The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1912-05-04
DID TITANIC SINK TWO MILES
MAY BE SUSPENDED AT THE
MERCY OF THE CURRENTS.
Scientists Wrangling Over Whether
Inflated Ocean Liner viii Ever
Reach Bottom of Ocean.


WASHINGTON, d. C.-Scientists
are still wrestling with the problem
whether the Titanic, which went
down in two miles of water, will
ever reach the bottom. 1t has cen
explained by experts that the pierre
ing of the she'll or "s5in" beneath
the water line and the subsequent
flooding of two or more adjacent
compartments caused the vessel to
sink. But the remaining buoyancy
cannot be computed, for the facts,
as known by the survivors, tell moth
ing of the number of intact compart-
ments, the closing of the water-tight
doors, the total weight of wooden
structure or the natural and artif1-
cial air pockets.
With so many ks" or unknown
quantities science refuses to give a
definite solution to the problem,
says a writer in the Herald.
1t is said that the Titanic took an
angle of from 43 degrees to so de-
grees on her final plunge. The pro-
jections above her hull, cabins, fun
nels, etc, would offer considerable
resistance under water, while the
sides, from keel to upper deck, free
of membranes, would glide more
smoothly through the water AS
result her imaginary path would de-
scribe an arc of a great circle whose
limit would be reached at point
tangent to line parallel to the sea
level. There gravity would bring the
mass almost to a halt and slowly, her
stern buoyed up by air pockets, her
| bow would swing about until she
continued on her downward, curvili-
near course in an opposite direction;
in short, she would zig-zag. A pen
| dulum, constantly lowered, while os-
cillating supplies a clear COMPARE
son.
In this event would she land di-
rectly beneath the spot of her INNER
sion? Perhaps so were it not for
weighty factor hitherto unheeded-
i. e. ocean currents.
1t is calculated that the Titanic
sank at Al degrees, As minutes north
and so degrees, IA minutes west.
The charts trace the Labrador cur
rent, powerful iceberg carrier, as
passing through this region. This
| mighty force, that rises in Baffin
Bay and is augmented at Davis
Strait, has borne many waterlogged
dereficts on it's southwark trip and
deposited them along the Jersey
coast. For this it is remarkable:
] Just off New Foundland it dives be-
meath the Gulf stream, which is
heading at this point almost due
east for the mid-Atlantic. The lat
! ter is really an ocean river, with
mean depth of about 1900 fathoms
and mean breadth of ten miles.
At this current junction the waves
closed over the ill-starred vessel.
! Was the velocity of her descent such
that she had passed from the Gulf
| streams influence before the increas-
ing density of the water could mate
| rally retard her precipitous pro-
gress? If so, her drift has been
southwark. And if. on the other
hand, the Gulf stream was sufficient
ly deep her trend is toward the set
ting sun.
Comes the all-absorbing query
now: Will the Titanics keel ever
make its impress upon the ocean
bottom? Surprising that it did, at
the depth of 1000 fathoms, there
would be a pressure of 5 300 pounds
on every square inch, or on the en-
tire bulk a pressure of two and half
billion tons. Superimpose this in
conceivable weight upon $4,000 tons.
the Titanic figure, and let your i'm
agination run riot.
When the Titanic has sunk to a
depth where its apparent weight and
the resultant of the fluid pressure.
acting in opposite directions, are ex-
actly equal the great vessel, after a
plteous fashion, will come again into
its own and float And the equi'ib-
rum establisht will be so delicate
that a current no swifter than that
Of millpond will bear the spent
greyhound on its breast. The ex-
plosion of submarine mine a hum
dred miles away will set it's bar
nacled and corroding sides trembling
like the tenderest leaf in autumn.