The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-02
MAGELLAN STRAIT TRIP
OF BAT7LESHIP FLEET

4 s1-5-S lang cruise OF the Aknerichu Dal
11&rhip fleet and the TORPEDO poe. not -
- "a the Pacific coast asloe .son -. IA
7S.scrs IN navigation. seamanship eno
- rfS~ai battle training. and the I'M
--~sscn AZ our naval strength given 20
49, ,,scnleu Of the countries visited. VIII
--sk< asnericans more familiar with the
s.~,granhy 81 South America Most
,sAor,}n have . haxy idea OF Msgeiian
Efre1f. the distances involved from one
stopping point to another. me Sl.na as
<',e topo9raphy Of South America. es-
nectaIiy OF what has been termed the
<Vorld'a End and the people that IN
hahif that portion OF the globe
the feet left Rio Janeiro on January
aa. and Is scheduled to reach Punta Ar
ems. the most southeriy city In the
world on january 81.
MaxelIan Strait. which was discov-
orad Ia 1870 by Ferdinand Magellan.
RortaRuese whose squadron OF discov-
exx. dtted out by Charles V. King OF
Spn{n. passed through that waterway,
runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific
from the southern coast OF the main
land Of South America, and the archi-
pelngo Of which TERRA del Fuego Is
fha largest island. and Cape Horn the
best known spot The land on both
sides belongs to Chile. In The latitude
81 the strait, ranging from Sc to 81 de-
xrnes south. the days win be long at
the time the feet passes through. De-
Gambler ~ 10 naturally the long day.
answering to our long day in June. Ac-
kna1 sunlight ON that day continues for
seventeen hours and eleven minutes
Besides this. there Is about an hour and
4 half Of twilight In the morning and
eventng together, when II Is possible
70 see the course the ship is taking
with perfect distinctness. The point on
the north side Of the eastern entrance
u named Cape Virgins. and from there
70 Cape Pillar, the point on the south
&i6a cf the western entrance. 10 S10
miles Midway between these is Cape
Eroward. the most southern point Of
the mainland Of the American conti-
nenk
DAILY steamers Pass Through the strait
Only steamers pass through the
Strait. sailing vessels going around tho
Horn. which Is about 226 miles south
81 Cape Virgins. This Is because west
~ Cape Forward the wind blows al
most continuously from the west, 30
that sailing vessels would have 20 beat
heir way for $50 miles through chan
me1s from two to ten miles wide. In
generally thick and nasty weather and
violent currents. The weather and the
emrTents and the scarcity OF good an
shortages are the dangers most to be
4readed by the American ships. West
ward Of Cape Forward the main body
Of the Strait IL much too deep 20 allow
q nhfp to anchor, especially o warship
with fta great length OF anchor chain.
a depth OF 100 feet is about as great q
depth as ship captain likes to accept
Tor an anchorage. At many places the
depth IL much greater than this some-
tirnas reaching over 5000 feet. Chur-
Fuc4 Bay 10 perhaps the only place
where two or more ships can safely
anchor at the same time.
me distance from Punta AfSHks..
Which the neet IL scheduled to leaVg Cd
February ., to Cape Pillar, at the Wes-
tern extremity Of the Strait, is about
200 miles On that day there will be a
sunlight day Of about fifteen hours, or
nouuting in the twilight. q daylight ne.
rlo0 OF about seventeen hours This
length OF day would carry q sfip mast
nj the serious dangers in the Strait A.
ian knots steaming. From Punta Are
nas 60 near Cape Froward, there il
nroad and deep water. which will allow
ships to run at top speed.
At the eastern end, the Strait Of Ma
sellan is approximately TWENTY-FIVE
miles wide. Both shores are low. with
pm-lying. shoals grassy entirely des-
tlEute OF trees. and with few natural
1h1ects conspicuous and easily reeog-
nsxad for navigating purposes. But
the north shore is far better than the
south shore; and along the north shore
have been erected the marks (some
o. them fitted up as refuge stations for
- lp-wrecked crews) for fixing a ships
position.
Cape Virgins, which is one hundred
And thirty-ive feet high, is usually the
first land seen by vessels approaching
from the Atlantic. Here is a refuge
and telegraph station. and a Eight.
flashing white every I'VE seconds, which
10 visible twenty-one miles. Running
out Into the Strait to the south of Capea
Virgins, for some three ana a half
miles. Is a low spit. called Dungeness,
on the extremity OF which e q Lloyd's
signal station and q lighthouse that
shows an intermittent white light vts-
1ble for eight seconds out OF each min
ate. Back of these. on Mount Dinero.
San be seen the beacons marking the
boundary line between Chile and Ar
gentine.
Vessels entering the Straits usually
cross Sarmiento Bank (Which is south
east of, Vape Yirgins). and, passing
about q mile south OF Dungeness, steam
20 the westward for about thirty
miles. Here, II necessary, an anchor
age may be made in Possession Bay,
on the eastern side Of which Is Cape
Possession, = bold headland. with a