Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1869-07-29
FICTITIOUS PlNNACLES.
Our Ocean Mountains.

The correspondent of the London Times
on board the Great Eastern contradicts
some commonly received conclusions, thus:
.'The line of the French cable FIRST starts
in very shallow water from Minon Bay, but
in four or five miles it deepens from ~ to
20 fathoms, and then gradually shelves
from so to GO and 90 fathoms; depth
which is pretty equally maintained over
the whole bed of the English Ohannsl At
this level, but on the whole gradually
deepening, it continues till in line with
the westernmost part of the Irish coast,
where, taking northern course, it passes
down gentle slope of sand. that continues
descending till the depth increases from
200 to 500 and 900 fathons and then, in a
short distance. to /, 700fathoms. Over oil the
rest of the course to mid-ocean the bottom
is mud. shells. and sand, and with uni
form depth Of about 1900 and 2, 200 faith
oms. This course would have brought
the Great Eastern close to the Dorthward
of the gaunt spires known rs the Three
Chinneys, and which as laid down in the
Admiralty chart, were confidently believed
to exist. When this was mentioned some
months agoin the Times. controversy at
men merely denying the existence Of these
rocks; while the other side rendered the
they had actually seen them. Tho matter
is now set at rest, and IL ever the Three
Chimneys' had on existence they havo none
now. The Atlantic cannot afford to lose
the small amount of interest which attach
ed to the supposed presence of these soil
tary peaks, but facts are stubborn things
and it has now beef placed beyond doubt
hot How A., 1.o L..
the latitude and longitude In which they
appear on the charts. Lieut. Johnstone, In
the course of his something's, went over the
exact spot where they are indicated I'm the
chart, and found more than 1000 fsthorls
of water, with deep sea all around, and not
the slightest trace of rock or shoal IN
any direction. The sooner, therefore,
they come out of the admiralty map the
better, and 1t would be curious to know
how they ever got there atall
From tNe locality of these fictitious
Pinnacles, the cable course il kept I'm
pretty regular depth Of from 1900 to 2, 600
fsthoms, and throughout over soft bed
of mud mixed with myriads of the most
minute shells. These shells comprise vari-
Gus forms OF diat0maci9 which, though
perfect in their organization, are so exquis-
iteiy small as only to be visible under the
most powerful microscopes. They are
really as hne as Hour, and the greater part
of the bed of tho Atlantic is covered with
the debris of these minute animalculfe,
the existence of which proves conclusively,
which WAS long denied, ths.f n. these great
depths TIRE Is an absolute cessation of
all motion Over such q bottom the line
is taken in an f.rc of a large circle, tho
most southerly point II the cable being in
AZ degrees north hti ude, and the most
northerly As degrees. Along the southern
end of the Newfound md bank Il is sunk
in about $50 to 200 "a hons, tho water on
the bank itseIf varying from so TO 90 sesh-
oms. Thus Il y completely sheltered from
ice which, II the iceberes pass the bank
at oil, must clear the cable, which Mes un-
der It's lee by some hundred fathoms or
more. From this point 1t Is taken up
due north in the channel between the
Green bank and the St Pierre bank In an
almost unvaryipg depth Of 500 hthoms.