Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-10
NOT GROUNDING THE HORN"
Nature Of the Region Just Passed by
the Fleet.

The question asked by many is why
the fleet is not reported to have rounded
the horn." the two things Of which most
OF us are reasonably sure being that the
Cape of Good Hope is at the tail end of
Africa and that the Horn is at the end
OF South America. The answer is that
| the Straits OF Magellan constitute a short
cut taken for the very purpose Of avoid
ing the necessity OF rounding the Horn.
Some thousands of years ago the tip end
Of the continent cracked of there, 1eav-
ing narrow, jagged passageway, the
straits, about ESQ miles north Of the ex-
IRENE end, and it Is through these straits,
discovered by Magellan in 1920, that the
fleet has passed. Most steamships take
this route nowadays, as the saving IL,
time is considerable, but sailing vessels
give it wide berth, as 1t Is a very un-
healthy spot for sailing craft So the
| old-time windJammeps still "'round the
Horn" along with few cautious steam
ships.
The straits themselves consist Of two
nearly equal legs. both slanting toward
the south and meeting at a sharp angle
about midway between the Atlantic and
the Pacific. The general route Of the
inland to ' the south s and two soe h pa
representing the entrances from the two
oceans. The point Of the "" is the real
southernmost tip of the American CONT
ward. 1t is the halfway spot in the pas
sage Of the straits. AS explained above,
Cape Horn is several hundred miles to
the southwark. on a little island beyond
Terra del Fuego. which is the main body
Of land to the south Of the straits.
| The two halves OF the strait on either
side of Cape Forward are very different
in character. For one thing the leg rum
ming in from the Atlantic is much wider
than the other. Except for two narrow
and Is thus as wide as Long Island
sound in it's broadcast stretch. the Pa
cific leg is quite another story. the
waterway being only two or three miles
wide for the most part.
After lifting anchor at Punta Arenas
the feet continues along the first leg of
the strait in a southwesterly direction
until Cape Forward Is reached. There
and set out upon the far more danger
Gus and difficult half Of the passage.
Their course is then northwest, and the
| open water narrows at once there to
two. miles. The width of the Hudson
river at Tarrytown is fair parallel.
The mountains grow higher and their
| slopes sleeper. snow crests and glaciers
are all about. the ffords grow more fire.
quent and the famous williwaws and
| cross-currents begin to do their best
work. There are 10 miles Of such
| channel before the Pacific is reached.
and 1t Is safe to assume that the sixteen
battieships will have plenty Of trying
moments amid rain squalls and cross
tides before their keels swing into the
] Pacific.
The two narrowest sections are known
| az Crooked Reach and Long Reach. and
then the way widens into Sea Reach.
which opens into the Pacific. Cape Pr
lar Is at the southern side Of the en-
trance, on the western tip OF Desoiation
| Island and there the winds of the Pa
cific meet the whirlwinds Of the strait.
making the spot one of the stormiest
| in the world. Twenty-Five miles to the
northwest stand the Evangelists. four
| rocks rising sheer above the Pacific to
q height of 200 feet and bearing Il light
| house that is the first landmark seen
by vessels approaching from the Pacific.