Great Telegraph Cable

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

We learn by the “Paducah (Ky.) Pennant,” that a great telegraph cable was laid across the Ohio River at that place, on the 26th inst. -by Tal. P. Shaffner, Secretary of the American Telegraph Confederation, assisted by J. B. Sleeth, Mechanical Engineer. It is composed of a large iron wire, covered with three coatings of gutta percha, making a cord of about five-eigths of an inch in diameter. To protect this from wear, and for security of insulation, there are three coverings ol strong Osraburg, saturated with an elastic composition of gutta percha, and around this are eighteen large iron wires, drawn as tight as the wire will bear, and the whole is then spirally lashed together with another large wire, passing around at every J of an inch.— The whole forms a cable of near two inches in diame'er. This wire conducts ,the electric current beneath the bed of the Ohio for a distance of 4,200 feet, and is said to be the longest telegraph cable in the Union. The company was much troubled before on account of unsuccessful efforts to cross the river with the wire, and secure it against accident. It is believed that this cable will effect a great saving to the company, and at the same time obviate ? much trouble.

It’s Time to Stand Up for Science

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.

I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.

If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.

In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.

There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.

Thank you,

David M. Ewalt, Editor in Chief, Scientific American