Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-12
Invading the Oceans.

stock for war purposes, ready to be laid at
a moments notice.
Invading the Oceans.
In the short half century since the prac-
ticability of submarine telegraphy was DEM
onstrated the electric wires have invaded
every ocean except the Pacific. Nearly a
score of wires have been laid across the
Atlantic, of which no less than thirteen now
successfully operate between the United
States and Europe, while three others span
the comparatively short distance between
South America and the African and south
European coast lines Throughout the In
dian ocean lines connect the far east with
Europe and America by way of the Red
sea, the Mediterranean, the western coast OF
Europe and the great transatlantic lines
The Mediterranean is crossed and recrossed
in its entire length and breadth by numer-
Gus cable lines and the .Mediterranean Of
America" the Gulf of Mexico and the
Caribbean sea- is traversed in all directions
by lines which bring its islands and colonies
into speaking relations with each other and
with South America, Central America, the
United States and thence Europe, Africa
Asia-the whole world.
Along the eastern coast of Asia cable lines
loop from port to port and island to island
receiving messages overland from eastern
Europe by way of the Russia Siberian land
lines and forwarding them to Japan, China,
Australia, New Zealand, the Straits Settle
ments, Hong Kong and the Philippines, and
sending others in return. South America is
skirted with cable lines along its entire
border save the extreme south, where they
are brought into intercommunication by land
lines. Along the entire coast of Africa
blaE Mo vlo
colony, stretching along the entire circum-
ference and penetrating the interior by land
lines at various points.
Every body of water lying between the in
habited portions of the earth, with the single
exception of the Pacific ocean, has been
crossed and recrossed by submarine tele-
graph lines. Even that vast expanse OF
water has been invaded along its margin.
submarine wires stretching along it's western
border from Siberia to Australia, while its
eastern borders are skirted with lines which
stretch along the western coasts of the two
Americas Several adventurous pioneers in
Pacific telegraphy have ventured to con-
siderable distances and depths in that great
ocean, one cable line running from Aus
tralia to New Zealand, a distance of over
1000 miles, and another extending from
Australia to the French colony of New
Caledonia, 500 miles seaward.
Pacific Difficulties.
The chief obstacle in the past to the con-
struction of grand transpacifc cable was
found in the fact that midocean resting
places could not be satisfactorily obtained
or arranged for, no single government con-
trolling a sufficient number of suitable land
ing places to make this seem practicable, !
in view of the belief that the distances from
which messages could be sent and cables
controlled were limited. With landing places
at Hawaii, Wake Island, Guam and the
Philippines, however, no section Of a cable
stretching from the United States to Asia |
and touching at these points would have a |
length equal to that now in daily operation |
between France and the United States. The |
length Of the French cable from Brest |
France, 20 Cape Cod, Mass is $3.50 miles |
while the greatest distance from land to |
land on the proposed Pacific route would be
that from San Francisco to Hawaii, 2OS9 |
miles, that from Hawaii to Wake Island |
being 2,O4O miles from Wake Island to Guam |
,29O miles, from Guam to Manila l,52O |
miles and from Manila to the Asiatic coast
$50 miles.
While the depth of the Pacific is some
what greater than that at which any cable
has been laid, the difference between its
depth and the greatest reached by cables in |
The Atlantic would be very slight the cable
recently laid from Hayti to the Wndward |
Islands being in $1,000 feet of water, while
The greatest depth between San Francisco
and Hawaii is 1890 feet and the greatest
depth between Hawaii and Manila is est-
mated at l9,60O feet, though this estimate
IS yet TO be verified by detailed soundings
otto Krummel, who was the first to discuss
he bathymetric data and calculate the area
and volume of the various oceanic basins,
outs the mean depth OF the Pacific at 2,1GO
athoms against 2,O4O for the Atlantic, in
which caoles have already been so sue
'essfully laid, and later researches and
lctual souniings, while they have developed
Extreme depths at certain points in the
Pacific, have not, in the opinion of ex-
'erts been such as to warrant the belief
hat the depths along the proposed line
would be considerably greater than those