Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-06-03

lished respecting the
results obtained. The
purpose Of the work was to determine the best
route for submarine cable. Two lines Of
soundings were run by the United States fish
commissions steamer Albatross from Monterey
bay to Honolulu. This path has been decided
| on as preferable to road connecting Point
Conception, Cal. and Hilo bay, Hawaii, which
was laid out with soundings by the steamer
Thetis, U. S. N. The way selected will require
the smallest length Of wire. 1t will pass over
an even bottom Of soil favorable for the pro-
lection and preservation of the cable. avoiding
submarine mountains.
The cable. following the route chosen, will
start from Salinas Landing In Monterey bay.
At that point q deep gully leads out into the
ocean, and through it the wire will plunge to a
depth OF 600 feet within three miles from
shore. At a distance Of fifteen miles from the
coast it will reach depth of mile and half
From there the sea bottom shelves very gradu-
| ally until at about 200 miles west Of California
| the floor of the Pacific IL arrived at, with reg
ular depth Of little less than three miles.
From there on the cable will pass over vast
level plain SO smooth and uninterrupted by ir-
Irregularities Of contour that one could traverse
| 1t comfortably in u carriage il tho water
were taken away. However. when $40 miles
| out from Monterey bay q huge mountain is
louuu rising 10 u uelBut OF TWO Inlle5 anu n
half The cable will avoid this elevation by
running to the southwark of 1t.
DROWNED MOUNTAINS.
The presence Of this obstacle would never
have been discovered save by soundings, mas
much as half mile in depth Of water flows
| over it. Such drowned mountains occur in all
the oceans; but this one is particularly gigantic.
| Doubtless it is Of volcanic origin. Beyond its
western slope the sounding line finds the foor
| OF the sea again at its normal depth of some
what loss than three miles. At about 600 miles
| west Of the great submarine elevation de-
scribed the water begins to deepen gradually
miles and a half beneath the waves on
its surface Two hundred miles east
Of Honolulu another hill is discovered. the
| top OF which is only mile and half under
water. Beyond that it deepens very quickly to
three miles and over. and this great depth is
found up to within short distance Of the
Hawaiian Islands, which are simply gigantic
| extinct volcanoes uplifted precipitously from
the bottom OF the Pacific.
For the purpose Of discovering drowned
mountains the soundings were taken at alter
nate intervals Of ten and two miles. experience
| having proved that such elevations are best re-
vealed by this method. Incidentally specimens
| of the bottom were brought up and examined.
| The most common bottom deposits were Of
''globigerian ooze." This ia the material with
| which the floor Of the deep sea is chiefly paved
| Its consistency is that Of thick mud and it is
composed of fine detritus brought by rivers
| from the land into the ocean, mixed with the
almost microscopic shells of kind
| of foraminifera, to which the namo glo-
bigerina has been given. These foraminI-
| fera are little animals that live in countless
numbers near the surface OF the ocean. from
which in dying they descend in q continuous and
gentle rain to the bottom. tits Of their shells that
all the chalk beds Of the world are largely
formed. Different species OF them have various
beautiful shapes. under the microscope resem-
bling ornamental plates with perforated designs.
young mushrooms, pineapples soap dishes,
breakfast rolls. prctzels, firemen's hats and ali
sorts OF fantastic freaks Of the glassmakers art
THE OCEANS BED.
Another sort of ooze brought to the surface
by the sounding apparatus Of the Albatross and
Thetis was mainly composed OF the shells Of
animals called "pteropods These are single
shelled mollusks and attain length OF as much
as an inch. Yet another kind was an ooze con-
sstng chiefly Of remains OF diatoms- almost
microscopic plants which have glass-li shells
The bodies Of all Of these creatures, falling
| tnually TO the bottom. form q sort of organic
slime. which mistaken few years ago by
scientific dredgers for an extremely low form
of life-in fact. for much protoplasm. They
| called 1t 'bathybius' or depth-lite. But this
delusion was exploded by the discovery that the
stuff was simply primordinl pap spread out In
a thin layer over the entire ocean floor. so that
| the living animals feeding there need only roll
around to find all the sustenance they re-
CURED.
This mixture Of minute shells and mud at the
bottom of the sea is sometimes brownish gray
and sometimes greenish in color. Other ma
| terials with which portions Of the ocean floor
are paved are red. gray and chocolate clays.
| or all bottoms the oozes described are best
| adapted for prolonging the existence OF cable,
| being most free from substances which are
| calculated to injure the sheathing In fact,
they protect the cable. which quickly becomes
imbedded in them. However. the globigerina
ooze ID not found at greater depth than some
| what under three miles, whilo the pteropod
| ooze does not occur deeper than mile aud
three quarters. The reason for this is that the
| dissolving action of the water, due to the
| presence of free carbonic acid, cannot be with
stood by the delicate limy shells long enough
to allow them to sink more deeply.
ENEMIES OF THE CABLE.
| Submarine cables suffer much more near
shore than in The depths of the sea. In the
shadows they exposed to the chemical ac-
ton engcndered by decaying animal and yege-
table matters. The iodine contained in sea-
weeds destroys iron rapidly Accordingly, To-
calitics which run quickly into deep water over
| bottoms of mud or sand are chosen for landing
| places at the ends OF the route. BY selecting
sle gully at OulIna5 Landing or star tlnS pOlnt
the minimum length Of cable will be exposed
to damage from such sources, as well as from
the anchors OF vessels and from the wear and
tear of waves and breakers In shallow water
great injury is done to cables by the bivRlve
mollusk called the 'teredo' or ship worm. ~
as well rs by shrimp-like crustacean named
| 'limnoria." The latter is very small creature,
only about one-eighth Of an inch long, and COW
cred with minute hairs. But it's numbers are
SO great and the jaws with which it chews are
so powerful that it will denolish wooden piles
at the rate Of an inch of their thickness per an
mum. Teak is the only wood it does not de-
| YOUR.
In 1859 hemp-covered telegraphic cable on
being raised after hardly a years submersion
| was found covered with countless millions OF
the teredo and limnorin Tho hemp had en-
| tirely disappeared under the operations Of the
moilusk, while the crustncean had pierced the
| gutta percha insulating core with ever so many
small round holes. In the shallow waters close
| by Honolulu the temperature is about seventy
| seven degrees in winter. This warmth might
interfere with the insulating properties Of the
| gutta percha, and on that account it is recon-
mended that india rubber shall be used for the
core at that end Of the line. Experience has
proved that i'll isolated patches Of the sea
bottom some agency very destructive to the
sheathng wires of cables frequently occur
This is believed to be due to outcrops of veins
Of mineral and such localities are avoided
-