The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-11-11
RARIH'S DEEPEST HOLES.
shafts sunk on Land sh How Compared VIII
the oceans Abysses.


Near Pittsburg a well has been dug $3.50
feet deep-that is. 252 feet more than a mile
Near Wheeling. W. Va. they are sinking .
well which Ia now within u few hundred feet
of a mile deep. At last report they had reached
the 4,92O foot level. Al Sperenberg. near
Berlin. Germany. they are driving Il hole In
gypsum beds which is already 1850 feet deep
and IL Is getting deeper every day. At Schla-
dabach. near Leipsic. they are taking salt from
a well that Is even deeper than the P1ttsbure
well. This hole is e.2o5 feet deep. The Red
Jacket shaft Of the Calumet and Hecla mine
In the Lake Superior copper district Ii q mile
deep and men work in the shaft. Near by. the
TamaIack mine has q shaft nearly as deep a.
the Red Jacket. But at Paruschowitz, in
eastern Silesia, there is a we'll which is now 9. 100
feet deep. or exactly 100 feet more than "a mile
and a quarter. They are still boring and 1t IL
the intention to 60 down $500 feet. or one and
two-thirds miles. when sone interesting scien-
tiAc Ell experiments will DO made, unauestion-
ably. this is now the deepest artificial hole In
the world.
But in this race far into the earth's core there
are other competitors. other well holes which
are not quite so deep as these big ones, but
are pressing them hard. They are mostly
In Germany. At Iieth. near Altoona. there 10
n hole 4.3ss feet deep. At Eu near Strassfurt
they have gone down 4.?4l feet. At Lubtheen.
"a Mecklenbur9. they are still digging at s.o.s
iec,. At S%ennewitz. near Halle. 3,o4+ feet has
been reached. Al Inowrazlaw. ,Posen. d ills
are working at 3,624 feet, while at + rtedrichsans
near Aschersleben. they have punched {. hols
in the earth 3.5l3 feet deep, Al ST. Louis
they have a well which will stand comparison
with these German wells. 1t is S.s48 feet deep.
All " these wells are more than half a mile
deep and several OF them have passed the three
As these wells all got hotter and hotter 40
they are driven deeper and deeper the outcome
is cached, natural steam will be encountered.
or II the well be dry; water can DO pumped
in and returned in the form OF marketable
naturally, warm well water. The hospital
e. s.rs GT sIs no,s abf s1a9p %Iss'orl Also IN th ~s x.yser
shows how heat from the earth's Interior may
manifest Itself forcibly on the surface;
half Of the whole sea door lies two miles below
|s,,. sar aass 81 f t a.pr w:s.d, below eRs,ei;f hr.e on mi isi:
This eighth itself Is seven million square geo.
graphical miles in extent and contains areas
Sra r1 mlies S Ssiow the Sh %snn, aip IN f PSfass' ia moI sim 1nsp
unfathomable holes in the ocean bottom occur
irss OF Ave miles or more have been made.
There may be others. OF course. even deeper.
which have as yet remained undiscovered,
The deepest OF these holes exists in the South
Pacific 10 the east Of the Kerinadecs. II Is S.l66
fathoms deep or $40 feet more than five geo
It's bottom represents the farthest reach OF hui
mankind TOWARD the centre OF the earth. Yes
what came back with, the rod was meaSIe In
view OF what might have been expected. A
little olobioetnd ooze, a little OF that curious
red clay. which covers nearly half OF the sea
magnetic spherule. Of cosmlc origin-that was
all. these and the positive assurance Of intense
darkness and bitter cold.
casses sweeping downward through centuries:
the clay was the plastic remnants OF even earlier
mmeteoric particles which had plunged through
immeasurabls distance from outer dark into
Volcanic debris. oxides Of iron. ,eolitlc cryr-
tails. manganese nodules and remains OF whales
and sharks are ,oharacteristic OF these deep
bb Brought 1 up ,r aaal a d. dorsh ' of nearly II t Three miles mil.s
many bushels Of manganese nodules. i.500
shark, teeth and ff,y fFssmen ri. Of the ob bone:
which might he expected 70 drop from tho
surface are wanting II Is n1t surprising,
the water AT these great der tbs. Nothing not
esr ecially adapted for il could withstand II.
i.d Is s ,ss tsa y, one ne m Tdto pe me s sIs. sur /;
an object i one ton to the square inch In
view Of this II was formerly SUPPOSED thai
enough 10 turn the bottom 10 stone But the
dredse shows this to be untrue.
The Ash that live in these deep holes are
soft and aela,inous, the only condition in fact
which would save them from the effects Of tho
pressure The water permeates their sofa
Fort v-three areas have been found on the
sea bottom lying deeper than three miles.
Eight ~ these are deerer than four miles.
These are Mares Deep IN the North Atlantic.
Ross Deep in the Antarctic. Weber Deep 10 the
Deers in the North Pacific. and Aldrich and
Richards Deere in the South Pacific. Three
Of these Deers contain hve-mlle holes. They
are AldriCh, Tusoarora and Weber deeps. But
the Aldrich Deer hole is the deepest, as was
stated above. Yet, deep a. il Is, in SPITE OF
the fact that Mount Everest. the highest
mountain in the world. IL dropped into the
hole would sink omt 81 sight In the ocean, that
little pinnacle called sunday Island standing
~sauarely in this fve-mile hole is able to reaf
its head ZOO feet above the surface Of the sea.
Incldentallv this conveys a vivid idea OF the
contrast nature is able IN make n the mattA1
Of high hills and deep holes.