The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-09-26
OCEAN CURRENTS.
i. A Theory as to the Orgin and Cause of
 the Gulf and Other Streams.

|
 and philosophers have been vainly try ing to discover the orgin and cause oi | the mysterious current in the Atlantic
 Ocean called the Gulf Stream; why SC
 called Is not apparent, as nothing lr
 the Gulf of Mexico is in its compost
 tion. There have been many theories
 which have been abandoned, some rer-
 fectly absurd, such as it's being caused 1 by the earth in it's revolution on it's
 axis; for if it had the power to draw
 this stream at the rate of five miles an
 hour from the coast of Florida it would 1 draw all the water from the east coasts
 of North and South America at the i same velocity. The pl evailing theory
 is that the northeast trade winds drive
 a current into the Caribbean Sea, and, aided by the feeble equatorial stream, | heap up the water in the Gulf of Mex /, ico, thence rushing around the south of l Florida from the source of the Gulf Stream. But there is no such heap | ing of the waters in that gulf. The waters there are sluggish, and there is no perceptible current leading toward | the Gulf Stream, or anywhere else. This theory has been accepted for want of better, but those who favor it are
 not entirely satisfied with it. The Gulf Stream is an independent body of water, having no connection with the
 water around or behind the point where it emerges. It is warmer and of a deeper blue than the surrounding seas ba ctDItip rr point off Capt Sable at the rate of from five to six knots an hour with tenn perature of about 90 degrees, lessening gradually as it proceeds on its journey of thousands of miles across the At lantic Ocean, warming the western shores of Europe.
 Having seen the fallacy of the .teories concerning the Gulf Stream we still turn our attention to the great Pacific current, identical in all respects with its sister current of the Atlantic, and concerning which there are no theories to contend with.
 It starts spontaneously from a spot few miles from the south end of the ;s'and of Formosa. in the Baushee Channel, following sthe coast of For mosa northeasterly, past and through the Loo Choo Islands, skirting the coast of Japan; thence turns eastward on it's long journey across the wide Pa cific, warming the coast of America from Puget Sound to Mexico. It's dark blue waters are in striking contrast to the surrounding seas, giving 1t the name of Murra Suar, or black water. It is an independent stream where no combination of winds or currents can possibly cause the mighty rush of warm blue water with a velocity of from five to six knots an hour from the start
 In it's characteristics of heat color and direction it resembles the Gulf Stream in every particular and the or igin of the two streams must be the same, whatever they may be, which l shall endeavor to show later on. There is another ocean current similar in all respects to the other two, with the ex- ception that it runs in an exactly op- posite direction. Sarting from the Vl- cinity of the south end of the island of Madagascar, it runs eouthwesterly around the Cape of Good Hope, where it disappears off Cape Lagullas. AS current, probably part of 1t is divert ed into a steady set of the easterly cur rent. caused by the prevailing westerly winds in that region No scientists, so far as I am aware, have attempted to account for this current. Having now proved beyond refutation that all theo- ries advanced as to the cause of ocean currents ares sgroundless, it remains to be proven what the true cause is,
 l,o 5,,,it aJ that tho rents have a similar origin, as they are identical in every respect as regards color, heat and velocity, springing forth in the same manner spontaneous ly from the earth in some mysterious way. There is no place on the surface of the earth where the water can be heated to furnish the heat-contained In these streams that gush forth from the depths of the sea; consequently the forces must be subterranean, and can only be accounted for by large bodies of clear, blue water from the ocean forcing it's way into the depths of the earth under its crust. where it burrows channel of its own to the surface again, having received it's warmth on the way by contact with the internal heat Ot the lower TeSioHS ol lIe cal LII, forced on by continual pressure from behind That there are orifices in the earth's crust cannot be denied, also what becomes of the vast volume of water that cannot be computed which is constantly running at the rate of from four to six knots an hour through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Medi- terlanedn Sea The numerous rivers, too. are continually flowing in, and yet the sea remains at the same level. Evaporation cannot account for it, for what is evaporated is formed into clouds and is precipitated again into the sea by the medium of storms and frequent rains
 The water must enter the earth from the ocean through these apertures on an incline, as it gushes forth in these three mighty currents and cannot be discovered by soundings; consequently these three mighty currents are noth- ing more or less than immense geysers. Captain B. F. Sherburne of Eureka (CaL) in the Cleveland (O) Marine Record.