The Portland daily press., 1899-12-30

DOOR belonging 10 the lovely hor 90 Of the
coral n 20 ., Who build cess~lessly for
ties selves, yss ell uncoBsciyusly rear
stable ttd-s tor mar kind.
I wou.u 10 en- awfoi country to via,
thfs Q, do My sxt os~d ficc' Of tfe sea. A
barren land Of weird ouu rs, OF aim 3
urimsginable compieEsty OF contour, az
wftnous any beauty -uo ~ IL b STOW Il
Up q the d'y earth By the kindly sun.
tor lee brau'y dspends upon tie sea.
whose prolific watrs are popped 9Th
life 90 sbu nd utiy that even the smins
earth 10 barren ~ con p r d with tie
Dream. bat ~ lie sryat depth spall toe
researches tbas man has besn abie o
pro ecu 70 o. rro.e that ere IL httie
life. J'be mo { tr't gcss or tnsre 10 :
tt,sdy scopmti tie dead nu.ks OF
once iiviss orgspisms ttipg slowly
down q, form Who KIN 8 whtt ns~
srar to-, marbles. pDrphsriss, again
tn / ne wnen IN, t,er RAGS ON o fswss-
nizsr "a I /, shall Meet ,em Here th.ie
L. u ing tsnoiful. - it ws know sey-
thing OF u Of prehitt 10 tines. is
{ VII IL row high l>nu. MT I say
merely rrs land, was oucs iyiog ID md
dormss I the bt tom of tue seq, be
pr .psre I r,ushout. who Gan ssv what
unrenl' .bls n rlou- vi time. for the uss
and 81 yms mt ~ its present Tor 4 \
a I'll we ies' tn. rayisss gloom, tbs In
cal ulabls prorsu AMI universal o
Of I ,ose treme ndous de- tbs do we H.
toe ses-tioor beginning to sbound With
life. II may even be uouttsd whether
,nyt ,'ng OF 'aa,'s handi wors. suon as
there 10 abort sip fonndsrina In mid
ocean, would ever reach In ieroznzr-
bls form tha |. tt,m II tbs ses at - del tn
of more n 200 a. oins. There Ia an
idea, peculiarly currsr I among seafsrers.
that sunken ships In tns deep sen Only
40 down . cert uu tsuos. no M IL "
what their build, or hnv prudo rous cir
l.
they taen d lit shot {. slowly dist texu t.
ing. derslict, of the depths. swarming
With strange denizens. the shadow hests
u the lost and loved and incurred. In
time, Of course. as ths ersst sclvsnt gets
In Its work they disappear, booming
part Of their surroundings, but not for
hundreds OF years, during which they
pass and repass At the will OF the und-r-
errrents tfas every wis . keep tins whole
bouy OF water In ths OCEAN from teoom-
ing staanant and th-dsaling to ads
cant shores. A weird fancy, truly, but
surely nor more strange than the silens
depths about which u 10 formulated.
In his marvelously persuasive wav.
Kipling has touched this theme while
singing the "Song Of the English"-
The wrecks dissrlvs above Us; their dust
drops ,wn from affair."
ID own TO the dark, the utter dark, where
the blind white sea-snakes are.
There 10 no sound. TO echo OF sound, In
the deserts of tire dean.
In the great gray level plains of ooze
whsr the shell-burred cables creep
Here In ths womb Of the world-hers on
the tie-rits Of earth.
Words, and the words Of men, flicker and
fiutter AT d boat
Warning, sorrow and gain, saiutation
ana ninth
For . Power troubles the Still that has
neither voice nor feet.
Surely the imagi nation must be dead
indeed that does not throb responsive TO
the thought of that latter-day work man
ship OF wire and rut Der descending at the
viii OF man into the vast void aud
running its direct course over mountain
anees. across suodsn abyssss Of lower
d ,pth, through the turbulsnoeaof upburst-
ing su bmsrine torrents, whore lonR-pept
up rivers compel the supsrinou N bent
octan to admit their saltless waters;
until from continsnt to continent the
connection IL mad, :, and map holds CON-
verse with man at his ease. rs though
distance we're not. Recent Investigations
40 to prove that chief among the causes
that make for destruction OF thosr com-
IN nnicating cables are the upheavals OF
lost rivers. In spite OF the protection that
scientific invention has provided for the
resistib'e outbursts of underssa torrents,
rend and destroy It. causing endless labor
OF replacement By the nevsr-restinz cable
ships. But this Is only one Of the many
DEEPLY intere ting features Of oc,an-
ogr' ply, a fcience OF con psrativelv re
cent growth, but full OF gigantic possi-
biiitiss for the future knowledge Of this
planet. The rss@ai inches of the Challenger
ex peditiop, empG died In so portly vol
umes, afford vast mass Of material for
discussion, and yet It 10 evident that what
they reveal Is but the nsreet tentative
dipning into the great my sterious land
II "a, lies hidden far below the level sur.