall be in the absolute discretion of the contractors.
During the laying, a daily report, giving the position of the ship, the distance run, and the length of the cable paid out, is to be furnished by the contractors' engineer in charge of the laying of the cable to the Government engineer on board, and for such report the form used during the laying of Transatlantic cables shall be adopted. During the process of paying out or hauling back of the cable all reasonable information about the progress of the work shall be given by the engineer in charge to the Government engineer on board. The said Government engineer on board may from time to time request the contractors to forward short messages on Government business through the cable during laying, and the contractors aball so forward such messages as soon as in the opinion of their engineer in charge this can be done without interfering with his operations. The position of the ship while laying the cable shall be determined by frequent observations, and a British Admiralty chart or charts, containing the courses of the cable as laid, shall be furnished to the Government by the contractors sa soon as may be practicable after the completion of the laying..
ARTICLES OF CONTRACT made this
Put in by Mr. Lucas.
between
(hereinafter referred to as the Company), of the one part, and THE TELEGRAPH CONSTRUC- TION AND MAINTENANCE COMPANY LIMITED (hereinafter referred to as the Contractors), of the other part.
Whereby it is mutually agreed as follows:-
Article 1. The contractors shall, subject to the due performance by the company of the agree- ments and conditions hereinafter contained, and on the part of the company to be observed and performed, and for the considerations and upon the terms hereinafter expressed, manufacture for nautical miles, of the types the company a submarine telegraphic cable of the total length of mentioned and described in the specification hereunto annexed.
Article 2. The cable shall be manufactured and constructed throughout of thoroughly good materials and workmanship, and in all respects in strict accordance with the said specification, which is to be deemed part of the contract.
Article 3. After the cable shall have been made and tested by the company's engineer (herein- after called the engineer), the contractors shall cause the same to be coiled on board a suitable steam ship or ships, and shall send the said cable to sea, and by means of apparatus and fittings, and under charge of officers of approved skill and experience, proceed to lay the same between
and
and shall complete the whole line before the Provided, nevertheless, that in case of delay in laying and completing the cable arising from strikes, lock-outs, or any combination affecting the contractors' works, or any of the trades or occupations upon which the contractors shall be dependent in carrying out and completing this contract, or occasioned by the company or by any Governmental authority, or otherwise than by the default of the contractors, the time for completion shall be extended for such period or periods as shall be certified by the engineer to be reasonable, and it is hereby expressly agreed and declared that after the cable shall have been manufactured and coiled on board ship ready for sailing, and shall have been duly tested and found to be in accordance with this contract, the contractors shall not be responsible in damages for any injury or breakage occurring to or loss of, or damage to the cable or any part thereof, or for delay or failure in laying the same unless the same shall arise from the culpable neglect or default of the contractors or their agents, the true intent and meaning of these presents being that the contractors shall be bound to take all reasonable precautions and use their best endeavours, and to make every reasonable effort in accordance with this contract, to lay the cable between the points aforesaid in good working order, in accordance with the said specification, so that the same shall give efficient electrical connexion between the places and within the time specified, but that the contractors shall not be responsible in damages for delay or failure if bond fide using their best endeavours as aforesaid.
and
Article 4. The terminal points of the cable shall be in the cable houses at
1
Gg 2