Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-15

which occasionally occurs I'm the great
lakes, may also tend to destroy for a time
the normal path which the current should
take. A seiche. which is no more than a
small tidal wave three or four feet high,
has not before beer, explained. but Prof
harrington Is of the opinion that Il Is
caused by a sudden change I'm the barom-
eter. which instantaneously takes a Sc
we're pressure from a certain portion Of the
surface. The highest Of these tidal waves
occurred in 1857. being the direct result Of
the earthquake of that year. Similar wave
formations have frequently been found in
the lakes OF the Alps and in other bodies
OF water throughout the world.
Inc return currents are more noticeable
IN the three westernmost lakes than I'm
Lakes Erie or Ontario which are poised
aidiost east and west. having unobstructed
inlets and outlets at their opposite extrem-
iuss Return currents are noticeable in all
podles OF water whose outlets are not suf-
nciently large 20 carry of the whole mass
as IL reaches the end of fits drift.
AS rar as surf motion is concerned. Il has
ene least enect OF all these forces upon the
general direction of currents, since a wave
mas TO power to carry a body along with
IL ilr III II has broken, which action seldom
taxes place until the roller has neared
shore The bottles have always been found
to make a straight and rand iournev TO-
ward the beach as soon as they have pass
ed within the boundary of the breakers
Ine Velocities Of these currents are any,
day, according to conditions. Although the
general flow Of each OF the lakes usually
has the same gradual velocity, the speed
Is sometimes changed by the continuous
blowing of winds in a certain direction.
whereby the surface currents are enabled
TO affect the strata below and carry ID
along with them In their journey ahead of
the breeze. - --'
Some Practical Results.
one Of the most surprising Of these OBJ
lone
shore bottoms. Although the currents have
been exciting the waters Of the lakes for
ages. an examination of the sand forma-
tons on the coast showed them to be un-
affected. except in the case Of Lake Mich
igan at Chicago and Michigan City. Lake
Michigan's southern end is so formed that
there Is strong current from the north on
the western side and toward the north on
the eastern. IL is believed that In time the
will gradually I'LL out the coast along this
graceful bulb in tho lake and form a point.
ed bay between them.
Prof. Harrington gave many Interesting
examples In confirmation Of the value OF
his discoveries to the maritime classes
Wriie he was In Lake Superior a valuable
raft of timber was wrecked OF Thunder
bay light on the central northern coast
Under the old conditions all hope of its re-
coyery would have been abandoned by the
owner, but upon looking at the professors
charts II was founi that the currents from
that place would have tendency to drift
the timber further north, where Il was
aftervard located with little difficulty.
To Illustrate the effect OF the feather
shaped spreading OF some of the lake cur
rents. he mentioned case where three
men were drowned by the capsizing of a
vessel and although they each fell over
board from the same point. two of them
We're found twenty miles apart, while the
body OF the other was never recovered
"a a lEn w.a.l
light house keeper stationed on a small
island on the Isle OF Royal in the north OF
Lake Superior. This mans wife had fallen
III and had 10 be sent to a town across the
lake, Were medical assistance could be OBJ
tanned. Not having received any message
from her since her departure, the keeper
became impatient aid threw overheard a
barrel containing letter addressed 10 the
nnder requesting him to mail an Enclosure
at the nearest post Office TO his wife. on
the outside Of the barrel he painted in con-
spicuous figures, Please take me and
open me" The barrel foated around the
Isle Royal ana up into a little bay to the
north, where II washed ashore, was found
In few days. and the letter mailed 20 the
wife. who Immediately replied that she
YVES better.
During his trip on Lake MichiEan there
oct rred one of the most remarkable wrecks
In the history of that region. steamer
suddenly Sunk in the east end Of the lake
and. although soundings were constantly
u
east nearer the outlet, where u was sup
posed the general drift underneath would
carry IL, IL was not found Until two weeks.
when 1t suddenly appeared floating bottom
upward far TO the northward. IL seems
that during the time this vessel was under
water the action Of the waves tore out its
machinery, which dropped completely out.
leaving the hull to float and be subjected to
the surface currents. TIE northwest coast
Of Lake Superior. where Prof. Harrington
made his final observations. proved TO be a
hopeless territory for the bottle experimental
which had to be abandoned there on account
OF the steep rocky coast which prevented
the landing of anything floating IN
the water In this space of $50 miles
from Duluth to the Isle Royal the direction
taken by wreckage had to be noted. and in
gard to the drift OF ice in winter was also
added. making the experiments complete.
Some Temperature Experiment..
Prof. Harrington gives his opinion that an
theories which suspect a subterranean river
inlet to the great lakes are confounded, as
are those striving to prove that their inn
aense capacity is supplied by undiscovered
connection with the dense region of smaller
lakes adjacent TO the northwest. The water
which falls out OF the st. Lawrence river in
his opinion. is collected from a long con-
tinuous drain on the whole central portion
Of the country, which supply can best be
imagined when IL is appreciated that the
region known as the lake basin Is COM
prised within an irregular circle including
all the lakes and having a diameter. from
north to south, about twice as wide as the
greatest length Of the lake territory itself
The fact that Lake Superior's water has
the reputation Of being the clearest on the
globe led the professor 10 make experiments
whose results greatly exceeded his expecta-
tons. white ball only five inches in d.
ameter, when sunk as deep as forty feet,
could be distinctly seen through the water,
with the naked eye. regardless OF the dis
turbed condition Of the surface. A few ex-
periments were made 20 determine the tenn
perature OF Lake Superior, which was found
TO be as low as forty degrees in midsum-
mer. This ooldness, which is even greatly
exceeded in winter. is what makes IL i'm
possible Tor any corpses lost overheard 20
be recovered. since putrefaction, causing
animal matter to rise in water, does not set
in until the under currents have carried the
body many hundreds of miles. IL a man
were to fall overheard into Lake Superior,
on the hottest day in summer he would
freeze to death after remaining in the water
Tut ten minutes
These experiments with temperature were
only preliminary to the next chapter OF the
weather bureaus study of the great lakes,
which have already been begun by In
spector Conger. Still another chapter will
be devoted TO fogs. which are the cause OF
most OF the wreclSage in the lake regions.
Canada, IL is ascertained. has gotten wind