Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-03-18
Special to the Register.


of our new insular territory of Guam
is the surprising discovery just made
at the Navy Department. From fig
ures received a day or two ago from
Commander Hodges. of the cable sur
vey ship, Nero" it is computed that
the sounding wire of that little vessel
fell at one point to the surprising depth
of six miles-or SOS miles, to be more
explicit-and to almost equal depths
over surrounding ovaloid area ex-
tending from point 500 miles east of
Guam very nearly to that island. In
other words, if the Pacific were drain
ed of her water Guam, from the depths
OF this valley would appear as lofty
summit towering higher than does
Deodhunga, the tallest of the Himal-
ayas, above the sea.
Nero Deep" is the name which will
designate this great hole on all future
charts. Inasmuch as a depth of four
miles is the limit at which appliances
OF the present day can be used for
graphing cables and raising them for
repairs, our great trans-Pacifc cable
will have to avoid this depression.
Were diver to descend to the bot
tom of Nero Deep and lie supine there
upon he would be crushed to a jelly
by the pressure of the water above
him. Upon each square foot of the
surface of his body he would suffer
the pressure of column of water six
miles high. Since water weighs 641s
pounds per cubic foot, this pressure
would amount to
More Than Two Million Pounds
over each square foot Were the Hol-
land submarine boat to sink to the
bottom of this abyss it would be
crushed to powder by this tremendous
pressure of the sea. Although expert
ments lately made with models indi-
cate to Mr.. Holland that his craft
might dive as deep as 43S feet, he has
never yet ventured with her deeper
than As feet. The lowest depths at
which divers can live under water vary
from only so to 70 feet, and between
these they must be exceedingly care
Tur ofNhe air connections of their ap-
paratus. Although specimens of ma
rine life have been brought up in
sounding tubes lowered to what have
hitherto been regarded as the oceans
greatest depths, no evidences of it's ex-
istence were discovered in Nero Deep.
1t is not improbable, however, that
polyps, protopoa and such forms can
thrive under it's tremendous pressure.
II elevated from the bottom of the
abyss, these little creatures would i'm
medlately explode upon reaching the
air. Such phenomena are observed
when life-specimens are taken from
depths of several thousand fathoms.
1t is also noticed in such cases that
these creatures, after being elevated to
certain height, will fall upward to
the surface with a surprising velocity.
In Nero Deep, Commander Hodges
observed the lowest deep-sea tempera-
ture ever taken. While that of the air
was so and that of the water "a de-
grees Fahrenheit, the temperature at
point on the bottom near the deep
est sounding was 351a, only 315 degrees
above freezing point. And yet the
thermometer making this measure
ment ventured nearer the supposedly
heated center of the earth than any
previously manipulated by human
hands.
To Protect His Thermometer
against the enormous pressure stated
Commander Hodges had it sheathed
in metal case. This, as well as the
sounding tube which measured the
oceans lowest depth, was suspended
upon six miles of piano wire of OPS
inch diameter, wound upon a reel re-
volved by small oscillating engine
Leaving the reel, the wire passed over
pulley mounted upon cross-heads
leading it out over the stern of the
ship. For the sounding work long
brass tube Waived at the bottom and
penetrating a cylindrical hole cut
through heavy cannon ball was at
tached. The blow made by the drop
ping of this heavy weight upon bottom
drove the tube deep into the earth and
at the same time released catch hold
ing the ball. Thus a cannon ball had
to be left at each point of sounding,
its weight being too great for eleva-
ton under such pressure and for such
great distance. Whenever brought
to the surface the lower half of the
tube was unscrewed and found to con-
tain a sample of the ocean bottom.
Hundreds of such samples placed in
jars and labelled according to exact
locality, will be carefully analysed, the
object being to detect any chemical
elements of the sea bottom which
szlsat be damaging to the cable.
Wherever are found beds of sulphur
or copper or wells of pitch or bitumen,
care will be taken to avoid the loca-
ton of the cable.
Previous to Commander Hodges dis
covery of Nero Deep the deepest ocean
abyss in the world was believed to lie
to the eastward of the Kermedec Is
lands, in the Pacific ocean, not far
to the
Northeast of New Zealand.
1t was sounded in 1895 by H. NJ. S..
Penguin" and showed maximum
depth within 1876 fathoms of that just
observed east of Guam. A quarter OF
a century ago the U. S. S. "Tuscarora,"
while exploring a proposed great circle
route for a Pacific cable between San
Francisco and Yokohama, over a line
touching the Aleutian Islands, had
previously broken all records by dis