Arizona republican., 1899-01-01
A WONDERFUL SEA OF BLOOD.
Thirty or Forty Square Miles of Red
 Water

Mahomet, finding that the mountain would not come to him, went to the mountain. But the city of Providence. R. l., pursued a different course a few weeks ago toward the Red Sea, and thereby carried it's point. Providence stayed at home, and the Red Sea came to Providence Whether the visit was blessing, however, can best be judged after one has read the following narra- tfYe, which is no ordinary fish story, but is derived from an account fur nished to Science" by a Brown uni versity professor, A. D. Mead.
 That part of Narragansett bay which lies north of Prudence island is shaped very much like wedge. The base, to the southwark; is about four ar five miles wide, and;its length, up to Provi- dence, is from ten to twelve miles. This Particular branch of the main bay is sometimes called Providence river. But whatever it's name, the dimensions re- main unchanged. There are at least thirty square miles in this one area, and if Greenwich bay, off to the south east, and portions of SeekOnk river, which runs into the bay at Providence, be counted, the extent of the water to which this story relates was not a whit less than forty square miles.
 In the latter part of August and early in September this year it was noticed that the waters of Providence and See konk rivers were thick and red. They emitted an offensive odor, which at length became almost intolerable Some observers described the color as "choc- olate.'
 The most remarkable phase of the situation was not noticed until Septem- Der 8, g and 10. Thousands of dead fish, crabs and eels were found in win drows along the beaches. Boatmen could see such marine creatures as blue crabs, menhaden, tautog and fatfsh come to the surface of the water and betray uneasiness, as if they wished to escape from, the element in which they were immersed. Often they would come to the very shore in their efforts to avoid the noxious influence to which they were subjected Indeed" says Prof Mead, 'Fthe shrimp and eels were actually observed to climb out of the water, upon stakes and buoys, and even upon the iron cylinders which support the bridges and which must have been very fhot. In several instances on Sep AtembeF 8 and 9 hundreds of blue craUs were caught by single individual in a few minutes time at the mouth of the Seekonk." And on the following day udrQly a i've CFdD OT SnTlup COuIu US found anywhere within the region in dieated. -.-....-...--....
 sThis remarkable event, so sugges- tive of the plaques of Egypt and so un- precedented along the New England coast. was the subject of much popular speculatiof1;,. and also of official inves- tigation under. the auspices of the Rhode Island cOEmission of island fish cries. Three theories were advanced to explain the almost. complete exter- imitation of fish and crabs for a period of two or three weeks. One was that the chemicals used in factories on the Seekonk and Woonasquatucket, Nescap- ing into the river, had poisoned the fish. Another notion was that the ob- served phenomena were the result of the abnormally hot weather of August and the first part of September
 The fact that the water had thick ened and become discOlored in Green wich bay, which is well sheltered from the impurities that come down from Providence and Pawtucket, seemed to dispose of the first theory effectually. The hot weather explanation was also insufficient. For not only did the worst fatality occur just after the cold wave