Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1898-03-07
LAKE SUPERIOR.

ten by w. S. HARDWOOD. Concerning
Lake Superior, Mr.. HARDWOOD says:
It is, to begin with, the largest body
of eresh water in the world. 1t IS
water of wonderful purity which 1t
holds, too; and some time-and IN the
not very distant future, either, the
people who live in the large cities to
the west and south will come to THIS
lake to to get the water Nor their
homes. 1t will not be so remarkable
an engi neering feat to pipe the water
of this lake, pure and sparkling and
fresh from it's cold depths, to these
cities which are now struggling with
the question of their water supply,
and meeting all sorts of difficulties IN
their efforts to get water to drink.
All down through this thousand
feet of blue there is peculiar cold
ness. At the very most, the temoera-
ture varies through winter and sum-
mer not more than six degrees. Win
ter and summer, this great lake never
changes to any appreciate extent, so
that if you dip your finger tips in the
blue surface on day in July, or ii
YOU test it some day in early winter
when you have been out on some be-
lated. ice mailed fishing smack, or
when you have gone out to watch the
fishermen spearing their supplies
through the thick ice in mid January,
YOU will find but trifing difference
in the temperature. Away down at
the bottom, too, there is but little
variation in the temperature, for it
stands at nearly forty degrees Fab
renheit at the bottom, and varies
forty to forty six degrees, winter and
summer, at the surface. The other
lakes. though cold, are not in this re-
spect like Superior.
The whole bottom of the lake is be-
lieved to be a strong rock basin,
though it would seem that there must
be great springs at the bottom to help
keep up the enormous volume OF
water. From the north there is
large amount of water pouring into
the lake year in and year out; the
swift rushing, narrow-banked Nipl-
gon and other streams furnishing no
small part of the supply. These
streams in large measure make up
the loss from the surface. One of the
old lake captains, bronzed, kindly
faced man VINO had been for thirty
five years on the lakes, and had faced
death many time in the frightful
storms which sometimes sweep across
these beautiful bodies of water, told
me as we were passing along one day
near the north coast of Superior, with
the headlands and inlets and glossy
green bluffs of that most picturesque
shore in full view, that the theory
that the lake was slowly going down
in size was true. He maintained that
he could tell from certain landmarks
along the shores, with which he is as
familiar as he would be with the
streets of his old Scottish birthplace,
that the lake was slowly-very slowly
but surely receding. However, it
will be some centuries yet before
there will be any appreciate lessen
ing of the Great Lakes, so that we
need not be concerned.
Strange as it may seem, the lake
has tides, too, we'll defined tides, dis
covered in 1860. 1t is what is called
self registering tide, with regular
fux and refux wave, caused, SO the
scientific men say, by the sun and
moon. The average rise and fall ev-
cry twenty four hours is one four
teenhundredth of foot; the maxi
mum tide at new and full moon is one
twenty eight of foot.