The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1896-08-28
Ihelrmnrrat-S Star
BOTTLES CAST AWAY AT SEA

A Washington dispatch says: The
latest acccssions TO Il knowledge nt
ocean currents is set forth in a chart
10 lie published in Il few days by the
United States photographic office.
mapping the routes followed by nine
ty-tive boating bottles returned to
that Office in the six months ending
June !.
For several years these inycStiga-
tionS have been carried uu through
the instrnmcntality Of strong Indian
club shaped bottles Of special design
bearing government marks, which are
distributed to Shipmasters to be set
adrirt at various points at sea, with
data papers tn be properly filled in
and sealed in the bottle. These papers
in a great proportion Of instances are
returned to the naval photographer.
with memoranda giving the time and
place Of rescue, and the probable
course Is then charted and made the
subject OF expert study.
In the case of the nincty-fivc papers
most recently returned, the courses
taken collectively serve to clearly
illustrate the two main features Of
the general surface circulation Of the
waters of the north Atlantic, the first
being a vast but gentle eddy, extend
ing from the equator on the south to
the parallel of forty-eight degrees on
the north, and completely i~nclosing
that portion OF the ocean lying be-
tween the trades and the antl-trades,
the region of the SargasSo sea, in
which the currents are feeble in force
and variable in direction. the second
being so-callcd extension of the gull
stream, which leaves the northern
limits Of the main drift in the neigh
borhood Of 80 degrees west, and pro
cccding northeastward, skirts thu
shores Of Iceland on the one hand
Scotland and Norway on the other.
1t appears from the chart that bot
ties cast away along the United State
coast invariably sweep eastward, SOM
dropping on the Azores, others passin,
to the Canarics, and those avoiding
these islands eventually drift soutl
and west across the ocean tO be loun'
on the Windward or Caribbee island
or Mexican gulf beaches.
Those dropped overheard along tn,
Nova ScOtian coast and the Crane
banks appear to make Il direct north
east voyage to the British isles an(
Nod way, while half OF those commcnc
ing their wandcrings on the equatot
In midocean go south along the Bra
LILLIAN coast, and the other half ente
the Caribbean sea. The creates
journey on the new chart was that 0
bottle No, 6. thrown overheard BY tn,
master of the schooner Enoch in tn,
midst Of the Guinea current, which
ordinarily sets eastward towards tn,
coast of Africa and into the gulf o
Guinea. This voyage began below tn
equator 1000 miles off Sierra Leone q
July 30, 1899, and the bottle was re
covered at Totabrough walls, Shet
land islands, March 20, after l!avin,
Travelled nearly 5000 miles in 0G3 days
across the ocean. through the Carih
bean sea, the gulf Of Mexico, the gul
stream, and ave the Grand banks
recr0ssing the Atlantic, with an aver
age of over 8 miles per day.
In summing up the vclocities o
drift a steady diminution is apparen
after leaving the equator. The group
of bottles furnish knowledge of cul
rents averaging from : to Is miles pc
day. One OF the important conclusion
reached in this latest investigation
was the great increase OF velocity dul
ing tile winter season from Ncwfount
land towards Great Britain and MOI
way, which seems not To be cOntir
NOUS, but dependent largely upon tn
winds, BOTTLES in summer avcragin
about 10 miles per day, while one il
winter maintained nearly % miles pc
day for ninety-fuur days in this cur
rent. In the great circular sweeI
around the Sargasso sea the char
shows in dotted lines the drift Of Til,
three dcrclicts, the schooner Unex
pectcd, the schooner T.. II. Cornell ant
Tie schooner Alma Cummings, all o
which nuated with decks awash 70,
many months.
The path followed by a drifting bot
tie is necessarily uncertain, inasmucl
as but two points in its course al,
determined; the path followed by thu
floating derelicts is not open to thi.
objection, as they are observed from
time to time by passing vessels, thcil
position duly reported to the hydro.
graphic Office and marked upon the
pilot charts. The drift OF these
dcrelicts and OF many others shown
from month to month upon the pilot
chart renders il probable that The
easterly drift in the central north At
lantlc does not tend To the southwark
until the meridian of 40 degrees Is
approximately attained.
a practical woman remarked to an
exchange the other day that the most
interesting things in q newspaper to
her are the advertising columns.
"And long ago." she said, II quit buy