The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1899-04-04

interesting Facts About the Largest Eads
OK Fresh water In tho World.

Interesting Facts ADout Nhe AhtArse A'N~s
OF Fresh water In tho World.
"The Great Lake" is the title OF
an article in st. Nicholas, written hy
". s. Harwood Concerning Lake
Superior, Mr.. Harwood says;
1t is, to begin with, the largest
body Of fresh water in the world
II il water of wonderful purity |
which it 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 get the wa
ter for their homes. 1t will not be
SO remarkable an engineering feat
TO pipe the water of this lake. pure
and sparkling and fresh from its
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 fit to drink.
All down through this 1000 feet
of blue there is peculiar coldness.
At the very most, the temperature
varies through winter and summer
not more than six degrees. Winter
and summer this great lake never
changes to any appreciable extent,
80 that if you dip your finger tips in
the blue surface on day in July, or
| if you test it some day in early win
ter when you have been out on some
belated, ice mailed fishing smack, or
when you have gone out to watch
4 the fishermen spearing their sup
plies through the thick ice in mid
January, you win find but trifing
! difference in the temperature. Away
down at the bottom, too, there is but
4 little variation in tho temperature,
4 for ii stands at nearly 40 degrees F.
at the bottom and varies from 40 to
46 degrees, winter and summer, at
the surface. The other lakes, though
4 cold, are not in this respect like Su-
perior.
The whole bottom of the lake is
believed 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 vol
ume 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
Nipigon and other streams furnish
ing no sn all part Of the supply
These streams in large measure
make up the loss from the surface
One Of the old lake captain
bronzed, kindly faced man who hat
t been for IS years on the lakes ant
had faced death many time in thu
frightful storms which sometimes
!, sweep across these beautiful bodies
of water, told me, as we were pass
9 ing along one day near the norti
coast of Superior, with the head
lands and inlets and glossy greer
bluffs of that most picturesque shor
in full view, that the theory that tn
lake was slowly going down in siz
: was true. He maintained that b
could tell from certain landmark
A along the shores, with which he j
6 as familiar as he would be with tn
: streets of his old Scottish birthplace
: that the lake was slowly, very slow
ly, but surely receding However
IS it will be some centuries yet befor
d there will be any appreciable lesser
ing of the great lakes, SO that W
: need not be concerned.
. Strange as it may seem, the lax
has tides, too-well defined tides
discovered in 1860. 1t is what ]
called self registering tide, with
It regular fux and reflux wave, causet
r SO the scientific men say, by the su
10 and moon. The average rise an
a fall every "a hours is one fourteen
a hundredth of foot. The maximul
IS tide at new and full moon is OF
4 twenty ight-hundredth OF foot.
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