The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-07-26

4
1t was or. June 2. 1912. that the
German ship Planet dropped line
into the crystal clear waters of
pine group. and played 1t out for
more than six miles. The weight on
lit sank for that distance straight
through the blue. thus gaining the
distinction OF penetrating further
beneath the surface of the earth than
had any object guided by man since
time began.
Previous to that time the credit
for having found the deepest hole
in the ocean was held by the United
States ship Nero which had dropped
a line that was but eleven fathoms
short of six miles. The hole into
which it descended was near the
island of Guam, and the occasion for
1.-The exploration Of the sea bottom
was the laying of the American cable
that now connects Manila, Guam,
Midway and Honolulu with San Fran
| cisco, and enable Uncle Sam to chat
half way round the globe by the
under-sea method.
So deep are these holes that the
Himalaya mountains might be
| thrown into them and would not
come within half a mile of the sur
face These deep Eea findings
wrested the palm from that depres-
sion of the West Indies near Haiti
and Porto Rico, found by the U. S.
S. Dolphin in 1902, w%ech boasts of
! depth of five and third miles, and
would cover Pixies Peak two miles
deep They are the deepest holes
| known, but may not be claimed as
the deepest in existence, as there are
still great areas of the ocean that
have not been soundd. The sea bot
tom of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
has a mean depth OF about three
miles and 1T is no easy task to put
down lines to even that distance and
at frequent intervals over so great
an area as they cover
Submerged Continent.
But many interesting situations
have been developed by these sound
ings. 1t is found, for instance, that
the major part of the Atlantic is
three miles deep, but that there is
a submerged continent running
through it at a depth of mile and
and half and actually coming to the
surface in a few places, the island of
st. Helena to which Napoleon was
banished being one Of these. This
continent is Economically known as
1.-THE lost Atlantic" and held to have
once reached above the water and
I to have been Inhabited. The theory
is that as it sank, the people dis
persed to east and west. The re-
markable evidences of common
origin of the peoples of Egypt and
those of Central America, shown in
their architecture, their pyramids,
their identical calendars, their com
mon words, may be explained If it
the continent which disappeared.
There was nOf naad nf a
knowledge of the depth of the ocean
until man began laying his cables
upon its bottom A cable is two
inches thick, contains myrafd of
wires filed in with and surrounded
by lead. 1t is very heavy. AS it is
unwound, there is very great strain
upon three or four miles of it sus-
pended from the tail of boat I'm
less it is carefully handled it will
pull in two. Several cables have
been lost by being pulled in two. A
knowledge of the depth into which
the cable is being lowered enables
| those having the work in charge to
take the necessary precautions to
relieve strain whenever possible and
often to save the cable. So have
ocean lanes the world around come
to have their depth measured.
| Very Fine Wire Used,
The great problem in reaching into
these ocean depths was to find a
line strong enough to bear the weight
of miles of its own length There
\ was the need of great strength and
small bulk. Eventually fine wire
used in piano manufacture was tried
and found to be most effective. So
fine is this wire that 1t takes 400
feet OF it to weigh pound. To
reach a depth of six miles it would
Il 6n a.
pounds of 1t. With a sinker weigh
ing sixty pounds the whole weight
to be sustained would be 40 pounds,
4 while the wire had tensi1 strength
/ of 200 pounds. So 1T is shown that
it would be possible with this wsre
to reach three or four miles deeper
than are any OF the holes yet found.
When ship is making a sound
| ing the line is put overheard with
weight at the end of it and allowed
to sink as rapidly as it can pass
through the water. Yet so great is
the depth of some of the oceans that
it requires an hour and more for
that weight of lead to fall to the
bottom. With the line going down
and the drum over which 1t passes
in measuring it's length spinning
merrily, it Is fascinating to sit. as
the time passes and realize that this
weight Is all the time railing into
depth toward the center of thei earth.
The weights on the end of the
wires are so arranged that they will
be released and fall off when they
strike the bottom. This does away
| with the necessity of pulling this
sixty pounds back through the miles
of water that intervene.
Three slim tentacles are the only
means that men have to determine
the nature of the world that lies
far beneath the waves upon which he
a..