The Monitor., 1891-10-02
THE DEADLY ENDERT0W
AND TIE FATAL CLASP OF TIE ev6F
sTEALTHY SEA PUss."

l4E IlSs4tt -ACotAlS ~. hA0fs A1i45 O-- lit
New Jersey coast have caused great
deal Of discussion Some attribute the
loss Of young Brokaw to the presence OF
a 'ssea puss;'' others say it was simply
an ordinary undertow. while the con
servative claim that it was neither.
The majority Of people do not know
the difference between a tide and a cur.
rent, but believing the words to be syn
onymous, use them unfortunately. A
tide is the alternate rising and falling OF
the waters caused by the unequal attrac-
ton Of the sun and moon. while Il cur,
rent is moving of d mass OF water
that may or may not rise, bat has only
one direction Currents are sometimes
produced by strong winds, but generally
by difference Of level and the eonfgu-
ration Of the bottom
The first thing to avoid is the under
tow, which is 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 to 10 particular locality,
though it is stronger i'll some places than
in others, owing to the trend Of the
shore. 1t is caused by the rushing out
Of the water under the surface after be-
ing thrown up On the beach, and is al
ways strongest in an angry surf. One
may judge OF the strength of the under
tow by the height Of the waves as they
brsak and the velocity which they i'm
part to objects along the beach.
The explanation Of the undertow Is
simple The approaching waves have
velocity depending upon the strength of
the wind. So have the receding ones,
but this is due to gravity and depends
upon the angle OF inclination of the
beach. The breakers, therefore, with
their greater velocity, run over the top
Of the waves. while the receding water
keeps below.
THE DREADED SEA PUss."
Eddies are simply partial currents
that take an opposite direction to the
parent stream, and are produced entirely
by the trend of the shore. Wherever
there is a recession of the beach or
'pocket," as ii is called, there will be
found eddies. They are Of no conse-
| quence, however, and Of little or no dan
| ger TO the bather
We now come to disturbance of the
water, the very name Of which causes
panic among bathers. The ''sea puss"
has no place in physical geography; in
fact, no scientist has deigned to notice
this phenomenon. Webster does not
even give definition Of it iii his un-
abridged dictionary In The Century il
is defined as "a swirl Of the undertow
making d small whirlpool on the surface
of the water. local outward current
dangerous to bathers Also caaed sea
pouee and sea purse.
How the s.sea puss3 is formed ne scien-
| tist states, but in all probability it is due
| to the same causes us the whirlpool, to
which it is closely allied. When two
currents, with different sets and drifts,
meet at point il the water, the result
ant is a 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 slight southerly current
setting parallel to the shore along the
jersey and Long Island coasts. This
sometimes meets another setting to the
westward and at the union of the two is
formed the sea puss, which moves
slowly to the southwark and eastward.
OCEAN CURRENTS.
This westward current may be due to
strong winds. or to storm many miles
out at sea. Far away to the eastward,
the water is piled up and driven land
ward, where il is smooth and undis-
turbed. In this way it is possible that
| the stsea puss' may he formed under
cloudless skies and in unruthed water.
Should bather be caught i'll 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,
gradually nearing the edge until he
is out of its unwelcoine radius of action.
Professor Maury. formerly heuten-
ant in the United States navy, attributes
offshore currents to difference in the
temperature and density of sea water at
different places.
Another proof OF the presence Of sub
marine currents is the fact that III al
deep sea soundings the line has never
yet ceased to run out even after the lead
has reached the bottom. Should it be
held fast in the boat it viii invariably
part, showing when two or three miles
Of it are out that tae undercurrcnts are
sweeping against the blight Of it with
what seamen call Il "swigging force"
and that no twine, however strong, has
yet been able to Withstand this.
Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, when
in command Of her lnajesty's steam
| Gigate Friedcichsteen in the Mediter-
ranean, also made some important dis
coyeries in this direction In the archi-
| pelago he found the counter currents so
strong that they often prevented the
steering Of his ship In one instance
when the water was very clear he low
cred the lead with colored shreds Of
bunting attached to every yard These
pointed in different directions all round
the compass.--W. Nephew King, Jr., in
New York Recorder
Eskimo Mourning Customs.