Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1893-10-28

the kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands,
for the purpose of determining the
practicability of the laying of a teie-
graph cable between those points.
4 he work, however, has been con-
stantly under way, and the hydro
graphic office has prepared beautiful
profile delineation of the entire path
way of that section from California to
the Hawaiian Islands
The strongest argument heretofore
against the practieability of laying a
ca bile in the Pacific ocean has been the
existence of volcanic regions. The
survey has been prosecuted with care
and accuracy, and, il is believed, has
established the fact that the laying of
a cable on almost any line is quite
practicable Two lines of soundings
were run by the United States Fish
4 Commission steamer Albatross from
4 Monterey bay, Cal, TO Honolulu. This
4 path is considered preferable 10 that
| laid ont and sounded by the United
4 States steamer Thetis, connecting
| Point Conception, Cal, and Hilo bay,
/ Hawaii. This path will require the
smallest length of wire IL passes over
level bottom, the nature and char
acter of which are favorable to the
protection and preservation of the ca
BILE, avoiding submarine mountains.
The cable following this route viii
start from Salinas Landing in Monte
rey Bay. AT that place deep gulley
leads out into the ocean, and through
it the wire viii pass About three
miles from shore the wire viii lay
. 600 feet below the surface of the
water. At fifteen miles from shore il
will reach depth of about one mile
and a half From this point the bot
tom shoals gradually, until about 20C
miles from the coast of California, q
regu ar depth of three miles is reached
Thence westward the cable will pass
over vast level plain. Five hundred
and seventy miles out a high noun
tain is found-two and one-half miles
high. The cable will avoid this eleva
ton by running TO the southwark o.
Il. Such drowned mountains are mel
with in all oceans, but this one is par
ticularly gigantic. Doubtless a vol
canic eruption brought forth its exist
enee. Two hundred miles east Of Hon
olulu another hill is discovered. = Ee
yond its summit the water despenl
quickly TO more than three miles, and
this great depth is found TO within |
short distance of the Hawaiian islands
which are gigantic extinct volcanoes
uplifted precipitously from the bottom
, OF the Pacific.
Soundings were taken at interval:
; of about ten miles. Specimens of thu
bottom were brought up and thei
characteristics noted. ''Globerigini
, ooze" was found to be the chief ma
terial constituting the pavement o
. the great sea. 1t is like thick mud
and is composed of fine detritu
brought by rivers from the land int
, the ocean and then mixed witt
: the almost microscopic shells 0
= kind of foraminifera, to whicl
the name globerina is given
, There are little animals that live il
, countless numbers near the surface o.
! the ocean, from which. in dying, they
desc end in a continuous stream To tn
, bottom. 1t is of these shells that al
: the chalk beds of the ocean are largel,
? formed.
/; Another kind of ooze brought u
was mainly composed of the shells o
animals called ''pteropods" Thes
: are single shelled molluslSs, and some
times grow to an inch in length. TIL
, bodies OF all these creatures falling
continually to the bottom form Al
, organic slime, which was mistaken
few years ago by scientific dredger
! for a very low 70 I'M of animal life.
This mixture of mud and shells a
the bottom of the sea is sometime
| brownish gray and sometimes GREEN'S
, in color. Other materials with whlcl
portions of the oceans floor are pave
, are red. gray and chocolate clays. o
, all bottoms the oozes described ar
best adapted for prolonging the exist
/ ence of a cable.
! Submarine cables suffer much NOR
! near shore than in the depths of th
! sea. In the shadows they are expose
i to the chemical action engendered b
deeaying animal and vegetable matter