The chronicle=news., 1913-01-25
TO Make bALMY
WEATHER On
BANKS

New YORK. Jan. 2J.-Onc OI tue
most fascinating and useful OF feats.
ut first glimpse as easy OF accom-
plishmcn; as u trip to the moon. IL
the proposal or Caroff Livingston RI
kcr OF No. j75 Fifty-ninth street.
brooklyn. mechanical engineer. to
skim the foss Off the Banks oil New.
foundlaud and melt all the iccberEs
that float down from the northern
sea. Yet II bill IL shortly to be in-
troduccd In congress authorizing one
competent naval officer to be APP
pointed by the secretary OF the navy.
and also two competent persons to
be appointed by the president. to be
known us the Labrador Current aud
Gulf Stream commission" and fur
thcr authorizing u sufficient appro-
pr!atiOn therefor.
The purpose IL to Investigate the
feasibility and practicabiiity Of dam
ming the Labrador current aud to
discover by practical experience the
best means that can be employed 10
trap aud hold In II mighty jotty the
sand and other sediment that is car
ricd by the Labrador current from
the Artic. whose marriage with the
gulf stream. mightIcst OF ocean
rivers. spreads the deadly black pail
over the ocean track. II Is also de-
slider to lear tie cffcc, OF divcrtinK
of the Icy stream upon the gulf
stream and other ocean currents:
the effect OF such obstruction upon
A m nj ir fru Ia 4, ..ff
climate and air. particularly the eli
mate OF America and Europe: the
probable effects upon the rogs Of the
United States. Canada. the british
Isles and the waters thcrcalsOuts: to
learn any other effects OF such OBJ
struction; to learn the effects OF cur
tents and OF special currents which
would be Influenced by the bropos-
I'd obstruction OF the Labrador cur
rent. and OF the new currents which
would have relation to II. and cspcc.
tally the effect OF tho disinfcgration
oc the warm gulf stream which the
meeting OF the cold southwark flont.
Ing Labrador current at present pro.
duces.
.Ni- nihCi' NV IN ~ uIuh tutt nav
done things. is not afraid OF a laugh
We tells how James t:ads was laugh.
cd ut when he proposed the Jctties Of
the Mississippi to be composed OF
reeds and rushes, aud the laugh
raised ut Elds was chiefly by those
whose schemes to control the Father
Of Waters had failed. said Riker.
The mechanical engineers plan.
In brief. il to control the gull stream
and the Labrador current. with u
jctty extending 200 miles from the
mainland out into the ocean. 10 feet
wide at the base next to the land.
tapcring to three feet at It's extremity
on the banks. and to be more than
1000 square miles In area.
In u book which Mr.. Rikcr hus
published. starting with the demon.
stration OF wha, a rip-rap wall would
accomplish stretching to the banks
he has estimated the cost OF the stone
bTcakwatcr at $4,000. 900: but the
Semitic American estimates the
cost OF the lefty OF sand and scdl-
mcnt proposed by the author ut $2O,.
10000 aud Mr.. Rikcr. the cost OF
the sand jctty. to the united govern
mcnts Of the United States. England
Denmark. Norway. Sweden, Russia.
Holland and France and possibly
Germany. at only $1O.O0O.000.
The Brooklyn engineer purposes
to get his material from nature with
nut cost. The jctty will DO the ag-
grcsation of the grains of sand NOV
ing toward the equator which can
man will place on the bottom OF the
Atlantic an obstructor to effect the
deposit Of matter required. This OBJ
structor will be great rope, u cable.
saturated with asphaltum. giving It
specific gravity enough to send II In
to the ocean to the very floor.
hut this rope will have less spcci-
lie gravity or weight than the sand.
At the same time 1t will be heavier
than the water. lighter than the
sands. The cable will resist the pres.
sure OF the southward floating sands
stem some OF them and rear OH the
ocean bed "A sinuous. tiny Jetty. The
rope. however. is to have unrcstrIc-
ted vertical movement. to be insured
by II series OF kcdge anchors at short
intervals.
Moreover the continuing rope will
he supported by buoys. SO as not to
hc covered into the sand. Thus in
its unrcttcrcd vertical movement. as
IL is buoycd. the bar of sand will
slowly. then more aud more rapidly.
rise above the very surface Of the
ocean. The rope. saturated in asphalt
tum. will rise with IL as its contin-
uins capstonc and obstructor. the
tlushbOard upon the dam. Then will
the colder waters Of the Labra dor
current be divorced from the benefit
cent gulf stream and forced to shift
Tor themselves. flowing around the