The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1901-10-31

factorily Explained.
Along the shallow bottom of the
ocean, not very far from the land, o
number of openings have been discov
cred In various parts of the worlo
through which water as pure and frest
as that Of any bubbllng spring mingles
with the salt water OF the sea. Anoth
er remarkable class OF fresh water
springs is those that sink out OF sight
| or perhaps never come TO the surface
but follow hidden channels under the
land and under the sea until they final
ly come to the open air on an island
| Both OF these types of underground
rivers are perhaps most remarkably IL.
lustrated near and on Bahrein island
in the Persian gulf, place that is also
noted as one of the chief sources OF
pearls.
Bahrein island. the largest OF the
| group of Islands bearing that name, IL
about twenty miles Off the coast OF
Arabia in the Persian gulf As the is
land has almost no rainfall II Is O
dead level of sandy desert relieved only
by palm groves and patches of vegeta
tion where water springs to the sur.
face from the mysterious underground
channels In many places the water
does not reach the surface, but is found
by sinking wells, the water being rails
ed to the surface 10y donkeys and bul.
locks and poured into the channels
from which the date palms and other
crops are irrigated. These springs can.
not possibly be derived from the island
and II Is no more likely that they come
from the sandy wastes Of neighboring
Arabia. The Arabian shore as far as
can be seen Is low and devoid of water
except at El-Katif where similar
springs are found.
Arabs say that these streams come
straight from the Euphrates river
through an underground channel by
which the great river, in part, flows be
meath the Persian gulf. Biologists,
however, have dismissed this theory.
Though the origin Of the springs has
not yet been satisfactorily explained,
the most favored theory Is that they
come from the we'll watered slopes of
the Persian mountains far to the north.
If this theory is correct, it means that
the rainfall sinks into the earth's crust
until 1t reaches impermeable rock
strata along which 1t is carried for a
great distance to the south out under
the sea until the rock, sloping upward.
again brings the water near the sur
face on Bahrein island. Some of the
wells that are thus supplied are enor-
NOUS and one of them, the Adar!.
serves for the irrigation of many miles
of date palms through canal of an
cient construction. The Adan well Is
one of the great sights Of Bahreln, be
ing n deep basin of water 22 by 40
yards I'm size. The fact that it comes
from n far higher source is shown by
the force with which it enters the well.
Divers, driven back by the strong cur
rent are unable to reach the bottom.
There being no wells within miles of
some of the coast towns of Bahrein,
they obtain water from springs that
Issue from the bottom of the gulf not
far from the shore. These springs of
course have the same origin AS the
wells. Divers. with goatsklns under
their arms, dive through the salt water
| anu I'LL lilt Shllio Win lllt Nblhf lltSAl
liquid at the bottom. The water OBJ
tanned in this way usually contains
slight admiXture of salt water, so
that the mixture is just n little brack-
, ish. At some of these openings at the
sea bottom the head of water entering
the sea is so strong that when hollow
bamboos are pushed down into 1t the
water rises through the tubes, deliver
ing the fresh water directly into YES
sels that are held by men and women
who are sitting In the boats that
brought them from the land. The
force of some of the streams as they
, come from the earth is so considerable
7 that it pushes back the salt water, and
the spring is not mixed with the sea
water for quite a space around the
, place of entrance.
1t has been practically determined
! within the past few years that the wa
ters OF n small river in West Africa
! which disappeared in n fresh water
swamp that has no visible outlet find
their way by an underground channel
into the Atlantic and mlngle with the
sea through an opening In the bottom
that has teen discovered few miles
from Cape Verde. A channel has beer
found on the sea floor which, appar
emily, was cut by some fresh water
stream. During some soundings thai
; were made in 1895 for the purpose OF
! finding and raising broken cable tho
y vessel engaged in the work was sur
rounded by swamp vegetation that wa'
n continually rising TO the surface. L
d was evidently brought through the un
! derground channel from the swamp.
l. The breaking of n cable Off the moutl
n OF the Rovuma river in East Afric;
has been attributed to the destructive
action Of n strong current Of swee
- water entering the sea level seyera
miles from the land Another remark
r. able example Of n submarine river i
d found to the north of the city of Arici
4. on the Pacific coast of South America
A ,t,.o,. f,,rn tba Au1ag that Is grad