The paying-out apparatus for the two laying vessels H.M.S. Agamemnon and U.S.N.S. Niagara had to be somewhat hurriedly put together; consequently not as much attention was paid to its design as the novelty of the undertaking really demanded. The previous, and somewhat primitive, gear hitherto used had proved to possess too little strength, the cable—when being laid in anything but quite shallow water—having more than once obtained the mastery, through meeting insufficient restraining force. In the new machine (Fig. 12) there was certainly no lack of holding-back power. It erred, indeed, the other way, being so heavy and powerful that it was liable to break the cable under any material strain. The degree of retardation was regulated by a hand-wheel actuating a frame-clutch surrounding the outside of a brake-wheel. The details of this machine were worked out by Messrs. C. de Bergue & Co., the manufacturers. The engineer-in-chief also furnished external guards to the propelling screws of each laying vessel to prevent a foul with the cable in the case of going “astern.” This cage was nicknamed a “crinoline” (then in fashion with ladies), which, indeed, it somewhat resembled. The above screw-guard may be seen in several of the illustrations of either ships farther on. Were it not for the necessity of sounding operations, it would be applied to all telegraph-ships to-day.{57}
Preparations for Starting.—By the third week in July (within the course of as many weeks) the great ships had absorbed all their precious cargo—the Agamemnon in the Thames and the Niagara in the Mersey. The process of coiling the cable on board the Agamemnon is illustrated in Fig. 13.
Staff.—For such an undertaking the staff had, of course, to be considerable. Besides the engineer-in-chief (Mr. Bright), the engineering department was composed as follows: Mr. (afterward Sir Samuel) Canning, formerly a railway engineer, who had laid the Gulf of St. Lawrence and other cables; Mr. William Henry Woodhouse, who had laid some of the cables in the Mediterranean; Mr. F. C. Webb, with much experience in early cable work; and, finally, Mr. Henry Clifford, a mechanical engineer, destined to be responsibly associated with a large proportion of the cables since laid.
Besides Mr. Whitehouse (whose health, however, did not permit him to accompany the expedition) there were on the electrical staff Mr. C. V. de Sauty, Mr. J. C. Laws, Mr. F. Lambert, Mr. H. A. C. Saunders, Mr. Benjamin Smith, Mr. Richard Collett, and Mr. Charles Gerhardi, all of whom were afterward prominently connected with subsequent submarine cable under{58}takings. Their respective energies were divided up between the two laying ships.[19] The expedition was to be further strengthened by a representative of The Times, as well as of the Daily News and New York Herald.