The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-05-31
OCEAN LANES AM0 THE1R ORIGIN
SAILING COURSES FOLLOWED BY TRANSATLANTIC SHIPS ARE
WELL DEFINED.

Greece. and so on, to the common
base of all, the ports of Asia Minor,
where the IN of the ancient
world met and was sifted and then
redistributed on its way to thousand
smaller marts. Countless less impor-
tant routes hranched out from these.
carried them on or projected into linn
tied areas of water. surrounded by |
large populations which had a COM
merce of their own. In every case
the paths Of the trading galleys were
Invariably the same. The middle Of
dom fnrrowed outside of the few
tracks pursued by vessels travelling
from one side of it to the other. say
from Carthage or Alexandria to Ath-
ems or Rome. Men crert along the
coasts or rowcd uncertainty from ISL
and to island. unless they could, not
help themselves.
Aud it is strangely true that now
adays. when the ocean lanes are so
much greater i'm number. so incom-
n~aral'lN more far-f1uns i'm character, |
the same general conditions hold good
on the 2rander scale that has been
assumed. The waters of the world
or that portion of it which is to any
extent inhabited-are criss-crossed
in every direction by innumerable
paths followed by vessels, both sail
and steam: hut it is still possible to
find wide areas in which a sail or a
steamships smoke arc not sighted for
months on end. What vessel blown
into the middle of the vast tract in
the South Atlantic. roughly delim-
tied by the routes followed by YES
sells from North American ports to
Gibraltar, and by the course of ships
from the South American ports bound
for Europe, would have any logical
hope of assistance?
True, stray ships from Vera Cruz,
Mazatian. and the gulf ports of Mex
leo and Central America occasionally
cross this desert waste of waters on
voyages to Cadiz, Barcelona. or other
1herian ports: but they are few and
far between. n unless compelled to
do so by nature. they seldom or new
er dcvia,e from a hairline curse
from coast to coast. One might he
dismasted or disabled in this desert of
water, without any help within hun
dreds of miles of one for more than
a year perhaps. In the middle of it
lies the Sarsasso sea. that vague mys-
FERROUS wilderness of %clineins sea-
weed: Il haven Of sinister man
the graveyard of a myriad goodly
ships. haunted by the ghosts of gen
erations of seamen. if tradition holds
truth, and at all events. even in the
sober light of day. no comfortable
resting place for those who would es-
cape the clinging tentcles Of it's Shiny
la hNrinth and escape to the travelled
ways of man.
wide patch of lonely sea. They know
the fate that would. inevitably over
come the disabled craft. limited in
supplies. its boats smashed or wash
ed away. that drifted in the trough
of the waves. which active keels do
mo furrow. They know that they
would stand no more chance of res
cue than if they We're caught in the
Antarctic ice. The Antarctic ocean,
itself. that portion of it which is new
er frozen over, is not more desoluate.
There are several other areas in the
Atlantic equally lonely. but they are
restricted in area. They Turk between
the main Travelled routes between
America and Europe, and are never
deserted for long: although at con-
siderable intervals no vessel crosses
them. and it is always during these
intervals that the ship In distress
meets with her difficulties.
OF all the greater bodies of water,
the Atlantic, of course. is most wide
lv travelled: but despite it's tremen-
dous area. the Pacific is fairly well
marked by recognized paths of mari
time commerce. Like the Atlantic. ii
mas piS Sltdl puid desert
stretch. possibly a trifle larger than
the area surrounding the Sargasso
sea: but on the whole a superficial
glance would convince one thai the
traveller on the Pacific had little cause
for fear that his distress signals might
not he answered.
1T is only when one comes to es-
innate the magnitude of the distances
on the Pacific. only when one comes !
to comprehend the hundreds of miles
that are represented by degrees. only
When n takes into consideration
the rarity of sailings over certain
tracks. that the likelihood of aid in
distress become something plainly |
worth worrying over. Still. as has been
said. the main travel lanes are many.
and sailines oveer adj of them fire.
auent. even if. in some cases. irregu-
lar. and the ship in distress that could
keep af1oat would he practically cer-
tain of succor if she did no wander
too far from the usual course. /
me biggest desert tract i nthe Pa
cifc is a blunt-angled triangle in !
shape. and stretches from latitude as
degrees to 10 degrees south. and from
the coast of South America almost
to New Zealand. tapering gradually
toward the blunt end. Save for some
isolated clumps off islets off the South
American coast. there is not a rock
nor reef In this entire expanse, alto
gether as lonely, as 'desolate and asl
aWe-lnspiring to the mariner as the
most arid stretches of the Sahara. AL
similar trackless waste in the Indian
ocean is as large, if not larger. This
ocean desert reaches from 40 degrees
south latitude to the equator and
from Mauritins, Reunion and the 9TH
err tiny islands off the African coast
clear to Australia.
So clearly marked are the lanes
OF the seas in this day of Lloyd's
agents. wireless and cable reports and !
numerous sailings that there has been
talk OF establishing a system of guard
or patrol ships which might watch
over the open routes and search for
vessels that required assistance or had
not been reported. There is much
to commend this plan. possibly. most
OF all. its actual inexpensiveness. It's
constitution would necessarily involve
certain international agreements,
even if in the long run it were not
considered most advantageous to
place such a system undar absolute
international control.
Doubts as to its practicability are
met with the illustration OF the lin
tied ocean patrol duty furnished nv
the United States revenue cutter serv-
ice. a service unlike any maintained
by other nations. Not only does the
revenue cutter fleet make a speciality
of rescue work on the coast trade
routes during the stormy season. hut
1t possesses in the cutter service SEN
eca a specially built and equipped
derelict destroyer, the only such craft
IN nvfct0YNn Anu,