The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-08-17
DRIFTING BOTTLES AT SEA.
he Determination of Currents in the,
Ocean Going OH.

Skipp5rs Assisting tho hSoroSraphic
Bureau of the Navy in the Work-Some
Cases of Remarkable Drifts-Fast Time
Made by Some of the Bottles Cast
Overheard.
Washington, August 13.-The wide
scope embraced by the photographic
Bureau of the navy in recent
years and the great benefit that has &C.
crued to the merchant service are now be-
ing recognized, and substantial assistance
is afforded by hundreds of shippers an
nually in the work of current investiga-
ton of the North Atlantic Ocean. For
years every mariner has known that the
ocean is as full Of currents as any west
ern river, but the direction they take and
their general force have been problematl-
cal until the simple method was adopted
of inning them by tossing bottles
overheard and trusting that they would
be picked up and the fact reported to the
office here These bottles may be .of any
kind, and IS many may be thrown into
the sea as any Captain wishes If he will
see that record Is made of the location,
date, and month on a piece of paper Sc
curely scored and sealed up so chat salt
water cannot reach 1t.
Six years ago the department began its
first experiments with drifting bottles
to determine the direction and strength of
currents, and SO successful has. the plan
pro we'd that it will now be carried out
more extensively. When first tried 1t
was the departments intention to furnish
a peculiar variety Of bottle to vessels
crossing the ocean, with instructions
when and where they were to be cast
adrift, but this plan was abandoned on
account of the expense involved and lack
of funds available. The bottle was to
have been a large affair, white, and con-
structed so that it would float perpendiou-
larly showing on its side a number in
black. 1t was believed such a bottle
would attract attention and cause. shippers
to pick it up, examine the length and
course of the drift as shown from the
time it was last reported, and note the
facts for the Photographic Office.
Now there are hundreds of bottles an
nualiy thrown overheard from all kinds
of vessels, both American and foreign,
each having inside printed notices in six
languages asking the vessel picking 1t up
to rport to the department. here the date
and whereabouts in the ocean. Reports
during the last fiscal year, which have
been received and indexed. indicate that
valuable results are being obtained and
the experts are learning much in
this primitive way about the currents
of the ocean.
The distances covered by some of the
bottles found and the average drift a day
are remarkable, and rank two bottles at
least almost with the record of the ia.
NOUS derelict Fannie E. Wolston, which,
during her career as an abandoned ship
covering period of over three years,
cruised 1895 knots. The bottle having the
longest drift was recovered on March 26,
1898, having sailed 4, 700 knots since Nov.
16, 1885, when it was thrown overheard.
During all this time the average num-
Der of knots covered day was 80. An
ether bottle thrown overheard in Septem-
Der, 1894, and recovered May, 1897, had
sailed 4500 knots,a an average of 4. 8 knots
a day.
The greatest record of all. however, is
that of a bottle. thrown over from the
steamer Sutherland, which drifted 200
knots between March II, 1897. and Sept.
8 following period of 1871 days, the aver
age drift a day being 1877 knots. Follow
ing close upon this is the record of a
bottle tossed in the sea from the bark
Tinto Hill 1t drifted $500 knots be-
tween April 25, 1897. and Dec. IA follow
Io&< sv. -%xryc do We
drifted 1000 miles, or an average of 1871
knots day, while one thrown overheard
from the ship Gulf of Lyons drifted 1900
miles in seventy eight days, OF an average
of "a. Knots day. The greatest drift
day is that recorded of the bottle thrown
from the steamship Prince Frederick
Hendrix on May last and recovered on
May IL, having drifted in six days 100
miles at an average of 31.7 knots day.
Out in the Pacific where the expert
ments are conducted also, the bottles are
not reported SO often owing to the light
commerce compared with that of the At
Iantic and the enormous mum Der of miles
between shores. One bottle picked up
ont there covered 1900 miles, however, In
less than one year and another the same
distance in 40 days, the averages being
miles were covered in forty-two days by
one bottle at an average rate of 1863 knots
a day.
Certain of the bottles recovered present
interesting particulars. One that was cast
overheard off Nantucket Shoal was recov-
cred near Campbelton, on the shore of
Kintyre, Argylshire, Scotland, after a
lapse of 512 days. The great CIRCLES dis
lance between these places is 9, 5S7 nauti
cal miles. There is close comparison be
tween the trip of this bottle and that of
tbe one casu overheard off Cape Cod and
distance traversed being the same as in
the previous case. and the interval 600
days, the average daily velocity being "A
miles day.
Another interesting group of bottles
consists of three, all thrown overheard
from the steamer Dago, Capt. Scrog2ie,
on the same day and hour, in latitude
81 degrees north, longitude Al degrees