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CABLE 270 CABOT galvanized or coated with a preservative composition. Wire ropes are usually housed on board ship by winding them round a special reel or drum. Hemp cables, moreover, have for long been al- most wholly superseded by chain cables; the introduction of steam on board ship having brought in its train the powerful steam windlass wherewith to manipulate the heaviest chains and anchors re- quired. Hempen and wire ropes are in- variably used as tow-lines and for moor- ing vessels. Chain cables are made in links. There are two distinct kinds of chain cables — the stud-link chain, which has a tie or stud welded from side to side, and the short-link or unstudded chain. The sizes of chain cables are denoted by the thickness of rod iron selected for the links. In mechanical engineering, a cable is the wire rope used for the purpose of moving the kind of street cars com- monly called cable cars or grip cars. A very serious phase of the cable system is in the fact that by far the greater per cent, of the initial power is required to simply haul the cable without cars at- tached, or when the cable is a little worn it is easily overloaded. The wire rope used for submarine telegraphy is also called a cable. The term is also applied to wires used undergi'ound in telephone and electric lighting work, as well as to certain aerial wires used for power transmission. See Telephone; Tele- graph. In navigation the cable is a nautical measure of distance=:120 fath- oms, or 720 feet, by which the distances of ships in a fleet are frequently esti- mated. CABLE, GEORGE WASHINGTON, an American novelist; born in New Or- leans, La., Oct. 12, 1844. After the Civil War he began to contribute sketches to newspapers, and afterward published stories in magazines. Among his pub- lished books are: "Old Creole Days," "The Grandissimes," "Madame Del- phine," "Dr. Sevier," "The Creoles of Louisiana," "The Silent South," "John March, Southerner," "Bonaventure," "Strange, True Stories of Louisiana," "The Busy Man's Bible," "The Negro Question," "Strong Hearts," "Gideon's Band," "Lovers of Louisiana," etc. CABOT, GEORGE, an American states- man; born in Salem, Mass., Dec, 3, 1751; educated at Harvard College. In 1791 he became United States Senator for Massachusetts, a post which he held for five years — a steadfast friend through- out of the Washington administration. He yielded essential aid to Hamilton in perfecting his financial system. In 1814 he was chosen a delegate to the memo- rable Hartford Convention, and was elected president of that assembly. He died in Boston, April 18, 1823. CABOT, JOHN (It. GIOVANNI CABOTO) , a Venetian pilot, the discoverer of the mainland of North America, settled as a merchant, probably as early as 1472, in Bristol, England, where he is sup- posed to have died about 1498. Under letters-patent from Henry VII., dated March 5, 1496, he set sail from Bristol in 1497, with two ships, accompanied by Lewis, Sebastian, and Sancto, his sons, and on June 24th sighted Cape Breton Island and Nova Scotia. Letters-patent were granted Feb. 3, 1498, for a second expedition, but whether any voyages were made under these is doubtful. However, they form the last authentic record of his career. The same uncertainty exists as to the birthplace of his second son, Sebastian, who, it now appears most probable, was born in Bristol in 1474. Sebastian's name is associated with that of his father in the charter of 1496, and in 1499 he appears to have sailed with two ships in search of a Northwest Passage, and followed the American coast from 60° to 30° N. lat.; but it has been con- sidered doubtful whether this voyage also should not be assigned to his father. We hear no more of Sebastian till 1512, when he appears to have attained some fame in England as a cartographer, in which capacity he entered the service of Ferdinand V. of Spain in the same year. A contemplated voyage of discovery to the Northwest was frustrated by the death of the King in 1516; and the jeal- ousy of the Regent, Cardinal Ximenes, impelled Cabot to return to England in 1517. During this visit he appears to have been offered by Henry VIII., through Wolsey, the command of an ex- pedition which, through either the cow- ardice or malice of Sir Thomas Perte, who was appointed his lieutenant, "tooke none effect"; but whether the expedition ever left England or not has been dis- puted. In 1519 Cabot returned to Spain, and was appointed pilot-major of the kingdom by Charles V., who, in 1526, placed him in command of an expedition which examined the coast of Brazil and La Plata, where he endeavored to plant colonies. The attempt ending in failure, he was imprisoned for a year in 1530, and banished for two years to Oran, in Africa. In 1533 he obtained his former post in Spain, but in 1547 he once more betook himself to England, where he was well received by Edward VI., who made him inspector of the navy, and gave him a pension. To this monarch he seems