Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-07-03

5.T0o M1es-Course and Speed of Gulf
 Stream Shown.
 Forty-four bottles which have been adrift at sea for periods ranging from five days to eight years-thrown oyer- board from vessels for the United States government to test the ocean currents have been recovered during the past six months, and their wanderings are il lustrated in the June Photographic chart
 One of these bottles drifted around the Atlantic ill a semicircle of 5, TOO miles, being at sea for 2,625 days. 1t was thrown overheard from the yacht l. 'Hirondelle July 28, 1887, and recoy- cred Oct 8, 1894. It was cast into the sea several hundred miles east of New foundland; travelled toward England, passed south along the coast of Spain and down to the easternmost extremity of Africa and then went ashore on one of the Bahama islands
 Another bottle was adrift 1, 356 days and travelled ,, 100 miles, finally bring ing up in the Arctic region. It started midway between Great Britain and Greenland. After bobbing about for nearly 1000 miles 1t passed Iceland, entered the Greenland sea, then made semieircle and went ashore on the northeast Arctic coast of Norway.
 A long voyage made in good time was that of bottle started about 800 miles east of New ' York and which drift ed about seven miles a day, travelling 5000 miles in 420 days, to the north west coast of Norway
 The record breaking bottle in regard to fast drifting is held by ono which journeyed 50 miles day During five days off Newfoundland it got over 250 miles Another quick trip was that of one from the west end of Cuba which was swept along the coast of Central America and Mexico and to near New Orleans at the rate of over 15 miles day, making 1 1900 miles in 83 days.
 Two of the indicators thrown over board several hundred miles off the No va Scotia coast followed the transatlan- tic steamship route and went direct to England.
 An cratic course, but following the currents, was that of bottle started from among the Cape Verde islands, off the westernmost extremity of Africa. It passed along the north coast of South America around the western end of Gu ba travelled north along Florida and stopped on the coast of North Carolina, after trip of 4,200 miles in 457 days. In II days bottle reached Brazil from point 250 miles at sea, which is drift ing at the rate of over 22 miles day.
 Another bottle travelled 90 miles in toward the mouth of the Delaware i'll B days, and another journeyed TO miles from sea to tho mouth of the Chesa- peake ill 19 days.
 h calculating the daily drift the hy drOgraphic office makes no allowance for the time during which a bottle lay rn- discovered upon the beach. Three indi= cators agree in giving a mean speed of nine miles per day for the equatorial current and three in giving mean ye- looity of seven miles per day for the mid-Atlantic gulf stream ill its course toward Europe. Both of these values are, however, probably below the actual daily drift.
 Four bottles seem to disproye the eX- istence of the we'll known Rennell cur rent, which has been supposed to set north and northwest athwart the mouth of the English and St. Georges chan pels. The direction followed by three bottles disproyes the existence of the current, while the course followed by one would favor it, but it's course, it is thought, was due to southerly gales.
 Other observers, notably the Prince of Monaco, with his yacht, made special study of the supposed current and could not find conclusive evidence of its exist enee.
 This chart indicates a circular move ment of the waters of the Atlantic around a point lying to the southwest of the Azores. Starting from a point to the southward of the Grand banks of Newfoundland the outer edge of this vast circulating system of waters mounts toward the northeast as far as the fifty first parallel of latitude, there becoming easterly. Northwest of the Azores, as shown by four bottles, portion of the current again takes a northeasterly di rection to Scotland and Norway.
 The main body of the drift, crossing the meridian at 20 degrees and 40 and 30 north latitude, turns to the south ward and parallels the shores of Europe and Africa to the Canaries.
 Leaving the African coast, the exter- nal edge, it has now been shown, takes a southwesterly direction, unites with the northern portion of the equatorial current, and, entering the gulf of Mexico through the Yucatan passage, emerges as the gulf stream through the straits of Florida. New York World.