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 A. Todd, Parliamentary Government in England (1867–1869); much valuable information will also be found in such works as W. E. Gladstone’s Gleanings; the third earl of Malmesbury’s Memoirs of an ex-Minister (1884–1885); Greville’s Memoirs; Sir A. West’s Recollections, 1832–1886 (1889), &c.

CABINET NOIR, the name given in France to the office where the letters of suspected persons were opened and read by public officials before being forwarded to their destination. This practice had been in vogue since the establishment of posts, and was frequently used by the ministers of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV.; but it was not until the reign of Louis XV. that a separate office for this purpose was created. This was called the cabinet du secret des postes, or more popularly the cabinet noir. Although declaimed against at the time of the Revolution, it was used both by the revolutionary leaders and by Napoleon. The cabinet noir has now disappeared, but the right to open letters in cases of emergency appears still to be retained by the French government; and a similar right is occasionally exercised in England under the direction of a secretary of state, and, indeed, in all civilized countries. In England this power was frequently employed during the 18th century and was confirmed by the Post Office Act of 1837; its most notorious use being, perhaps, the opening of Mazzini’s letters in 1844.

CABLE, GEORGE WASHINGTON (1844– ) American author, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the 12th of October 1844. At the age of fourteen he entered a mercantile establishment as a clerk; joined the Confederate army (4th Mississippi Cavalry) at the age of nineteen; at the close of the war engaged in civil engineering, and in newspaper work in New Orleans; and first became known in literature by sketches and stories of old French-American life in that city. These were first published in Scribner’s Monthly, and were collected in book form in 1879, under the title of Old Creole Days. The characteristics of the series—of which the novelette Madame Delphine (1881) is virtually a part—are neatness of touch, sympathetic accuracy of description of people and places, and a constant combination of gentle pathos with quiet humour. These shorter tales were followed by the novels The Grandissimes (1880), Dr Sevier (1883) and Bonaventure (1888), of which the first dealt with Creole life in Louisiana a hundred years ago, while the second was related to the period of the Civil War of 1861–65. Dr Sevier, on the whole, is to be accounted Cable’s masterpiece, its character of Narcisse combining nearly all the qualities which have given him his place in American literature as an artist and a social chronicler. In this, as in nearly all of his stories, he makes much use of the soft French-English dialect of Louisiana. He does not confine himself to New Orleans, laying many of his scenes, as in the short story Belles Demoiselles Plantation, in the marshy lowlands towards the mouth of the Mississippi. Cable was the leader in the noteworthy literary movement which has influenced nearly all southern writers since the war of 1861—a movement of which the chief importance lay in the determination to portray local scenes, characters and historical episodes with accuracy instead of merely imaginative romanticism, and to interest readers by fidelity and sympathy in the portrayal of things well known to the authors. Other writings by Cable have dealt with various problems of race and politics in the southern states during and after the “reconstruction period” following the Civil War; while in The Creoles of Louisiana (1884) he presented a history of that folk from the time of its appearance as a social and military factor. His dispassionate treatment of his theme in this volume and its predecessors gave increasing offence to sensitive Creoles and their sympathizers, and in 1886 Cable removed to Northampton, Massachusetts. At one time he edited a magazine in Northampton, and afterwards conducted the monthly Current Literature, published in New York. His Collected Works were published in a uniform issue in 5 vols. (New York, 1898). Among his later volumes are The Cavalier (1901), Bylow Hill (1902), and Kincaid’s Battery (1908).

CABLE (from Late Lat. capulum, a halter, from capere, to take hold of), a large rope or chain, used generally with ships, but often employed for other purposes; the term “cable” is also used by analogy in minor varieties of similar engineering or other attachments, and in the case of “electric cables” for the submarine wires (see ) by which telegraphic messages are transmitted.

The cable by which a ship rides at her anchor is now made of iron; prior to 1811 only hempen cables were supplied to ships of the British navy, a first-rate’s complement on the East Indian station being eleven; the largest was 25 in. (equal to 2 in. iron cable) and weighed 6 tons. In 1811, iron cables were supplied to stationary ships; their superiority over hempen ones was manifest, as they were less liable to foul or to be cut by rocks, or to be injured by enemy’s shot. Iron cables are also handier and cleaner, an offensive odour being exhaled from dirty hempen cables, when unbent and stowed inboard. The first patent for iron cables was by Phillip White in 1634; twisted links were suggested in 1813 by Captain Brown (who afterwards, in conjunction with Brown, Lenox & Co., planned the Brighton chain pier in 1823); and studs were introduced in 1816. Hempen cables are not now supplied to ships, having been superseded by steel wire hawsers. The length of a hempen cable is 101 fathoms, and a cable’s length, as a standard of measurement, usually placed on charts, is assumed to be 100 fathoms or 600 ft. The sizes, number and lengths of cables supplied to ships of the British navy are given in the official publication, the Ship’s Establishment; cables for merchant ships are regulated by Lloyds, and are tested according to the Anchors and Chain Cables Act 1899.

In manufacturing chain cables, the bars are cut to the required length of link, at an angle for forming the welds and, after heating, are bent by machinery to the form of a link and welded by smiths, each link being inserted in the previous one before welding. Cables of less than 1 in. are welded at the crown, there not being sufficient room for a side weld; experience has shown that the latter method is preferable and it is employed in making larger sized cables. In 1898 steel studs were introduced instead of cast iron ones, the latter having a tendency to work loose, but the practice is not universal. After testing, the licensed tester must place on every five fathoms of cable a distinctive mark which also indicates the testing establishments; the stamp or die employed must be approved by the Board of Trade. The iron used in the construction, also the testing, of mooring chains and cables for the London Trinity House Corporation are subject to more stringent regulations.



Cables for the British navy and mercantile marine are supplied in 12 fathom and 15 fathom lengths respectively, connected together by “joining shackles”, D (fig. 1). Each length is “marked” by pieces of iron wire being twisted round the studs of the links; the wire is placed on the first studs on each side of the first shackle, on the second studs on each side of the second shackle, and so on; thus the number of lengths of cable out is clearly indicated. For instance, if the wire is on the sixth