If the reel is allowed to turn faster than the cable is drawn in, the first three or four turns on the reel will slacken up, and the lead covering may either be dented or cut through by scraping on the ground.  If the cable end when pulled through up to the block is not long enough to bend around the hole more than half way, the rope should be unfastened from its end, a length of rope with a well frayed out end should be run through the block, and by fastening to the cable close to the duct, with a series of half hitches, as much slack as necessary can be pulled in.  If this is properly manipulated there need not be a scratch on the cable, but unless great care is taken the lead may be pressed up into ridges and the core itself damaged.

Immediately after the cable is drawn in, if the joint is not to be at once made, the open end or ends should be cut off and the cable soldered up, as most cables are very susceptible to moisture and readily absorb water even from the atmosphere.  Where practicable it is always a good plan to pull the cable through as many manholes as possible without cutting the cable; for the joint is, especially in telephone or telegraph cables, the weak point.  To do this the rope should be pulled through the proper duct in the next section without unfastening it from the cable; the winch should be moved to the next manhole, and pulling through then done as before.  There should always be a man in every hole through which the cable is running to see that it does not bind anywhere and to keep protectors around the cable.

It is not advisable to pull more than one cable into a duct, and never advisable to pull a cable into a duct containing another cable, but if two or more cables have to go into the same duct, they should always be drawn in together.  Lead covered cables and those with no lead on the outside should never be pulled into the same duct, for if they bind anywhere the soft cable will suffer where two lead covered cables would get through all right.  Some manufacturers are now putting on their cables a tape or braid covering, which saves the lead many bad bruises and cuts, and is a valuable addition to a cable at very little additional expense.

Practically all electric light and power cables are either single or double conductors, and the jointing of these is comparatively a simple matter, although requiring considerable care.  The lead is cut back from each end about four or five inches, and the conductors bared of insulation for two or three inches.  The bare conductors should be thoroughly tinned by dipping in the metal pot or pouring the melted solder over them.  A sperm candle is better than resin or acid for any part of the operations where solder is used.  A lead sleeve is here slipped back over the cable, out of the way, and the ends of the conductors brought together in a copper sleeve which is then sweated to a firm joint.  This part must be as good a piece of work mechanically as electrically.  The bare splice is then wrapped tightly with cotton or silk tape to a thickness slightly greater than that of the insulation of the cable, and is thoroughly saturated with the insulating compound until all moisture previously absorbed by the tape is driven off.