The Rugby gazette and east Tennessee news. (Rugby, Morgan Co., Tenn.) 1884-188?, 1886-04-24
DEEP SEA SOUNDiNGS,
How Shots Are Sunk in Water Four and
n Half Miles Deep.

ftON tSnotS are SUNK III water -Four and
Half Miles Deep.
Alter steaming for two days to the
eastward, the line of deep-sea sound
ings were taken up again in the South
Atlantic Ocean, where the Enterprise
had left off on her outward passage
around The Cape of Good Hope over
three years before. The soundings are
taken with iron balls similar to nine
inch shot slung with wire. A hole
three inches in diameter through the
middle of the ball reduces its weight
from ninety-six pounds 0he weight of
nine-inch shoD to sixty-four pounds.
Through this hole brass plunger is in
serted several inches longer than the
diameter of the shot. The plunger is
filled with a worm, a cup and Il hook,
to which the shot is fastened to reel
containing five thousand fathoms of
steel wire fastened to a swivel forming
the head of the plunger and led over
a wheel in an iron frame several feet
clear of the ships side, and over an
other wheel little below the frame.
This leads the wire still further clear of
the ship. The frame on which the
upper wheel hangs has five hollow
stanchions in which are springs, to each
OF which rope is fastened, roll over
ROLL as in the top of the frame, and to
which the wheel hangs so as to give
way several feet to ease the strain
n al, 1lxy, nj
would surely break it on heavy roll
OF the ship, as it has done once, caus-
ing loss of sixteen hundred fathoms
of wire. When every thing is ready
she shot is dropped overheard and the
wire runs off of the reel at rate of
one thousand fathoms in ten minutes.
AS soon as the plunger reaches the
bottom the hook to which the shot is
fastened turns over by the slackening
of the strain, and so releases it, a
tell-tale on the axle of the reel tells
how many fathoms of wire have run
of. little steam engine then winds
the wire with the plunger on the reel,
minus the shot, which forever remains
at the bottom of the ocean. The plum
ger consists of a hollow brass tube ten
inches long, in which is inserted &
worm with a cup on the lower end
The worm serves for the purpose OF
twisting the cup into the bed of the
ocean and to fetch up sample from
the bottom. The cup is the invention
of Lieutenant Belknap, U. S. NJ, and
is named after him. He has invented
three different cups, but the one uset
on board the Enterprise is Belknap cul
No. 2, and the best adapted for thu
purpose. The contents of the cup
after the water is drained off, are pu
in small bottles and labeled with lati
tude, longitude and depth. These bot
ties are packed into boxes, to be sen
to the photographic office in Washing
ton.
When under steam alone tho engine.
are stopped for sounding, but whel
under sail alone steam has to be gottel
up and all sail taken in, as the shil
has to lie perfectly quiet, and to b.
under control, which is impossible
under sail. Soundings were take,
about every one hundred miles, tn
depth usually being two or three thou
sand fathoms. The greatest encoun
tered was $500 fathoms, or about 4
miles. In latitude 80 degrees sout
and longitude 30 degrees west, shoa
water of about four or five hundre
fathoms was found, revealing the eX
istence of range of mountains on tn
bottom of the ocean. These the Chal
lenger, an English man-of-war on
deep-sea sounding expedition aroun
the world ten years ago, had failed t
discover. That day fifteen sounding
were taken, one every five miles, ii
deep water was reached again. Tn
cost of shot is 81. Lieutenant Mari,
the navigator, had charge of the worl
and 1t required quartermaster, and "a
sistant and fireman to run the engin
to take sounding, which altogethc
lasts about one hour. Should the she
fail to discharge, as it did once durin
the cruise, the whole has to be woun
up again by hand, which takes thrt
hours for depth of three thousan
fathoms, as the engine is not powerf
enough to wind up wire, shot and al
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