14

ALBERT HOWARD, STATION ELECTRICIAN

15

60 volt Magnifier Battery, Cable Station.
April, 1925
Cable Station, Water Street, Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Canada

16

60 VOLT MAGNIFIER BATTERY

17

Water Still located in Battery Room, Cable Station.
April, 1925
Cable Station, Water Street, Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Canada

18

WATER STILL

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Hand Pump located in Boiler Room, Cable Station.
April, 1925
Cable Station, Water Street, Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Canada

20

WATER PUMP LOCATED IN BOILER ROOM

21

Harbour scene before 1925 addition to Station.
1925
Bay Roberts Harbour, Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Canada

22

CABLE STATION IN WINTER OF 1925

23

CS Colonia lays new 'Permalloy' cable from Sennen Cove, Cornwall to Bay Roberts and on to New York.
1926
Bay Roberts Harbour, Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Canada
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CABLE SHIP COLONIA IN BAY ROBERTS HARBOUR TO LAY NEW "PERMALLOY" CABLE FROM SENNEN COVE, PENZANCE TO BAY ROBERTS AND THEN FROM BAY ROBERTS TO NEW YORK

Until 1926, the Colonia was the largest cable ship in the world. She was built in 1902 by Wigham Richardson in Walker-on-Tyre, England. Overall length was 501.5 feet, and gross tonnage was 7,080 tons. This size of ship was used to lay cable in deep water, while smaller cable ships such as the Telconia and Cyrus Field were used where the water was shallow.

The Guardian, August 27, 1926

"C.S. Colonia Brings New Cable" - Shore end landed from "Cyrus Field"

On Saturday, August 21, at noon, the landing of the new Atlantic - Hammels - Bay Roberts cable took place. Early in the fore noon the Cyrus Field, Captain M.H. Bloomer, with the new cable on board arrived in this port. About 1 pm the cable was floated to the shore by means of barrels and run along through the trench into the Western Union office.

This cable which runs from Penzance, England to this town and thence to Hammels, New York, is approximately 3, 370 miles in length and weighs 13, 500 tons.

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Cable Ship Cyrus Field.
1926
Bay Roberts Harbour, Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Canada
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CABLE SHIP CYRUS FIELD IN BAY ROBERTS HARBOUR, 1926

This cable ship was partnered with the Colonia in 1926, and the Dominia in 1928, to lay the shore end of the cables in Bay Roberts.

The Station was always on the leading edge of technology beginning in 1910. In 1926, a new type transatlantic cable was laid between Cornwall, England to Bay Roberts and then on to New York. Its capacity was four times that of the older cable.

"The permalloy cable marked the first radical change in cable construction in some 50 years".
(London Times, May 23, 1926).

The Guardian, July 9, 1926.

"Fastest Cable in the World Landed"

On Monday morning, June 28, there was laid here by the Western Union cable steamer Cyrus Field the shore ends of the new "permalloy" cable connecting England with Bay Roberts, Newfoundland.

This is the fastest cable in the world, and will be operated at a speed of 2,500 letters per minute.
The shore ends of this new cable were the heaviest ever handled, weighing over 30 tons to the mile but under the able direction of Captain Bloomer, of the Cyrus Field, the whole proceedings were carried through without a hitch.

Everything was in readiness for an early start on Monday morning, and at 4 o'clock work was started.

Manilla and wire ropes were first run to the shore from the steamer, being floated in the water by means of barrels. The cable was then joined to it. On shore were 150 hardy Newfoundlanders in oilskins and sea boots, who supplied all the power required to haul the big cable from the ship to the cable office.

By 8 am the cable was landed, run through the underground trench and into the cable office, and the cable steamer was on the way out of the harbour, laying out the cable as she went. She went out a little past Bay Roberts Point Lighthouse and then buoyed the end of the shore section.

The next day, Tuesday, the large cable steamer Colonia spliced on the buoyed end and started on her 2,000 mile journey to Penzance, England. On July 8 the Colonia reached the Penzance short section, which she had laid and buoyed three weeks previously and joined the two sections together, thus completing the job of laying the long section of the world's fastest cable.

27

Western Union Staff on front steps of Staff House.
1928
Cable Avenue, Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Canada