The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1915-03-12
TAKING SOUNDlNGS AT SEA.

For Deep Water Work Machines That
Carry 800 Fathoms of Wire and
Twerty-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, tenw
We watch the man as he twirls the
lead in the air, and reels off 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 officer-feels perfectly safe,
for 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 aecured and then pro-
ceeds to coil it up in his right hand
The line itself, whitened by long use
has 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 five fathoms,
and again at fifteen, is q piece of white
bunting; at seven and seventeen faith
oms, piece of red bunting, and at ten
a piece of leather with hole In It
at thirteen fathoms comes q rag of
blue bunting, while at twenty three is
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 it's end
Is about fourteen pounds in weight.
The bottom Of it is followed out to re-
ceive the ''arming'' of talIow 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., ad-
herring to 1t,
"Heaving the lead" looks easy
enough, and anybody who is accus-
toned to doing it will say that 1t Is
quite simple; but it takes a long time
before a 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 If he
loses heart and omits to give it that
peculiar little jerk which brings it fly
ing round in a 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.
Ing or showing, it is anything but pleas
ant The driving rain and snow search
cut every portion of the leadsman's
anatomy, even though be may be wear.
ing oilskins, while his hands get numb
with cold until there is no feeling left
In them.
The deep sea lead line, which was in
variably used for deep water work be.
fore the Introduction of patent sound
ing machines and would still be used
If they broke down, consists of 100
fathoms Of line and a twenty-eight
pound lead. 1t is marked up to twenty
fathomS in the same way as the hand
lead line, and then at twenty-five, thir.
ty-fve, forty five, ETC., fathoms with
one knot, and at thirty, forty, fifty,
etc, with three, four or five knots, and
SO on, to the greatest depth of the line.
The ship is usually stopped when
using the deep sea line, for it takes d
considerable time for the lead to reach
the bottom
The patent sounding machine con.
sists of 300 fathoms of thin piano wire
wound on a drum, and to the end OF
the wire is secured twenty-four
pound lead, with, just above 1t, a per,
forated brass sheath fitted with a cap
Before sounding takes place a glass
tube open at one end and coated on
the inside with a red chemical com
pound, Is placed in the brass sheath
The wire Is then allowed to run out
until the lead is on the bottom, and
as 1t descends the pressure forces the
water up the glass tube and turns the
red chemical into q milky white color
for certain distance up.
The lead is then hauled in by hand
or by motor, and the depth Is as
certained by comparing the line OF
demarcation between the two colors
In the glass tube with a wooden scale
marked in fathoms.
With these sinsple but extremely re-
liable machines soundings can be OBJ
tanned at greater depths, and with the
ship travelling at far greater speed,
than with the hand lead and line,
though, as already stated, the older
method is always held in reserve
London Answers.