Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1858-05-27
The Bottom of the 0oean---Interestin,
Revelations,

!
LIEUT.. MAURY has Just sent o report to til,
Secretary of the Navy concerning the sui
marine explorations made by the North Pu
cfc Exploring Expedition under the COmmant
of Lieut., Rodgers and from this yauabl
document we take the following interesting
! extract -
Deep sea soundings, with specimens OF
! the bottom, have also been returned to this
/ office from that expedition They were ta
ken in the North Pacifce with Brooke's appa
ratuS, and have been studied through the mi
croscope of Prof Bailey at West Point.
| "They all tell the same story. They teach
US that the quiet of the grave reigns every
where in the profound depths of the ocean
! that the repose here is beyond the reach OF
the wind it is so perfect that none of the
powers of EARTH save only the earthquake
and volcano can disturb it. The specimens
Of deep sea soundingS, for which we are in
debted TO the ingenuity Of Lieut. Brooke, are
as pure and as free from the sand of the sea
as the snow fake that falls when it is calm,
| upon the sea- is from the dust of the earth.
| Indeed, these Soundngs suggest the idea that
| the sea, like the snow cloud with Its flakes in
"A calm, is always letting fall upon its bed
showers of these microscopic shells and we
may readily imagine that the sunless wrecks"
which strew its bottom, are, in the process of
ages, hid under the fieccy covering, presenting
he rounding appearance which is seen over the
body Of the traveller who has persisted in tie
snow storm The ocean, especially within
and under the tropics, swarms with life. The
remains Of its myrials Of moving things are
conveyed by currents, and scattered and lOdg-
ed in the course Of time all over its bottom
This process continued Tor ages, has covered
the depths of the ocean as with q mantle, con-
ssting of organisms as delicate as the mealed
frost, and as the undrifted snowflake on the
mountain. Whenever this beautiful sounding
rod has reached the bottom OF the deep sea-
whe ther in the Atlantic or Pacific the bed Of
the ocean has been found of downlike soft
ness. The lead appears to sink many feet
deep into the oOZy matter there which has
been strained and filtered through the sea
water This matter consists of the skeletons
and casts Of insects of the sea Of microscopic
miHutcncSs.
g The fact that the currents DO not reach
down TO the bottom of the deep sea, that there
are no abrading agents at work there, save
alone the gnawing tooth Of time, that rope
Of sand, if stretched upon the bed Of the ocean
would be cable strong enough to hold the
longest telegraph wire that art can draw;
these with other discoveries made in the course
of tie Investigations carried on in the hydro
graphical department Of this Office concerning
the physics Of the sea, ard already announced
in lis official publications and correspondence,
are likely to prove Of great practical value
ami impol tance in submarine felegraph-a line
of business only i'll the first stage Of its infancy
but deeply interesting TO the whole human
family for in its bearings and results it touches
most nearly the progress Of man in the march
that is leading upward The notion was that
telegraphic cable must be Of great strength
to resist and withstand the forces Of the sea
Whereupon the conducting wire, after being
coated to Insulation with gutta percha, was
encased in wire hawser or cable stout enough
to hold the largest seVenty-four' to her
anchors These cables were very expensive in
their manufacture, bulky for stowsge, unwieldy
for handling and difficult 10 lay 1t WAS such
wire laid cable that the Telegraphic Com
pany lost in the laying between Newfoundland
and Cape Breton in 1855 ;and it is such one
wire laid stiff and larger than mans
arm-that the French haze twice attempted
TO lay in the Mediterranean, and twice lost.
Bat now We have learned, in the course
Of these Investigations, that all the obstacles
interpo>cd by the sen to the laying Of subma-
rine telegraPhs lie between the surface and
the depth Of few hundred falhoms below
and that these are bot to be mastered 10y force
nor overcome by the tensile strength Of wire
drawn ropes, but that, with little artifce,
they will yield to a mere Tired. il is the case
of a mau-or-war and the little nautilus in the
hurricane the one weak in its strength is
dashed to pieces the other, strong in its
weakness rcssts the utmost violence of the
storm and rides aS safely through it as though
there were no ragiugS in the sea. Therefore,
it may now be considered as a settled principle
in Submarine telegraphy that the true charac-
ter of a cable for the deep sea is not that Of
an iron rope as large as mans arm, but
single copper wire, or fascible of wires coated
with gutta percha plant and supple, and not
larger than lady's finger.
WAGGrRY-Some time ago on the Sab,