Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-10-12
THE GULF STREAM
A"eory or origin and Cause Of Thi.
remarkable Current

| ING TO discover the origin ana ~
'he mysterious current in tho A,,,.,r
ocean called the Gulf Stream. ~. -
'ahed is not apparent. as nothin. IL
'ne Iuif or Mexico is in its connosi-
''oii. mere nave been many thaorias.
"hich nave been abandoned. Soma nar
,eoiE ABSURD. such as its being caus.a
ny the earth in its revolution M Il.
aAs' Tor II 1t had the power Ia draw,
'"is stream at the rate Of five miles a.
hour from the coast of Florida if wonI,
| "laW all the water from the aa.t
coast OF North and South America a.
| we same velocity. The prevaiIin
| 'heory is that the northeast trade
| Wihds drive currant into the Garth
| "eah sea. which, aided by the feeble
| equatorial stream. heaps up the waters
| IN the Gulf of Mexico. thence. rusbing
| around the south of Florida form the
| source OF the Gulf Stream R,lt thor.
| IS no such a heaping of waters in that
| 'uil. Inc waters there are sluggish
! anu thefe is no perceptible current
| ieddinS towards the Gulf Stream. or
| anywhere else. This theory has baen
| accepted for want of a better, but
l those who favor it are not entirely
| Satlshed with it. The Gulf Stream is
| an independent body of water. having
| no connection with the water around
| OF oehind the point where il energies
| II Is warmer and of a deeper blue than
| the surrounding seas. and gushes forth
! from the starting point off Cape Sable
| az the rate OF from five to six knots an
| hour. with temperature Of about
ninety degrees. lessening gradually as
| u proceeds on its journey Of thousands
| Oh miles across the Atlantic Ocean
| warming the western shores of Europe
having seen the fallacy Of the
| theories concerning the Gulf Stream
| we Will turn our attention to the great
| Pacafic current, indentical in all re-
| Spects with its sister current Of the
| Atlantic. and concerning which there
| are no theories to contend with
| 1t starts spontaneously from a spot
| a few miles from the south end Of the
| island of FOrmoSa. in the BanShee
channel. following the coast Of Formosa
northeaSterly, past and through the
| Loo ChoO Islands. skirting the coast of
Japan thence turns eastward on its
| long journey across the wide Pacific
warming the coast of America from
| Puget Sound to Mexico Its dark blue
| waters are in striking contrast to the
| surrounding seas. giving it the name
| of Murra Suar. or black water 1t is
an independent stream where no COM
bination of winds or currents can pos
Sibly cause the mighty rush of warm
blue water with a velocity of from five
to six knots an hour from the start.
In its characteristics of heat. color
and direction it resembles the Gulf
Stream in every particular. and the
origin of the two streams must be the
same. whatever they may be. which !
shall endeayor to show later on. There
is another ocean current similar in all
respects to the other two. with the eX-
ception that il runs in an exactly Op-
posite direction. Starting from the
vicinity of the south end of the island
OF Madagascar. il runs southwesterly |
around the Cape of Good Hope. where
il disappears off Cape Lagulas. AS q
current probably a part Of il is divert |
ed into 4 steady set Of the easterly cur |
rent. caused by the prevailing westerly !
winds in that region. No scientists. so
far as | am aware, have attempted to
account for this current.
Having now proved beyond refuta
tion that all theories advanced as to
the cause Of ocean currents are ground |
less il remains to be proven what the |
true cause is.
It must be admitted that the currents |
have a similar origin. as they are
Identical in every respect as regards |
color. heat and velocity, springins
forth in the same manner spontaneous |
~ from the earth in some mysterious |
way There is no place on the surface
ha atp,. 10
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 its way into the depths Of the
earth under its crust. where it burrows
A channel Of its own to the surface
again. having received its warmth on
the way by contact with the internal
heat Of the lower regions Of the earth.
forced on bv a continual pressure from
behind That there are OrificeS in the
earth's crust cannot be denied else
what becomes of the vast column of
wafer that cannot be computed. which
| is constantly running at the rates OF
! from four to six knots an hour from
| the Atlantic ocean. through the Straits
| NJ CihraItar into the Mediterranean
sea The numerous rivers. too. are
continually flowing in. and yet the sea
remains at the same level. Evapora-
ton cannot account for it. for what is
eyaporated is formed into clouds ana
is preciptated again into the sea by the
m. dunn 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
great ocean currents. and cannot be
discovered by soundings; consequently
these three mighty currents are moth
ing more or less than immense Seysers.
MEMORIALS FOR PRESIDENTS.
Neglect of Lincoln-Projects for Mohu-
ments to President Mckinney