El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-01-15

Of the older ships in the service It
was built in 1876 to survey the bar off
san Francisco bay. and has been in
coast survey work ever since. Its COM
mander is Capt. c. T Quillian. a ma
tive of Georgia who has been con-
nected with the coast survey since
1902. 1t was beside him that I watched
them charting the ocean.
Must Measure Every Fort.
In the coast survey work il is neces-
sary to ascertain the exact depth and
character OF every foot of the channel
over which the ships are to sail This
is done by dropping heavy pieces Of
lead. to which piano wire is attached.
down 10 the bottom. The wire runs
around a reel or drum on board ship,
and il is 50 fine that il moves out like
a thread as the lead sinks quickly to
the bed OF the sea. The drum has ma
chinery connected with the engine. and
the lead can be drawn up and the eX-
act depth automatically registered
The work goes so fast that from 10
to 20 soundings are taken in an hour,
the lead rising and falling like clock
work The boat has % stop for two
minutes when each sounding is taken
7 took out my watch and fined The
one minute and o half TO go from the .
boat to the bed of the sea and back
When IL returned it brought with II Z
gravel and shells. showing the char :
feet below. The lead is smearad with (
grease in order that it may catch tne I
gravel
In the Panhandle. where J now am !
the islands are really half submerged b
and the ships sail in and !
out above the needle-tipped peaks OF +
a great mountain chain. These noun {
tains have spires and cathedrals Of I
rock, and in places there are rocky
obelisks that rise to the height Of the /
monument or higher. When I
such shaft comes out on an island Z
it is covered with green and is a de-
light to the eye Of the tourist When
it rises from the bed Of the ocean
and its peak Is still concealed below
the surface, il is the terror Of the
navigator
Deadly Sword of Neptune.
It is then one OF the deadly swords
Of old Father Neptune, ready and wait
ing to cut the heart out Of any ship
that comes in its path. These rocks
are often such small area that they
escape the soundings Of the coast sur
vey. They can be detected only by
wire drag which. sweeping along at
q given depth, is sure to strike against (
them il they rise above the height al I
which it is gagged
started Ten Years Ago.
The first wire-drag vessel used in +
American water began its work about
ten years ago on our Atlantic coast.
surveyors
been working there ever since. In this
time they have discovered more than
1000 rocks with less water over them
than shown by the charts, and about 1
1000 Of those are dangerous TO navi-
cation. All were in waters that had
been previously eharted by the coast
survey.
Here in Alaska large number Of
pinnacle rocks have been unearthed
BY the wire drag Capt John A Dan
els, the engineer with whom I went
)ut has located 81 great stone spires
,loug ~ miles or this channel and
light in the course Of the steamers
One OF these rocks is OF the shape OF
, pyramid. and it rises from the bot
ON OF the channel 10 height of 500
-eet. or almost fifty feet above that
Il the Washington monument Il
,omes within i feet OF the surface OF
he water. and is surrounded by deep
water on all sides. The channel had
,een charted by the coast survey. bur
his rock was not marked If the lead /
truck the rock IL probably slipped off
nto deep water. at the side. or it may
ave come in between two soGndings
md have been missed altogether
How the Wire Drag Works.
II is interesting 10 see now the wire
lrae works The chief boat has
operated by the engine. About
his v-indIass is the telephone wire
which is to be let down and stretched
Icross the boats FAR below the depths
Il which a ships sail This wire is
everal miles in length, and il is run
,ut according to the width Of the
hanneI up to two miles in width The
,orizontal dragging wire is supported
" vertical wires which fall from large
,uovs. and il is held at the proper
Iepths BY sinkers and floats. The
'uoys are really galvanized iron buck
is of perhaps ten gallons capacity
he buckets are sealed. and. being fun
4 air. they flot while supporting the
Fight of the wire beneath. The floats
re Of cedar. They look like the roll
ngpins with which bread is made.
'hey hang to the wire and aid in keep
ng it at the right level
1t takes boats Of about 40 horse
over to move this submerged wire
through the sea. the average speed OF
he drag being about mile and half
er hour. Notwithstanding this. as ,
many as fifteen shoal spots and rocks
re sometimes found in one day.
When the drag strikes a rock the
lace is marked and another surveying I
artv develops the area about it. A :
uoy or float OF some kind IS then an
hored there to show the danger and
new record is made on the chart
80 sH- -,roeeuf between Oue-t-i I