The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1915-04-01
HEAvINC The LEAD.
How a Ship Feels Its Way Over
the Bed of the Ocean.

the Bed Of the Ocean.
TAKING S0UNDlNGS At SEA
For Deep Water Work Machines Tha,
Carry 800 Fathoms Of Wire and Z
Twsnty-four Pound Weight Are Used
Casting by Hand In Bad Weather.
by the deep. miner
The peculiar, long drawn out cry OF
the leadsman In the chains echoes out
as the cruiser gathers speed and be
gins to move through the water.
by the mark, tent"
We watch the man as he twirls the
lead In the air, and reels of the sound
Ing with mathematical accuracy. He
Is standing in the port .'chains''-a
small platform, perhaps four feet
square, jutting out from one end Of the
cruisers bridge. To US his position
seems rather precarious, for his perch
overhangs the dark water thirty feet
below. but the man himself-a season
ed petty offcer-feels perfectly safe,
Tor he leans his body against canvas
apron" waist high, while his feet are
firmly placed against a wooden bar Sc
cured to the platform itself.
But let us watch him as he makes
cast. He first sees the end OF the lead
line Is properly secured and then pro-
ceeds to coil 1t up in his right hand.
The line itself. whitened by long use,
mas sundry little marks at various dis
tances along It. At two fathoms
twelve feet from the lead are two
strips Of leather, while at three faith
oms there are three. At Eve fathoms.
and again at fifteen, is piece Of white
bunting; at seven and seventeen faith
oms, piece OF red bunting, and at ten
piece OF leather with a hole In II.
At thirteen fathoms comes q rag of
blue bunting, while at twenty-three is
q small bit Of line, with two knots tied
In 1t, spliced into the lead line itself.
The lead line is twenty-five fathoms
long, while the lead secured to its end
Is about fourteen pounds in weight.
The bottom Of it is followed out to re-
ceive the ''arming'' Of tallow or soap.
and this allows the nature Of the bot
tom to be ascertained, for the sticky
substance will come to the surface
with particles of mud or sand. etc. adj
herring to it
"Heaving the lead" looks easy
enough. and anybody who is accus-
toned to doing 1t will say that 1t is
quite simple: but it takes q long time
before man becomes proficient
leadsman. A novice is apt to be fright
ened at the whirling fourteen pound
weight on the end Of its line, and IL he
loses heart and omits to give 1t that
peculiar little Jerk which brings It fly
ing round in circle 1t may fall per-
pendicularly in close proximity to his
head.
~Heaving the lead may be all right
enough In good weather, but In the
winter. when It Is blowing hard, rain
ng or showing, it Is anything but pleas
mt The driving rain and snow search |
'ut every portion Of the leadsman's |
lnatomy. even though he may be wear
ng oilskins, while his hands get numb |
With cold until there Is no feeling left |
n them.
The deep sea lead line, which was In
'ar1ably used for deep water work be-
ore the Introduction Of patent sound
ng machines and would still be used
{ they broke down, consists Of 100
athoms Of line and q twenty-eight |:
'ound lead. It Is marked up to twenty Il
athoms in the same way as the hand
cad line, and then at twenty-five. thir-
y-6ve. forty-f1ve. etc.. fathoms with
ne knot, and at thirty, forty, fifty, II
tc., with three. four or Ave knots. and
o on, to the greatest depth Of the line.
The ship Is usually stopped when
sing the deep sea line, for it takes a II
considerable time for the lead to reach
be bottom.
The patent sounding machine con-
lists Of 300 fathoms of thin piano wire
FOUND on drum. and to the end Of
ne wire Is secured a twenty-four
ound lead. with. just above It, a per
,rated brass sheath fitted with cap.
efore sounding takes place q glass
lbe open at one end and coated on
le inside with red chemical COM
ound. Is placed In the brass sheath.
he wire Is then allowed to run out
ntil the lead Is on the bottom, and
It descends the pressure forces the
alter up the glass tube and turns the
ID chemical into milky white color
y Z certain distance up.
The lead Is then hauled in by hand,
by a motor. and the depth Is as
'rtained by comparing the line Of
between the two colors
the glass tube with a wooden scale
arked in fathoms.
With these simple but extremely re-
lble machines s0undings can be OBJ
ined at greater depths. and with the
Zip travelling at far greater speed.
an with the hand lead and line,
ough, az already stated. the older
eth0d Is always held In reserve
)nd0n Answers.