The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-09-04
THE DEADLY UADERTo!W
AND THE FATAL cLAsAoF TAE ESER
s7ehLTHY SEA PussI j.

loss OF young Brokaw to the presence OF
a "sea puss;f others say it was simply
an ordinary undertow, while the con-
servative cld linn that it was neither.
The majority of people do not know
the difference between tide and a cur
rent, but believing the words to be syn
onymous, nsb them Unfortunately. A
tide is the alternate rising and falling of
the waters c;.used by the unequal attrac-
ton of the shn and moon, while a cur
rent is mbving of mass of water
that may or tnay not rise, but has only
one directiOns Currents are sometimes
produced by strong winds, but generally
by differente of level and the configu-
ration of thd bottom.
| The first thing to avoid is thu under
tow, which ID always strongest IN water
about waist deep Ii the bather would
venture out further or remain nearer the
shore he would escape the strength of the
undertow. This disturbance of the water
is confined ito no particular locality,
though it is stronger in some places than
in others, Owing to the trend, of the
shore. 1t is &aused by the rushing out
of the water under the surface after be-
ing thrown up on the beach, and is a.
ways strongebt in an angry surf One
may judge of the strength of the under
tow by the h9ight of the waves as they
break and the velocity which they iIn-
part to objects along the beach.
The explanation Of the undertow is
simple. The: approaching waves have a
velocity depending upon the strength of
the wind. So have the reeeding ones,
but this is dup to gravity and depends
upon the angle of inclination of the
beach. The ibreakers, therefore, with
their greater velocity, run over the top
of the waves, Iwhile the reeeding water
keeps below.
THE DREADED "SEA PUss."
Eddies are; simply partial currents
that take an! opposite direction to the
parent streamb and are produced entirely
by the trendi of the shore. Wherever
there is a recession of the beach or
pocket" as 1t is called, there will be
found eddiesi They are of no conse-
quence, however, and of little or no dam
ger to the bather.
We now colhe to disturbance of the
water, the very name Of which causes a
panic among ;bathers The 'sea puss''
has no place in physical geography; in
fact, no scientist has deigned to notice
this phenomd non. Webster does not
even give dsfnition of it in his I'M
abridged dictionary. In The Century it
is defined as ga swirl of the undertow
making small whirlpool en- the surface
of the water; la local outward current
dangerous to bathers. Also called sea
pouce and sea purse"
How the ''sea puss" is formed no scien-
fist states, bur- in all probability it is due
to the same cduses as the whirlpool, to
which it is closely allied. When two
currents, with different sets and drifts,
meet at point in the water, the result
ant is motion; of rotation, with diam
eter and velocity depending upon the
resistance with which it meets. The
whirlpool or sea puss" is given mo-
ton of translation, which it takes from
the stronger of the two currents. Now
there is often b slight southerly current
setting parallel to the shore along the
Jersey and Long Island coasts. This
sometimes me9ts another setting to the
westward and at the union Of the two is
formed the ''isea puss," which moves
slowly to the southwark and eastward.
OCEAN CURRENTS.
This westward current may be due to |
strong winds, or to q storm many miles
out at sea. Far away TO the eastward,
the water is piled up and driven land
ward, where 1T is smooth and undjs- /
turbed. In this way it is possible that |
the "sea puss" may be formed under
cloudless skies land ID unruffied water. |
Should batheF be caught in the swirl, |
it is useless to attempt to swim against
it. The wiser plan would be to keep his /
head above water and swim with it, /
neasIng the edge until he
is out of its unyvelcome radius of action.
Professor Maary, formerly heuten-
ant in the United States navy, attn butes
Offshore currents to a difference in the
and density Of sea water at
pldCesi
Another proof of the presence of sub
marine currents is the fact that in ali
deep sea soundings the line has never
yet ceased to ran out even after the lead
has reached thd bottom. Should it be
held fast in they boat it viii invariably
part, showing when two or three miles
Of it are out that the undercurrents are
sweeping against the blight Of il with
what seamen call a swinging force"
and that no twtne. however strong. las
yet been able ID withstand this
Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, when
n command Of her maJesty's steam
.rigate Friedci, hsteen in the Meliter-
-anean, also made some important dis
,overies IN this direction In the arehi-
Oelago be found the counter currents so
strong that th@y often prevented the
steering Of his ship. In one instance
when the wateIs was very clear he low
red the lead ivita colCred shreds of
bunting attached 10 every yard These
pointed in efficient directions al round
me compass.-G. Nephew King, Dr., IN
New York Recorder.