The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-08-11
NEW POWER in THE SEA
WONDERFUL ND ,NhNOvN Cur
RE,T orr NEWFOUNDLAND.
Majestic whirlpool, Adds Victims to
the Graveyard OF Sbips"-Receat
wrecks in that Vicinity.


so I'M
Newfoundland there has appeared an ocean
terror more appalling and deadly In its
stern reality than were all the abled
terrors of ScylIa and Charybdis. The
fast-crumbliug plates OF two great iron
ships. wrecked only a month ago. lie
on the surf-wOrn rocks Of the bleak cape
Race strand now to bear witness to its
mystery ana strength.
IN there. some time within "A recent
period, "A mighty. subtle sea pun has been
born. Somehow. in the meeting OF two
great sWirls of ocean rivers, one cold and
leaden. the other warm and blue, there
has formed a surface whirlpool. The
knowledge Of the scientists and the navi-
gators. who had come to believe that they
had learned all about the curious tidal
movements Of the ocean. is powerless. No
man knows whence this strange new cur
rent comes. how il lows or by what law it
has its being.
For its tremendous manifestation the
scene is always set. Fogs as thick as the
gloom Of night. as cold as the dead depths
OF the deepest sea, enfOld the snip that VEN
lures there. Arctic gales blow. gale on
gale. Rolling from the abysses of the
nOrthernmOst Atlantic, the seas rise when
they strike soundings and mount in high
rollers. sweeping in toward a shore that is
as grim as an entrance TO hell.
The new danger that has appeared to add
TO the already fearful dangers of sea and
storm and reef on this most threatening
land, sweeps directly in the track of all the
ships that essay TO enter the Gulf of st.
Lawrence. From Cape Race on the north
TO Sable island, the graveyard of ships
on the south. no captain who sails in the
fog may tell whether or not his vessel is in
the grasp Of the sea pull. His log gives no
indication OF il. He can take no bearings.
His only chance for escape lies in half
speed ahead and sounding painfully and
painstakng every few minutes.
Variable currents, some flowing for days
and weeks with almost incredible speed,
then vanishing as suddenly as they APP
peared. have been common in this sullen
sea. But never before has a current of
such mystery and power been heard of
even there
As nearly as navigators can Judge from
the experience. of the half dozen vessels
that have become its victims il sets direct
~ In toward the rocks of St. Johns, flow
ing at a rate great enough TO combat pow
erful engines-a very Mississippi of the
deep sea There are only speculations as to
now IT was formed, and no man can say
If it will continue to whirl there to destroy
more ships or If it will vanish as it's pre-
decessOrs have vanished.
The officials of the United States Hydro
graphic Office, who know more about ocean
currents than do the officials of any other
country in the world, are sure that its
origin is similar to that of most of the cur
rents in that locality, due to a mingling of
the cold water of the almost unknown Lab
rador current and the warm water of the
gulf stream. But what particular condi-
tiOnS produce the startling power of the
new current no one can tell.
1t is that meeting of warm and cold
water that produces the gray fog that rises
from the sea there like smoke and hangs
over it forever. After the gulf stream in
Its wonderful northward flow has swung
around the New England shore il strikes
the southern tail of the Great Banks, and,
like a river running through land. it, too. as
~ fnnchnC the nnnnoraff~alU oh4oI uv,+1-
splits up into deltaS. One can sail there
from warm water TO cold and into warm
again and SO on until the vessel has crossed
the extent OF the split stream. All the arms
OF the warm current continue to flow to-
ward the north in general direction, no
matter how they are split up. Their aver
age rate OF progress is a knot an hour. But
the entire delta, with all it's warm arms,
swings to and fro over a mighty expanse of
sea, like a huge pendulum. So no map ever
has been made Of il.
COLLISION OF CURRENTS.
Scarcely have all these split arms of the
gulf stream begun 10 meet again before
they are struck with the still more strange
Labrador current, hurrying southwark with
icebergs in its grasp. This flows much more
swiftly than do the warm waters. 1t runs
at rates of from ten TO thirty-six miles a
day. Sometimes, when northwest or north
east gales have been blowing for many
DAYS. it rolls down as fast as a river in
food.
These two forces are ancient enemies.
Where they meet and battle the whirI is
formed. Sometimes, when the Labrador
current ceases To flow. as it does occasion
ally. the whirl disappears. Then again the
Labrador stream suddenly swings far out
90 sea or in TO shore: The whirl dances
with ii. sometimes making "A dragging tide
near the rocks and destroying all ships that
steam or sail there then. at other times
flowing in corcentric circles far away from
land and doing little more harm than to
throw sailors dead out of their reckoning,
TO their vast amazement.
In the last few months half a dozen YES
sells have been lost in the vicinity of Cape
Race Most sensational of these recent dis
asters are those of the steamers Assyrian
and Lusitania. in June. Scarcely three
weeks interviewed between these wrecks
and their points of similarity are startling.
In dense fog, in the dead of night, each
ship plunged into the rocks head on. Each
ships captain thought himself thirty OF
lofty miles south OF cape race; both ships
were bound for Montreal, the AssyriaI
from Antwerp and the Lusitania from Liv-
erpool- The Lusitania was to have been
used III the new Franco-Canadian line ply
ing 10 Montreal, great expectation being en-.
tertained of the feasibility and usefulness
of this short route from Europe TO Amer
lea.
The scene of the wreck OF the Lusitanis
was near Seal Cove. on Ferryland shore
about twenty miles above Cape Race, where
the British steamship Delmar lies, another
victim OF the strange new current. The
cause OF the disaster" said the dispatches.
lis the usual one In such cases. The ships
captain NIcNay) thought himself south OF
Cape Race and in open water and failed to
allow for the current. Fog and darkness
obScured the land and the ship was on the
rocks before speed could be stopped But
when the Marine Court investigated the
disaster it found and decided that ii was
due TO an unknown and erratic current
which threw the ship thirteen miles out OF
her course. Tho government has restored
the captains certificate and praised his eX-
Cellent handling OF the 500 passengers after
the wreck, no lives having been lost.
In the case OF the wreck of the AsSyrian
Captain Dingle thought himself forty miles
south o- Cape Race. but owing TO the Cog
had not been able to obtain sights TO work
out his reckoning for three days.
The French government, being vitality
and directly concerned with the phenomena
of the currents of Newfoundland. was
moved 90 make an Investigation I'm 1868
shortly after two large steamships were
wrecked and lost twenty miles from Caps
Race They were full-powe-ed vessels
bound from British ports TO Baltimore. and
both went Oh the rocks almost within touch
OF each other on Oct. IL. 1886. 1t was sup
posed then and Is supposed vet that their
loss was due TO a sudden reversal of tho
Labrador current Their captains. driVin-
ahead I'm "a fog by dead reckoning. had
ever reasonable right 30 believe that they
We're not within nifty miles Of shore. But
there had been a hurricane the dav befor,
snd n affected the big Arctic ocean river
enough 20 swiEg n far out OF the course
that n had been holding for many months
The investigation of the French govern.
ment was elaborate and thorough. Ii wa:
conducted by Admiral CLIQUE. who was wei