The Progress., 1893-09-23

,.;nodom of the Hawaiian Islands,
M ,be purpose of determining the
..;cability of the laying of tele
P.h cable between those points"
gnaIfwork. however, has been con-
i.sntlv under way, and the hydro
s.anbic Office has prepared a beautiful
t.asIe delineation of the entire path
d. sr of that section from California to
,hs Hawaiian Islands
The strongest argument heretofore
.,.;nst the practicability of laying a
'rhls in the Pacific ocean has been the
.,stence OF volcanic regions. The
'srvsv has been prosecuted with care
s s.a accuracy, and, it is believed, has
s,tablished the fact that the laying of
.c.ble on almost any line is quite
.rscticable. Two lines of soundings
rsre run by the United States Fish
commission steamer Albatross from
Monterey bay, Cal, to Honolulu. This
,ath Is considered preferable to that
I,;d ont and sounded by the United
safes steamer Thetis, connecting
poipt Conception, Cal, and Hilo bay.
Hawaii This path will require the
smallest length of wire. 1t passes over
level bottom, the nature and char
.rter of which are favorable to the
motection and preservation of the ca
tle. avoiding submarine mountains.
The cable following this route will
tart from Salinas Landing in Monte
rev Bsy. At that place deep gulley
lssds out into the ocean, and through
4 the wire will pass. About three
niles from shore the wire will lay
1900 feet below the surface of the
vster. At fifteen niles from shore it
will reach depth of about one mile
and half. From this point the bot
tom shoals gradually, until about 200
niles from the coast of California, a
reyuar depth of three miles is reached.
Thence westward the cable will pass
over a vast level plain. Five hundred
and seventy miles out high noun
ain is found-two and one-half miles
high. The cable will avoid this eleva-
ton BY running to the southwark of
Il such drowned mountains are met
with in all oceans, but this one is par
tcularly gigantic. Doubtless a vol
canic eruption brought forth its exist
snce. Two hundred miles east of Hon
olulu another hill is discovered. Be-
yond its summit the water despens
quickly TO more than three miles, and
this great depth is found to within a
short distance of the Hawaiian islands
which are gigantic extinct volcanoes,
uplifted precipitously from the bottom
Of the Pacific.
Soundings were taken at intervals
oiabout ten miles. Specimens of the
bottom were brought up and their
eharacteristics noted. "Globerigina
eoze" was found to be the chief ma
gial constituting the pavement of
The great sea. 1t is like thick mud,
and is composed of fine detritus
brought by rivers from the land into
The ocean and then mixed with
The almost microscopic shells of
Z kind OF foraminifera, to which
ne name globerina is given.
There are little animals that live in
countless numbers near the surface of
nc ocean, from which, in dying, they
eeaend In a continuous stream to the
bottom. 1t is of these shells that all
@.An cCOo VI bilC OCCdh dA iar cry
iomed.
Another kind of ooze brought up
vas mainly composed of the shells of
sanals called ''pteropods." These
W single shelled mollusks, and some
lmes grow to an inch in length. The
odles of all these creatures falling
@n'lnually to the bottom form an
9.ganic slime, which was mistaken a
sv years ago by scientific dredgers
vi avery low form of animal life.
ms mixture of mud and shells at
We bottom of the sea is sometimes
aownish gray and sometimes greenish
4eolor Other materials with which
N'uons of the oceans floor are paved
mred, gray and chocolate clays. OF
- oottoms the oozes described are
~a adapted for prolonging the exist
saee Of cable.
submarine cables suffer much more
E shore than in the depths of the
- In the shadows they are exposed
a'oe chemical action engendered by
Ntkrllp animal md yacofa III a N, a 4 Tor