New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-07
BORINGs. AT VARIOUS DEPTHS. INTO Ak A..
IN THE SOUTH SEAS

Dr. John Murray. who mad been one Of the Scts
fife stan on that ycssel-and ever since IL has b.
brisk enough. Much depended for reasons psSs
entity to be stated. upon the actual structure q d.
atoll; as to whether 1t consisted OF mass Of "a
whether II was a mere skin. not deeper at ~
than about $50 feet. resting upon a rock OF 4
ferent nature That OF course. could only be sod
by boring into au atoll and examining samples
the rock to something Ike the 'rsf-ra med dspr
Twenty or thirty years ago tbs would haze ~
a slow. arduous, perhaps fmpossioie task b
such improvements have been made N the macht
cry for boring, and the process has been 50 fac
tated, especially by employing the mineral caEs
carbonate a variety Of the diamond IL armng "a
drill that there was good hope Of a successA
result.
raised before the British Association BY Prets
soas Of Du6n I booS a ,be Roy5 Sesr n.
one TO which portion Of the grant annually nat
to IT by the Government f9r the i"; 'nesancs
was appointed by that body. and application va
then made TO the Lords Of the Admiralty y b
shius. The general plan of operations mad b~
ALREADY determined the project had also been coz.
tally es?oused BY men OF scicneF VI '5gnsy; az
/, lad been decided, after contere"ce. WIN msr
,na, on the whole. Funafuu one 81 the EAc
Group. lying north Of the RI ISLANDS wo.n b
fnr making tho attempt. favorable reply Va
received from tho Adrair2lty statins Inat hef "a
estv's ship Penguin. under the command OF tss
Tain Field which WIS then eng ig,e IN mafsf
surveys in the Southern seas; "yri. ivy -
r,nsfuti render them all possible aid curing thar
ga and meanwhile make thorough surrey
he vicinity OF the dto'|
Rival. THEORIES OF ATOLLs
OF the rival theories between w4ich u was nops
that experiment would decige tne io'''".ns y,
attracted most attention: Darwin aag rsga'c1
atoiis as the effects Of subsidenca lnis vas y
SUGGESTION: First a fringing reet totms r21ne q
isiand then the latter gradually sinks tne eoa
nins which II is believed cannot flourish at
greater depth than twenty-hye iatioiHSi nrp 80.
ing upward but those at me, tns ,boSe IN he inrr
s,de ~ the reef 20 that gradually u crases % =
CONTINUOUS with what is left OF inc s.f,' , cue
neared. then a rng-like aton Is lelt NAcn ~,
on tho foundation Of an ancient lI'A-lns ~.
Thus Darwin regarded q" memory %sy Of a drovre
s',and Rlt Or. Murray repudiated me laes n. g
smbsidence altogether and proposed 'e'E W.
fe We may take his hypothesis represensiy.
Darwins opponents though Dals M the er..
pre of submarine volcano II dhl. rr ~. J,r,
near enough 10 the surfacc 70 ,S b,. he az az.
muIation of marine Organisms finally Mn., !
came within soundngs OF aDors Or rso Br, a ri
III made would generally be rather sisd.I pr.
80 DR. Murray supposed that both aioN ana III.
could be enlarged. The former was 's'g h 0,.s
III, III wav. THE waves brokes branches OF uie oes
.d@a ~ the reef which accumulated ~ avs y
It's foot and ihis made R,,, within the lagoon IL
condition of the water would be uniaSsY,t1os ..i
the lie of pops Mos, q me Gera %iG ~ he -
waiter ns i" and Carried away by the tide Thus ~
lagoon would be enlarged oy I2r 80, IN h,
ocean like fairy ring IN 4 meadow mos, q, u,
R9th these hypotheses and Ia m2.l buIs
nolvns was limited by a depth Of twenty W. y
most of thirty fathoms j. then cotai ,os "a, "a.
,pisP or indeed a true reef could be struck oeis
that limit Darwns explanation alorv ~, 4,
soundnes which had been already obtained ia, v vsn
Claimed NJ on their side by both parties 9ut veg
dda ~ he lagoon being enlarged by the c0rross
action Of sea water. so that weak p3int =, "' al
/, Was generally felt that. without certain Wv.
edge of the actual structure OF an atol. LII
not the slightest hope OF settling the question:
SOME DIsAPPOINTMENTs.
The result Of the eNPcSditon was rG rp2iyss
runatut on an M enda when a vessel is anchofs
in the lagoon. which in so many atoNs torm y
natural har6or doT s FeW and thS pant for
ing is heavy Thus. site when seems ,~s sosbs
for that purpose may be pracS I go be prom,
and the places easily reacned may l,o O9 ~ nus
ing I'm the other respect. The bore hot also 10 ~
be near either R nnf IS ST as pg to- WORK
paratus. and the wells in these lsiahds are IL"
;asi place which seemed promising vas fou,s
The apparatus was landed and set up-no Easy "a.
but the word impossible seems harAy y h e 4:
the naval vocabulary ana the good"'ia ol ~ Ssss,
icers and sailors 10 be ineXhaustble B0rns go
on June g. At first fair progress was maze ~.
the material pierced presented some uneNpecssss
ciiltiss |, was anticipated thar. whatever misa
the nature of the upper portion OF the ATOM :,
Of consolidated coral rock would be ieicne, a.,
very moderate depth. which would be a. ely 70 ce
with ordinary Limestone; the cay s.S Sx
taken for alternative use would readily MAKE -. ~
way through this, and provide a continuous e"' "
examination. No such material Was found 4, a,
At depth OF thrty-two feet they truck t. 81 !,
rock but there IL was very TAR I,in ~ ..s
II was. 70 use Professor So.las's words Ne WE Sr
spnnce of coral wl,h wide interstices either mp.
fled with sand This continued Tor tncnhssss. i
rftv.three feet. when a material Ike z Quicss
was struck WIKI this nothing coall oe ionws =
cogeed the crown and choked he ln.ni pl,.IIis,xn
great dificulty-for here and thers "A w. ,sss
down another twenty feet. 10 depth OF huns
and five feet IN sll and then me . sN 5.iemp, "
made on the seward side whore the r. i az 49,.
face appeared exceptionally strong H.' - ;,x,rsr
t@et|thev fel in with Their old enemy AMI fo1asss
even more iatractable. 81 that tneN mm,, u onir
sources were now running shori-li was =, N
try again. and the expedition LETT TIE 1s'"."
end OF July.
THE FORM or AN AToLL
Though the main object Of the expedition hss
been Accomplished one fact that has la,n I ~
,oined is impoytant The sand witch cae,ked ~ ~
Progress togotro with that abundant m ne ,ssse
is chiefly composed aoi or Gofa ana aaG ess
reous agae This L. adverse 10 me sunpo I,s.s
HE ~ aIaborato soundings taken by the Psttr
have mad tie form OF ne a,ol perfeeilyy, s se
Tb,t is nor A little remarkable. The ecnet 20
- 'bo ocS,n floor some dozen or fifteen mllessA~s
from the Island is about t~o thousand nd Is ~
aiin'nnii "ph ~ Soon. In the middle OF an llnos ~
Lain ,i.cs a vast talle-mountain POO ieet ~
lis has, is an eilipse about thirty miles ,,sst
,t.ent,.sinht miles wide The slope above ~ -
are, 1. Gentle. after time II stevpens cn'ns 80
hrisht Of about nine thousand tNe hundfsrn ,s ~
aftSins 10 an angle Of thirty degrees tmyy 40
,t~uss COR rather over nftecn hundred iseS-s rt |
,bcn the unncrrnOst part 90 the mountain is,sssyr
IL Il