Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-12-24

H'e N the weed, and 70 phosphorescent are
they that at night one can write his name ON
one Of them and it viii presently come out in
LEVERS OF fire. It is very odd 10 find insects in
the open ocean Thousands Of miles from land
wingless long-legged black skating bugs" Of a
species closely allied TO those which dash about
on the surface of fresh-water ponds.
on raE FLOOR OF THE SEA.
On the bottom Of the ocean beneath this vast
field of weed filed with animals living and dy-
ing, an immense deposit of animal and vegeta-
Bile remains must be gradually forming
SHOULD that part Of the floor Of the sea be up
nesved at some future time By volcanic action
II would furnish mines of manure sufficient to
fertilize the farms of the world. Surprising
that 1t we're possible economically to fetch to
Europe or America great quantities of this
water plant which now floats useless it would
be enormously valuable as a fertilizer.
Many "dsrelicts"-i e., deserted and water
logged vessels-fnd their way into the Sargssso
sea, where they float about for long time and
nnaiiy break up or sink. An important feature
OF the work Of the photographic office is the
hndlng OF such dangers to navigation, tine ap-
proximate location Of which are plotted monthly
on the pilot charts distributed TO shippers. Four
years ago great alarm was felt on account of q
gigantic raft Of logs which went adrift south Of
Nantucket. 1t was composed of q, 600 trunks
OF trees from so to 100 feet long. bound with
iron chains into q cigsr-ehaped mass $50 feet
long and weighing 1900 tons. 1t was con-
structed in Nova Scotia, starting from the Bay
OF Fundy for New York in tow.
The hawsers parted in q hurricane, leaving
the raft in the direct track of commerce. The
biggest OF the ocean greyhounds, on striking
such an obstruction, would have gone down at
once with all on board. Two government
steamers and ting started at once in pursuit Of
the raft, which had luckily been broken up by
the storm, the remnants of it being found scat
tered over a wide space about 100 miles south
asf NJ mint rhara Loaf Enr
time 1t was imagined that the floating logs
might do damage, but though many vessels
encountered them, no harm resulted.
DERELIcTs.
This would have been the most dangerous
derelict ever known if the raft had held to-
gether. Vessels which come under this denomi-
nation are most commonly laden with lumber
or some other light cargo, SO that they do not
sink, but merely become wafer logged, floating
about dismasted with decks on level with the
water, so that it is very difficult to see them in
time to avoid them. Continually drifting there
Is no telling when or where they will be en-
countered and a collision with such an OBJ
stacie Is very apt to mean total wreck.
Ships often sail away and are never heard
from again. though there has been no storm
and in such cases they are reported missing"
the likelihood always being that they have met
with some such accident as this. against which
even the best navigator cannot guard. SO
serious is this peril that it has been proposed
that the nations should divide the oceans into
districts, each one keeping its own district
clear The most extraordinary derelict ever
heard of was the barque Marie Celeste, which
was found in the middle Of the Atlantic de-
serted, with every sail set dinner half cooked
in the galley and not soul on board, though
she had every appearance of having been oc-
cupied Immediately before.
The weather was fair, and there was a gentle
breeze. III az
PLANTATION of the mystery has every offered
Itself. One OF the uses Of studying the surface
currents of the seas is for the tracking of dere-
licts. Often, when a very dangerous one is
located, steamer is sent out to blow it sky
high with explosives.
WEATHER PREDICTIONS AT SEA.
Before many years have passed there will be
adopted regular system for making predic
tions of weather on the ocean, based upon
observations at stations in different parts of the
Atlantic. 1t is not practicable to construct re-
liable forecasts for that vast waste of waters
from data obtained on its shores
Therefore it is proposed that observatories
shall be established on the Bermudas. the
Azores, the Cansries and the Cape Verde
Islands, all of which are already or will soon be
connected with the continents by telegraphic
cable. Excepting the Bermudas, all Of these
islands have localities suitable for high-level
oo3eryatories. There are mountains in the
AZORES mile ana nall nigh, In Madeira a
mile high. in Teneriffe two miles high, and on
the Cape Verde Island of Fogo there ia q peak
mile and three-quarters high. Observations
taken from Fogo would be particularly vaiua-
bic, because it lies near the tropic and on the
parallel where most of the important cyclones
that traverse the Atlantic are generated.
The Cbservatories will be equipped with in
struments for noting the first appearance, ma
ture and progress of disturbances, and the in
tclligence thus secured will be transmitted to
the mainland in time to give warning of coming
storms. In this way the destruction of shipping
along the coasts by unexpected hurricanes will
be to a great extent prevented.
The fact is interesting to confer plate that if
the entire surface Of the earth were made level
the whole globe would be covered with water
to depth of two miles. The average depth of
oceans Mt present is about three miles.
Perhaps the best way to get notion of what
such depth signifies is to think of place
three miles distant on the surface Of the earth
and to imagine the horizontal line connecting
ones self with that place swung downward to
the perpendicular. The deepest hole IN any of
the oceans lis found just east of Japan. where
the bottom sinks to depth of five and quar-
ter miles below the surface. The voyagers on
the famous expedition OF the Challenger
found that it took hour and a quarter for
the heavy sounding weight to sink to the bot |
tom Of this mighty chssm. RENE BACHE
SAYINGS OF CHILDREN.