Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-06-03
tween two steep slopes. It is important that
cable should lie on the bottom throughout its
entire extent.

| cable should lie on the bottom throughout its
entire extent.
FIERCE CREATURES.
Incidentally to the soundings, observations
were made Of the bottom temperatures Below
half a mile in depth the water Of the ocean is
intensely cold, remaining both winter and sum-
mer at a point only slightly above freezing
The contents Of a trawl hauled up from the
floor Of the sea at the equator will be found to
include mud and ooze that is nearly freezing.
All Of the life in the vast waste Of waters called
the Pacific is either near the surface or at the
bottom. The abyssal fishes cannot live except
under the enormous pressure OF water-amount-
ing to over two tons to the square inch at three
miles down-to which they are subjected. In
order that they may be able to endure this the
tissues Of their bodies and even their bones are
very loose In texture. Though solid enough
under the conditions to which they are accus-
toned. they are soft and pulpy when dragged
up to the open air. Their eyes protrude and
sometimes they actually burst open.
Such fierce carnivorous fishes exist in the
depths Of the ocean are unknown at the sur
face. There Is the "black swallowcr." which
devours other fnny creatures ten times 40 big
as itself, literally climbing over its victim, first
with one jaw and then with the other. Another
species is nearly all mouth, and, having
almost no power Of locomotion, it lives buried
In the soft ooze at the bottom, its head alone
protruding, ready to enguf any prey that may
wander into its cavernous jaws. There Is q
ferocious kind of shark resembling huge eel.
All of these abyssal monsters are black as ink.
Some of them are perfectly blind, while others
have enormous goggling eyes. No ray Of sun
light ever pIerces the dark, unfathomed caves In
which they dwell. Each species is gobbled by
the species next bigger, for there ia NO vegs-
table life TO feed on.
A FLORAL DESERT.
The surface Of the grayish ooze over which
the cable will run is an interminable desert
where nothing grows. There being no sun
light to support vegetable life not o blade nor
sprout OF any sort Of vegetation is to be dis
covered, not even seaweed. Here and there
are creatures called 'crinoids," which counter
felt plants in their appearance, with waving
stems and what look like flowers, but are not
such. Also there are sea worms. which live in
tubes and resemble the most brilliant blossoms.
Spiny sea urchins are plentiful, and over the
bottom are crawling shrimp-like crustaceans Of
bright scarlet and vivid orange hues some Of
them OF great size. There are numerous species
Of mollusks as well. They and the crustaccans
when hauled to the surface are SO disorganized
by the removal of the pressure to which they
have been accustomed as to look as II they had
been boiled.
The ocean floor across which the cable will
be laid is fairly well populated with living
species, most OF which unknown to science
| at present. This remark especially applies to
| the larger fishes, which could not be fetched up
| with the trawl. Some day perhaps more
| effective method will be devised for capturing
| them. Nobody can tell what monsters and
chimaras dire may inhabit the abyssal regions
OK the Pacific. 1t was only few years ago that
George Hope Of H. NJ. S. Fly saw an extraordi-
| nary creature in the Gulf Of California. The
| sea being perfectly calm and Of q glass-like
transparency he beheld swimming over tho
bottom few fnthoms down an enormous ami
nj \ tk.h
gator, except that its neck was vastly longer,
and instead Of legs it had four happers like a
| turtles. 1t appeared to be pursuing some prey
and moved in a serpentiEe fashion. The
description given in all respects fitted the ex-
tinct plesiosaurus SO exactly that some natur-
aists were confident that il must have been a
surviving specimen Of that mighty reptile.
SOUNDING APPARATUS.
The total length of the lines surveyed by the
Albatross and Thetis, between California and
the Hawaiian Islands, was 6,7S5 miles, In the
sounding operations. 179, l42 feet Of piano wire
was lost, representing expense Of nearly
5000. Such accidents are unavoidable. The
sinker sometimes gets entangled at the bottom
or the vessel gives sudden lurch and snaps
the wire off short. In these ways 469 sixty
pound sinkers were lost also. In snoal water
a rope and lead do well enough for sounding.
By filing a small cavity III the base Of the lead
which the lead strikes. becomes imbedded in
the tallow, showing the character OF the bottom
soil. For soundings In the depths, however,
special apparatus must be used. 1t is not very
complicated. consisting most Importantly of a
sinker and u sufficient length of No IL
music wire. Tho latter, which stands
strain Of 200 pounds, is wound on o wheel
Each turn Of the wheel registers a fathom, or
six feet. while dial keeps count of the number
of turns paid out. Thus the depth at every
sounding is registered automatically. A scale
shows the tension the wire and indicates the
instant that the sinker reaches the bottom.
The sinker is in part composed Of u cylinder
which has valve in its lower end. When it
strikes bottom this valve ia forced up and the
interior Of the cylinder is filed with soil from
the bottom. At the same moment an auto
matte Thermometer attached to the Continuance
notes the temperature OF the water.
THE ROUTE AND BUILDING.
The route to be followed by the cable Is what
Is called "rhumb line" between Monterey bay
and Honolulu. Such q line appears perfectly
straight on the Mcrcator's projection. which Is
used in nautical maps. though it is not SO
actually. 1t crosses every meridian at exactly
the same angle. The photographic Office of the
navy has prepared u most beautiful profile de-
lineation of the entire pathway. just like a
panoramic view OF section of the Pacific
ocean, from California to the Hawaiian Islands
The sea Is done In blue and the bottom in O
brownish tint, with all the soundings shown in
figures and the nature of the bottom soil
noted at each point. One aim held in view
was to choose a road that would avoid volcanic
regions where substances injurious chemically
to the covering of the cable would be likely to
exist, or where future cony ulsions might cause
its destruction.
The government possibly will have nothing to
do with the laying of the cable The main object
OF its work was merely to discover how far such q
plan was prac ticab!e and what route WAS best for
the wire to follow. Private enterprise could do
the rest Atpresent an effort is being made to
organize a syndicate in California, with a view
| to carrying out the project. 1t is extremely
doubtful whether n line merely connecting Cali
| fornia with Honolulu would have enough bust
ness to make profit But there would be big
money in a cable running all the way across the
Pacific to japan or Australia. A British cable
| would have joined Australia with Victoria British
| Columbia, long ago, by way Of tho Hawaiian
Islands, but for the adverse influence Of the
powerful Eastern Submarine Telegraph Com
pany and the Eastern Submarine Extern
sion Telegraph Company. lines of the
former concern extend tnrou, b The Mediter-
ranean to India, while tho. Of tho lat
| ter corporation stretch under the secs
to China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
| II there were cable across the Pacific these
companies could not longer dictate the price
,oeI d HL,A.