Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1914-08-25


board Of the United 244N
States by bring
ing the warm waters OF the Gulf stream
close inshorc The fact was not hlinSed
but openly avowed that such a change in
the course OF the vast oceanic river
would have a disastrous effect upon the
climate of the British Isles, which is
now one OF the most genial and salu-
brious in the world. and this in spite OF
the fact that those isles lie in so high a
latitude that il they were transported
straight across the Atlantic they would
drop down in northern Labrador and
Hudson's Bay But the inventor of the
scheme did not trouble himself about
other peoples climates-he was only in
terested in lettering our own.
Whether or no this bold Yankee pro-
position was taken seriously in England
at least it seems to have been the signal
for a manifestation there Of renewed in
terest in the Gulf Stream as one Of the
grandest and most mysterious Of all ter
restrsl phenomena, and a recent lee
ture on the subject by Commander Camp
he'll Hepworth, delivered before the Royal
Geogra phical society. has just found its
way into British scientific journals.
Commander Hepworth unhestatnsly
places himself In opposition to those who
hold that the supposed influence of the
Gulf stream on the British climate is "A
myth. lie brings great amount of sta
tstlcal information into play to prove
that the warm, relatively high-salnity
water which undoubtedly exercises an
ameliorating effect upon the climate OF
our islands and upon that OF northwestern
Europe generally, is mainly of equatorial
origin and is directly attributable to the
influence OF the Gulf Stream"
But If the Gulf Stream benefits the eli
mate OF England, 1t is equally ministerial
in damaging ours. IL is an American in
stItution, for it takes its rise in the Gulf
Of Mexico; yet it appears to reserve its
benefcence for the old country. II per-
forms it's functions in somewhat the same
spirit in which some persons would like
to see the Panama canal perform its
functions
A glance at a physical geography
will show how the gulf stream, after
starting northwsrd close along tho south
ern part OF the Atlantic coast. begins at
first gradually, and then rapidly, to turn
away toward the center of the Atlantic,
while the cold labrador current sweep
ing down from Davis's strait, with its
burden OF cebergs, encounters the warm
stream off the Newfoundland banks. and.
by virtue of the eastward trend of the
stream at that point, is thrown in toward
Nova Scotia and the shores OF New Eng
land.
1t Is to this that we owe our cold late
springs, while the varying stages OF the
perpetual struggle between the gulf
stream and the Labrador current are
reflected in the changea5le and insalubrl-
GUS character of our weather during
many months.
There H. a good deal OF popular mis-
apprehension concerning the flow OF the
Eulf stream. II is often spoken Of as 8
river in the ocean. and TO q certain extent
II does resemble a stupendous river
Where il issues from the strait OF Florida
it is fifty miles vide. and sweeps the
rocky bottom at q depth of about 1000
feet. Its color is blue. in contrast with
the greenish water through which II
passes. with quite sharply defined bor-
ders. The surface speed If five miles an
hour. but dlminishes rapidly TO about
sixty miles a day off the Carolina coast,
thirty near the Grand banks.
As it passes out into the deep sea, after
steering off from the American coast, II
no longer touches the bottom or comes
anywhere near 1t. Its depth diminishes
as it's breadth increases. until It is prob
ably not more than 900 TO 800 feet deep,
flowing over cushion of cold water be-
meath. Its temperature also rapidly d.
mniAhes with depth, most OF its heat
being confined TO It's surface layers.
What makes this river in the sea -?
What keeps IL flowing? The answer is,
the wind" The ultimate source Of the
guf stream Is the great equatorial cur
rent, which is kept in continual motion
westward by the trade winds land the
trade winds arise from the rotation OF the
earth. Encounterlng the projecting and
southwark sloping shoulder OF South
America, the equatorial current is turned
northwestward into the Caribbean sea
and the Gulf Of Mexico. The latter is
round trap for the water driven into It.
The water IL "heAped up" in the gulf
until IT attsins a general level at least
three feet higher than that Of the Atlantic
of New York. II escapes as already de-
scribed through the Florida strait, and
here the true gult stream takes its origin.
Long before Il reaches the British isles
II has spread out like a fan. and ceased
10 resemble a river, but It stlll carries a
considerable quantity Of the heat do
rived from the equatorial sun.
Ocean currents have an enormous ef-
feet in governing the climate OF many
parts 81 the earth, and who knows but
that the time will come when We shall
really be able 10 change their direction
sufficiently 10 largely transform the face
o. the globe