Sharp County record., 1885-11-05
TILE GULF STREAM

A. Interesting loPi - Minister tC
cussed by the Amerio
m rnost interesting subject pre-
aJon .be voyage this way Is the
sen.'S GEM Stream. It forms never ending Z
tonic of inquiry and speculation II
sopms to be created and S"stalneu 81 @ " !;
ssI,o sse norstant trade wind in the N T.
m ortion of the Atlantic, DETECTING cue
lrest and by being united to the D. T.
t.oda wind of the South Atlantlc' run
;sa 70 tbe N. w. where it Joins the
n, rr.ront formed by the n. E. trade wind
eultIn ,.ai,,ng what is called the equatorla!,
ln"n nrron7 increasing IN velocity as l,
cuaiSIS, aarS Cane St. Royne, the n. E. POM
nf ilf''i tbe South American continent lns
onrrent or ynT is then supplemented by toe
t,ow Of the immense Amazon the la!9
llG" St rirer " in the world, which empttiieS
;mto fine sea about twenty-sN miles
SnUth taIU ~" Of the equator. There the
Or;noco flows in this equatorial current
already having acquired a temperature
aimost of equal warmth with the an
."'nlinnontrated in It's course through the
Corihhpan Sea, reaching a velocity o.
4 fron, one and half to three miles pei
honr and a temperature of elghty-SeVer
do@reps Fab This velocity increases
as It passes Cape Catoche IN 1uca'a!l,
on m = one side. and Cape st. Thomas, IN
Cuba on the other. This mighty ocean
stream is here again supplemented BY
our own majestic Mississippi, and rGshe'
with still increased velocity through the
GuIf of Florida, where at last 1t as
sumcs the name of the Gulf Stream
and acquires velocity of IRON
two and q quarter to five miles
om0 Nv bonr The width of the
Gulf Stream, after leaving the FI"lda
GuIf averages thirty-fiye miles, and
masses Savannah at a distance of about
ninety miles off shore. At this point it
beoins to widen and defect, and SO Its
velocity decreases. The distance be-
tween the Gulf Stream and our coast,
is what is termed the cold belt. 1t re-
tains this average distance OF between
seventy and eighty miles, untilreachng
Cane Hatteras, where the average DIS
tonce, from the inside limit OF the
stream. is only about thirty-tive miles,
1t is proper to say here, that the Gull
Stream. constantly running in n. n.
il L. and n. Z. direction, meeting a wind
in the opposite direction, accounts FOL
3 the heavy swell off HatteraS, which sea.
men dread so much, and where SO
MANY wrecks mark the spot of danger.
The stream here debOuches further OIL
shore, tends more to the +. n. E. and
SO perceptibly wdens its distance from
the shore, that at Cape Henry, below
Fortress Monroe, the inner edge Of the
stream is an average distance OF l2O
miles off shore, still moving in an E. n.
+. direction, until at Sandy Hook, the
inner limit of the stream, is $50 miles
off shore, the reader of this crude and
and limited outline will understand,
that from Cape Hatteras, where the
distance of the inner edge of the Gulf
Stream is only thirty-iive miles off shore,
till abreast of New York harbor, where
it $50, the cold belt becomes wider and
wider, 50 that the inhowing counter
current from the cold north, running
inside between the Gulf streams and the
shore, accounts for the severe winters
OF our eastern Sea-bOard States.
The stream, taking as before stated,
an E. n. Z. direction, crossing the
banks Of New Foundland, has now ut.
tained width of some three hundred
miles, but still retaining its character
OF a river in the sea, warmer than the
surrounding ocean, and having an in,
ltlal velocity of from two to three mile,
per hour. On its approach towards the
English and French coasts this great
Gulf Stream splits, and it is said, the
northern portion running partly on the
west OF Ireland to the north of Scot.
land-the other portion diverging in
o. W. direction around the Bay of Bis.
cay, where the operating cause, as of
Hatteras-thc stream running against
the wnd-causes high, confused sea,
the perpetual veXation and fear Of
navigation. 1t is thought part of the
current dives under the straits at Gib.
raltar, but its main course is southeast
along the coast of Africa between st.
Helena Bay snd the river Congo.
Alter 1t passeS that river, it becomes g
stream current, formed of water
brought from a cooler region by the
prevailing southerly winds. -Bayliss
W. Hanna, IN Indianapolis Sentinel.