The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-01-03
A wH1sTLING BUoY's TRAVELS.
They Have Furnished the Hydro
graphic Bureau with Valuable In
formation.

graphic Bureau with Valuable In
formation.
From the Philadelphia Press
The navigators of the western At
lantlc ocean, and, indeed. a great many
scientists, are deeply interested in the
erratic wanderings of the Martha's
Vineyard whistling buoy, which went
adrift from it's location in the Vine-
yard Sound more than two years ago
and is still being carried to and fro at
the will of the winds and currents.
After two months without news from
this strange wanderer comes the re-
port that 1t was again seen by a pass
ing vessel on Sept. s. in latitude SO.
longitude 55, nearly 500 miles due east
from the position in which 1t was last
seen on July 6.
The United States photographic Of
ficials have become much interested in
the drift of this buoy, and have already
gained valuable information regarding
the currents and winds of the North
Atlantic through plotting the travels
of this strange buoy whose whistle still
sounds warning intended only for
vessels when near a shoal. Every is
sue of the North Atlantic pilot chart
for nearly two years past has con-
tanned the dotted drifts OF the buoy
and information regarding 1t is largely
sought after from all shipmasters
crossing in the locality where it was
last reported. This months charts,
just issued, show that in February,
1897. the buoy was 900 miles to the
northward and eastward OF the island
of Bermuda. 1t was next reported
April 13 of that year $50 miles south
west of that position. and then moth
ing was heard from the wanderer un-
I'll Oct. q, when it was reported by a
ship captain in about latitude sc, longi-
tude SO, showing a drift to the north
ward and eastward of 800 miles in six
months time.
Next it must have headed away about
east-northeast, for on Jan. s, 1898, it
turned up in latitude 81, longitude AZ.
Its next course was off northwest, for
on May 21 it was seen in latitude 80,
longitude 8. June the wandering
buoy was seen in latitude "a, longitude
A. showing a tremendous drift to the
southeast From then on to July 6.
when next seen, it took a slow and
short drift of about seventy-five miles
due south. AT this point it changed its
course and is now heading due west in
the line of Cape Hatteras
For some years past the hydrograph.
ers have gained valuable information
regarding currents, etc, by having
shipmasters throw overheard bottles
bearing in them the date and geograph-
zeal position where this messenger of
Neptune was cast adrft, to determine
the velocity and direction of the sea
surface currents. Only a small per-
centage of these bottles are ever re-
covered. They probably sulfN their
purpose and reach the land only to
become imbedded in the sands Hence
1t naturally follows that the velocity
or any current cannot be accurately de-
termined in this way. For this reason
the Martha's Vineyard buoy with it's
small exposed surface to the wind Of
ferS fairly correct means of deter
mining currents, and it is for this rea-
son so much interest attaches TO IT,
A bottle thrown overheard from
vessel south Of Newfoundland may
make a complete circuit of the North
Atlantic by way of the Azores, West
Indies, Gulf of Mexico and Florida
| coHst. AS a rule. however, such a
bottle will bring up between the Ush-
| ant and North Cape of Norway.
If thrown overheard near the Azores
bottle will likely find it's way to the
Canary Islands, the Cape Verde Islands,
and the West Indies. Several bottles
! have travelled over 5000 miles and
! three years elapsed between departure
H''T 1""'v"'". T""oo hN%+lnS thro--.n
overheard by Captain Scroggie, when
/ III ComhaEu OI the DrIush steamship
| .Dago, which foundered at sea not long
ago, in latitude 52 longitude Al. at the
! same irstant were recovered after a
! drift of 1,200 miles. close to each other
! during the same week. Derelict ships
! follow generally well-defned routes
which coincide With bottle drifts. The
| remarkable drift of the lumber-lad
American schooner w. L. White is
| still fresh in the memory of Atlantic
navigators. She was abandoned in the
| blizzard of March, 1888, off the Della
ware Ca3es, and toward the end of
| January of the next year she stranded
| on the Hebrides, and her cargo was
| saved.
The lumberlade schooner Wyer G.
| Sargent is reported to have drifted
| about for over three years and finally
| her hulk stranded in the West Indies.
! The schooner Fannie e. Wolston lum-
! ber-laden, was abandoned in October,
! 1891, off Norfolk. She drifted east to
| longitude 40, then south, and eventual
| ly she proceeded west along the Thrift
| eth parallel, curved north and north
| east, and was last sighted four years
ago six degrees east Of the Delaware
! Canes