The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-02-12
THE DEADLY UNDERTOW
AND TIE FATAL CLASP OF THE EVER
sTEALTHY-" SEA PUsS."

INV"
That Surf Bathers Should Heed.
The many deaths by drowning on the
New Jersey coast have caused a great
deal Of discussion. Some attribute the
loss of young Brokaw to the presence of
a "sea puss:'' others say it was simply
an ordinary undertow, while the con-
servative claim that it was neither
The majority of people do no know
the difference between a tide and a cur
rent, but believin g the words to be syn
| use them indiscriminately. A
tide is the alternate rising and falling of
the waters caused by the unequal attrac-
ton Of the sun and moon, while a cur
rent is a moving Of a mass of water
that may or may not rise, but has only
one direction. Currents are sometimes
produced by strong winds, but generally
by a difference of level and the configu-
ration of the bottom.
The first thing to avoid is the under
tow, which is always strongest in water
about waist deep. If 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 no particular locality,
though it is stronger in 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
NAV Judge of the strength of the under
tow bv the height of the waves as they
break and the velocity which they i'm
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 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
i 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
II spocket," as it is called, there will be
found eddies. They are of no conse-
u ~ouence, however, and of little or no dan
ger to the bather.
II We now come to a disturbance OF the
water, the very name OF which causes q
panic among bathers. The ''sea puss'
i. has no place in physical geography; II
fact, no scientist has deigned to notice
this phenomenon. Webster does moi
n. even give a definition of it in his I'M
, abridged dictionary. In The Century il
l., is defined as "a swirl of the undertov
making a small whirlpool on the surface
of the water; a local outward curFen
dangerous to bathers. Also called SCI
y pouce and sea purse"
y How the "sea puss" is formed no scien
' fist states, but in all probability it is du'
to the same causes as the whirlpool, t.
which it is closely allied. When tive
currents, with different sets and drifts
meet at a point in the water, the result
ant is a motion of rotation, with a diam
eter and velocity depending upon tn
resistance with which it meets. TIL
whirlpool or ''sea puss" is given a mo
ton of translation, which it takes fror
lI1C IIOISC VI IN w" 49,
there is often IL slight southerly currer
setting parallel to the shore along tn
Jersey and Long Island coasts. TIL.
sometimes meets another setting to tn
westward and at the union Of the two
N formed the sea puss," which move
Al slowly to the southwark and eastward
"a OCEAN CURRENTS.
~ This westward current may be due
a strong winds, Or to a storm many mile
out at sea. Far away to the eastward
the water is piled up and driven LAM
ward, where it is smooth and undi
turbed. In this way it is possible TIL
the 'sea puss" may be formed und'
. cloudless skies and in unruffied waite
. Should a bather be caught in the swi1
it is useless to attempt to swim again
,,x it. The wiser plan would be to keep h
. head above water and swim with
N. gradually nearing the edge until l
is out of its unwelcome radius of actor
Professor Maury, formerly a lieutel
ant in the United States navy, attribut
u offshore currents to a difference in tt
temperature and density of sea water
different places.
Another proof of the presence of su
marine currents is the fact that in
deep sea %soundings the line has new
yet ceased to run out even after the LEI
has reached the bottom. Should it
held fast in the boat it will invariab
part, showing when two or three mil
Of it are out that the u~ndercurrents a
sweeping against the blight of it wi
what seamen call a swinging force
and that no Irvine, however strong, b
yet been able to Withstand this.
Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, VIII
GD in command of her majesty's stes
frigate F~riedcichsteen in the Medit.
ranean, also made some important d
~coveries in this direction. In the arc,
pelago he found the counter currents
strong that they often prevented I
ldp steering Of his ship. In one instar
when the water was very clear he 10
cred the lead with colored shreds
bunting attached to every ward TIL,