The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1890-10-04


A correspondent of the Boston Jour-
mai. writing about the gulf stream. says;
"From what source or cause is its
originp What are its pecullaritlesP
What does It follow What Ii It's
depth. width. temperature. velocity.
etc.P Let me give YOU an old sesman's
experiences, Investigations and opin-
ions; but first u very brief description
Of the wonder and the generally nc
ceptcd opinions In relation to Its origin.
Its source was supposed DO from tho
pent up water which from several
sources accumulated In tho Gulf Of
Mexico aud made Its exit into the At
lantic Ocean between the Florida reefs
and Bahama banks. This Is undoubt-
eddy true In great measure. but in
vestigators have long believed that
other yet unexplained causes exist. 1t
reaches the Atlantic Ocean, flowing in
due north direction. at about ~ de-
grees latitude, thence following the
general coast line to Cape Hntteras.
where Il is detected very much 10 the
east by the rocks and shoals which ex-
tend some ten or twelve miles east
from the cape-say In latitude 50 de-
grees. That the stream has In tho
long ages of It's existence gradually
worn away the outlying banks OF Cape
Hatteras to their present limits. aud
that the attrition is still continuing.
there can scarcely DO, doubt; aud
what will be the result OF this gradual
approach Of tho stream to our immedi-
ate coast line we way conjecture, and
we may also quite reasonably attribute
our milder growing winters to the
change already effected ut Cape Hat
teras.
At Cape Hatteras the gulf stream
meets the Arctic current which strikes
the western edge and passes beneath
the warm waters of tho gulf, and pro-
badly minglcs, and Is. in u great meas
ure, lost in that great stream. which
here is about 160 miles wide and about
600 feet deep. flowing with variably
velocity from one to three miles per
hour with temperature averaging 20
degrees. Here the gulf stream loses
much OF its strange blue color, while
its peculiar electrical waters produce
wonderful developments in tho atnos-
phere, and the almost incessant storms
continue in its course up to and be-
yond the Banks of Newfoundland. A
ship in striking the current from tho
west often plunges her bow into
thunderstorm, while her stern Is in
clear sunshine. and ut the same time u
thermometer suspended from The ships
bow will register 10 degrees. while
another hanging at tho stern shows but
40 degrees.
The gulf stream, rs 1t passes out he
tween the Florida reefs and the Bahama
banks, is some ZOO feet in depth and
forty miles wide. with velocity vary
ing from two to five miles an hour and
a temperature from " to ST degrees.
1t has some peculiar attributes and diff
fcrs in many respects. aside from its
temperature and electric elements.
from tho waters of the Atlantic.
through which it plows its way for
thousands of miles before its effect or
identity Is lost. These singular char
acteristics have led seamen to believe
TINT from some subterrunean sources
vast stream of heated water, strange
nnd peculiar in its elements, issued from
some orifcc near the Gulf Of Mexico.
and. mingling with the outrushing wat
crs of the gulf, accelerated its rapid
course into the Atlantic. The United
States coast survey has devoted much
study to this theory. and its investiga-
tions have added much weight to the
above explanation. The supposed
oriice may be comparatively small
may bc overlapped in such manner
that the deep sea lead may never find
1t in 5000 perpendicular feet of water;
but that IL exists is becoming very
marked belief and very interesting
phenomenon.