Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-10-21
Worlds MsQhtiest R1ver

Recent reports of seamen concerning the
present excessive temperature of the waters OF
the Gulf Stream, to which some experts attrib-
ute the heat ~aye along the Atlantic coast,
prompted the National Geographic society to
issue bulletin concerning this mighty current.
The bulletin, based'on communication from
Rear Admiral John E. Pisbury. u S. N,
president Of the National Geographic society.
and the worlds foremost authority on the GQlf
Stream, follows:
"The Gulf Stream is probably the grandest
and most mighty of any terrestrial phenomenon.
Its waters are characterized by deep indigo
blue color of great clearness and high tempera-
ture. 1t can be penetrated by the eye. to con-
siderable depths, and generally Its meeting with
the less saline polar waters can be at once dis
tinguished. ,.,,. 49,.
immensely of this great ocean river. The
straits of Florida at its flarrowest point is about
40 miles wide. A calculation of the average
volume of water passing in one hour gives the
enormous sum Of 100000 600 tons. If this one
single hours flow OF water could be evaporated
the remaining salts would require many times
more than all the ships in the world to carry. it..
'When one Is on board a vessel floating
upon its waters, one IS not as much impressed
at the power and grandeur of this 'wonder OF
nature as he is when he stands before tower
ing mountain, an immense iceberg, or fall
of water such as Niagara, but when one renlem-
bers that the mighty torrent speeding on, hour
bv hour and day by day in volume equal to
all the largest rivers in the world combined,
carrying its beneficent heat to temper the eli
mate of continents, one begins to realize that Of
ali the forces OF the physical world none can
equal this one river of the ocean.
Ponce de Leon, while on his famous search
for the Fountain OF Youth, made the discovery
of this great stream. After his failure to find:
on the coast of upper Florida, the means Of
cheating death, he turned to the southwark and
CD; cd he
stemming the current.
1.-THE name of Gulf Stream was first sug-
gested by Benjamin Franklin because it issues
from the Gulf of Mexico. While it is only a
and the Gulf Of Mexico is in reality only. a
stopping place, as it were, for its waters, this
name is generally applied to the current now as
it was given by Franklin--that is, the current
coming from the Gulf Of Mexico and spreading
abroad over the North Atlantic.
"The theories as to the cause of ocean cur
rents have been many
SFranklin's theory, which has many advo-
Gates at the present day, was that the winds
produce the current by the air moving over the
surface of the water, and he illustrated this
theory by the following: IT is known that
orally only three feet deep, has by strong
wind had its water driven to one side and sus-
tanned so as to become feet deep, while the
windward side was laid dry As will be seen
later this is well-taken example of the force
of the wind in causing the Gulf Stream, but it
does not quite show the whole of the truth.
"In the tropical regions there is steady
movement of the air from east to west known
as the trade winds. South Of certain line sit
uated near the equator these winds flow from
southwesterly direction, while north OF the
equator they come from more northeasterly
direction. The winds are not always strong, nor
are they constant in direction, but they do not
vary much, and then only for brief periods.
winds blowing over the surface Of the
water induce a current in the latter due to
that moves, but gradually the motion is COM
municated from layer to layer until at last,
if the wind is long continued as in the trade
wind region, the movement extends to lower
depths, 800 or 400 feet, or perhaps more.
These trade wind currents meet finally, the
ern part of the Caribbean, and portion Of the
flow escapes through the passages between them.
From here it continues its course across that
sea until it reaches the obstruction Of the Hon
duras and Yucatan coasts. from which it es--
capes by the easiest route, which is into the
Gulf Of Mexico.
1T has been found, however, that the water
entering the Caribbean by this means is not
more than one-half of the amount which flows
through the straits of Florida from the Gulf of
Mexico, and the other half is supplied from
source which does not come under the head
of measurable current. The other source is
the wave caused by the wind. Every ripple car
ries certain amount Of water in the direction
toward which it is flowing irrespective of the
current caused by its friction, and when the
waves become large, tons Of water are hurled
from the crest into the trough every time the
wave breaks.
I'm large area like the Caribbean, having
comparatively constant wind blowing over its
whole surface, this action is practically stimuli
taneous movement of its surface waters to the
westward and continual escape of the water
heaped up at the obstruction offered by the land
into the Gulf OF Mexico, through the straits of
Florida, and into the Atlantic
THE Gulf Stream would be little felt on
the coast of Europe did it not receive great
addition to its volume of heat when enroute
This is by means of gentle flow from the
northeast trade wind current that passes out
side the Caribbean Islands and the Bahamas
The surface temperature of this outside cur
rent is about the same in its passage along the
West Indian Islands as the Gulf Stream in the
straits of Florida, but it is less violent in its
movements and there is less intermingling of
its upper and lower waters so that it arrives
off Cape Hatteras with much higher temporal
ture than that of the more turbulent Gulf
Stream"
Solution No. 6200,472.
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