The Washington weekly post., 1899-11-28

~ rr- important results of our re-
NJ. .-.r.--. into the domain Of the Pa
.- ID. Gid. assurance OF the speedy laying
81. t-s---Iariac cable. This has been
-.--F feasible by the recent reports re-
49,. .t ire Navy Department from the
,--. The -1-yey-ship that IS now en-
-.r .r completing the sOUndlngs over
r.. --...ra. route. The mere announce
.r. .r this fact was made recently IN
II. -srs-t II Rear Admiral Bradford,
.asrs ~ .hc Bureau Of Equipment, but
...-. .r. a good many interesting facts
...-.rr ...l raa.u conclusion that have not
~. t..a announced.
--.. --...-.d cable route is from san
r-sr-...s sg Honolulu, the survey for
s#.r v.s made some years ago. The
Ns-us recent voyage, however, mapped
r. remaining distance from honolulu 10
.rz.1 sy way of Guam and the Midway
Islands ia addition a survey was also
--.e from Luzou t3 Yokohama, which
z.. Increase the l'asth of the line By
,r- miles and add 90 the cost over
rf'b". The Nero in the course Of her
r..-. made two interesting discoveries.
u-. vas az the existence Of an unus-
a.rr large submarine mountain on the
s.r sI tue Pacific just west OF the Mid
nav Islands and jbe ether OF a submarine
abyss 5y miles cast Of Guam that prom
SIS t1 Dee deeper iaan any other ever dis
covered.
Big Submarine Mountain.
The mountain ia question is over 1920
faar n.eu. almost as high as Mount ST.
Elias. ana comes 60 within s. fathoms OF
DO. surface The abyss is recorded as
.lp at.9ms deep. at which point the
sounding had 10 hr discontinued withou,
..d.rE bottom. Even this makes a hole
something over five statute miles deep. or
one in Wnea Mount Everest. the TALES,
mountain in the world, could be placed
sn1 suU have room 10 pile several Wash
ultuu Monuments one over The other, on
toy without interfering with navigation.
10 i- something Of a coincidence that the
Nero. which made this discovery, was IN
charge Of Commander Belknap, while Rear
admiral EsLkHap. now retired, was in
ammaud of The old Tuscarora, when. in
lil she loea.eI the Tuscarora Deep, a
great ocean ch5Sm Of 4,475 fathoms. of
lle coast Of Japan which for many years
5aI The worlds record In deep sea sound,
.Gg IL IS quite possible that Commander
Ba.kHap would have broken not only tht
record of ms distinguished relative. but
thar OF her maiesty's ship Penguin as
ue.I had &c not been that the Nero's
sounding apparatus was too small TO hclC
The requisite amount Of wire The Pen
glil. In lS5, found what up to the present
holds the unuucstioned record for deer
SEA holes. when she located one spot o
lh tathOms and another OF :, ,l55 fathom.
i IOt far northeast of the Kermadeck Isl
1 snds. Il is an interesting fact that al
these deep sea discoveries were made pos
| sIbe by the ingenuity Of Capt. Charlie,
4 Sigshte, Of the Maine, who happens to b,
an old Washingtonian. and whose deel
sea sounding apparatus has won him rec
ignition from some Of the scientifically in
cined crowned heads of Europe. as well a.
hom this government.
Careful survey Made,
/ IL is quite possible that the great dee,
land the submarine mountain would hot
have remained undiscovered had If no
been for the careful lines on which tn
NerO's survey was planned, and either q
both Of them would certainly have greatl
Shortened the working life of the Pacif
1 cable and entailed frequent and costly rt
pairs. The old method of cable survevin
was to take soundings about every 100 mile
| over a proposed route and roughly averap
] the amount OF slack required This wa
done in the case of the earlier Atlanti
tables. and the result was frequent inter
Upuons on the line owing to breakag.
i The reason was simple. The stronges
cable would last only "A little while Whe
swung from mountain range TO nountai
range, across hundreds of miles of oceaI
The weight of barnacles and sea growth h
alone would be sufficient TO break il i'm
Z short time. for an old cable when dredge
4 Up for repairs will often be found the siz
q mans body with its encruStation q
marine growth.
The United States HydrOgraphic Ofc,
by the use Of some highly abstruse caicu
lJionS, about which the average reade
knows nothing and cares less. except TO
their results, has found that the lest re
| suits IN such a submarine survey can h
mad by taking soundings at alternate dis
ldnces OF ten and two knots. THIS is no
close enough TO be absurd refinement. an
N practice il has proved that it leaves n
II
!rei1re Of the ocean floor topography. i
"-DiuoH lo this. after the Nero has sound
tI hrr way across in a direct line on Tn
L route of the proposed cable. she is nov
returning, sailing a zigzag route back an
i'ilA across her former path, with sound
4 "ss aL intervals OF twenty knots Ut IN
turning points.
Care in Laying n Gable.
II route once selected, ds the presen
4 racine route has been, the art of lawn
L Nr cable consists in getting it as nearI
4 - possible laid nat all along its course
4 . 's desirable not 20 get il at a lowe
4 -.p,a IMAM 800 fathOms. because it ha
- found that q broken cable cannot b
4 '.aiiHyl and recovered al a greater dent
~aA mis-. Then the character Of IN
V.'ah bed is consideration, il being ad
's''.r To- Keep as mucn as possible out q
-, rack oi volcanic disturbances. and |
.''" lhs great beds Of ocean mu
""'tr practicable, as the presence Of thi
o'~. ls an indication of lack OF stron
\ -'i' MS. ana ~" Ouze also protects IN
u '-'.. from injurious chemical actor
II "..Fr there are certain mineral outcror
'.--, as well a. from some Of its sui
-a'H" enemies. the laredo navaIis q
An worm. which has a r5rtialitv fo
~A.I-.Ha''8 cables and the Iimnori,
'...a n"ds its submarine amusement !
Al ,@..s holes IN the gutta percha coatin
y 'ir cable where 1t can gel at f.
4 t-.a- many combinations of metal. clou
.-'.dr wrappiugs have been trie,
use t linen cloth, phosphor-brouz
., ....n, and gutta percha is no.
'.''.N recognized as about the best
'a. submarine problems alr,.d
A ..- .' .n laying "a long ocean cabl,
ID -. . Q" calculate the number OF Ian,
\. rr.... aEallablv and how frsqurrtl
4 . ..-.. hr used. The longer the sin
Il r... 'i cable the heavier thu cab
4 ...... .r AID consequently the NOR, =,
.u make and las. II the csbI
r.. Very light with many !ardfn
-... .-.A there i- the cNprusa Of >,
.i. .ld maintaining a large MN
,. stations ON the route The r1ea
IL, ...Hs has been decided In pr5cfi,
/ stretch of 2O0 miles. Bn. of an