Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-18

paid out in making i east The wire is
wound on a reel capable of holding about
6000 fathoms, and is run by steam Three
seamCn do the manual work. while the two
officers check the time and other records.
The shock OF the ships pitching o. rolling
in a seaUay is skillfully kept from the
sounding line by nicely arranged spring
cOunterbalance. thereby preventing break
age and the disturbance of the delicate re-
corning instruments way down in the sea.
The Sounding Rod.
The principal instrument is the sounding
rcd, as shown in figures No. | and No. =,
and here, agGin, Capt Sigsbee has dis
played his inventive genius. The rod, if it
can be called such, consists primarily of d
brass tube "a inches outside diameter and
10 inches lorg, passing freely through a
cast non shaker OF giobular shape and
sixty pounds weight. The snker is drawn
up or The brass tube or cylinder and held
in place by catch and The downward drag
of It's own weight Nh4n the bottom Is
reached, the lower end of the cylinder is
forced by the weight OF the bali, well into
the mud, and until the sInker itself is sup
ported by the CceaE bed. AT that instant
the catch is freed and upset by It's oWu
little spring and the loop falls off and the
register on the hosting machine at once
records the released t-nSlOn the engine Is
started ara soon the line is speeding up
ward, while the cylinder holds snusly
Sd ulpie OF the bottom substance.
In previous s0undings in the Pacific, be-
tW sen the coast OF California and Honolulu,
a general average depth OF quite 2,apJ faith
oms was fuunG. TO reach bottom and TO
return TO The surface from such a depth
means to travel through interval OF
nearly FIVE miles. and vet these modern an
pliances make that possibly inside of an
hour. Going down, the wlra is paid out at
the rate OF los fathoms. i. e, 600 feet,
minute. and coming up that speed may be
increased 30 per cent.
Deep Sea Dangers.
The ooze or earth that is brought up
varies pretty regularly with the depth and
tells at once what are the conditions i'm
posed upon The cable. 1t also tells of the
presence of those tiny denizeEs of the deep,
such as the teredO and the Xylophago, fatal
to the hempen inner coat of the cable, and
the lmnoria, capable Of boring through
the harder covering OF guttd percha and
opening the way for those milder pirates.
i isn't in their power to steal a massage,
but il is in their power to let the cable
secrets leak into the sea before they can
reach their proper destination.
Though generally gradual in its deepen
ing, there are records ct sharp variations
from gIG 20 800 fathoms in spots between
US and Honolulu, ana there may be even
worse surprise; IN store between Honolulu
and Guam, Cor souniin-S have never been
taken over that course before. TO have our
cable hanging, should it be able Ia stand
the strain. between some coral reef and
the oceans bed. would he an undesirable
Invitation TO hungry sharks and swordiish
10 bite through IS t5ley carCleSsly Scraped
away their meal of ATTACHED mOllusks, or
leave il exposed To aatangi= a3eEt ana rup-
tire by soma hasty5r whale These very
things have happened. before.
Taking the Terunernture.
depths If is needfui TO have recourse TO q
type Of thermometer that VIII register the
waters warmth only al the desired depth.
The ordinary thermometer familiar TO US
would not DO for its record would change
with every change Of depth. and, beside,
would uoJ b. able TO withstand chat pres
sure CT ton 10 the square inch WLth
every thousand fathOms Of added depth.
The one generally used is what is known
as the NeereJi and ZambIa type. The
register, OF Thermometer proper, is iIclpsel
in an air-J@ht case 10 guard Il from the
falsifEinE effects q pressure. Just above
the bulb there IS a slightly nattEned S-Iikr
bend in the tubv which is the secret oC
the whole thiHg for the quantity Of mfr-
curry tumbled out OF this bend when the
Thermometer Is upset al the desired depth
records the temperature at that point The
scale, uslike the ordinary Thermometer,
reads from the top down. Now, when this
thermometer reaches the bottom or ally
other established position it is Upset-the
DliD going to the IoD ana the mercury falls
down in the tube between the sraduations
and Is not affected by the subsequent pas
sage through the warmer upper strata Of
the water The thermometer is pivotod
and has q constitutional tendency 10 upset.
but is prevented from doing so till the
proper time by little threaded rod. sur
mounted by a small propeller, which
presses against the top of the Thermometer
when the bulb is down. In passing through
the water going down the tendency of the
propeller is to keep the shaft jammed
against the upper end of the thermometer
case: but when either the bottom or the
desired depth is reached the action of the
passing water, through an interval of a