Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1919-10-26
STRANGE FACTS THAT
FEW PEOPLE KNOW
Reports of seamen concerning the

Reports of seamen concerning the
present temperature of the waters of
the Gulf stream, to which some eX-
ports attribute the heat wave along
the Atlantic coast, has aroused inter-
est in this mighty current.
The bulletin, based on a commune
cation from Rear Admiral John e.
National Geographic society and the
worlds foremost authority on the
gulf stream, follows
THE Gulf Stream Is probably the
grandest and most mighty of any ter
restrial phenomenon. Its waters are
characterized by deep indigo blue
color Of great clearness and high tenn
perature, 1t can be penetrated by the
eye to considerable depths and gener-
ally it's meeting with the less saline
polar waters can be at once dlstin-
guished.
1T is difficult for the mind to grasp
the immensely of this great ocean riv-
err. The straits of Florida at its mar
rowest point is about 40 miles wide.
A calculation OF the average volume
of water passing i'll one hour gives
the enormous sum of 90 billion tons.
IL this one single hours flow of wa
ter could be eYaporated the remaining
salts would require many times more
| than all the ships in tho world to
carry it.
when one is on board vessel,
| floating upon it's waters, one is not
as much impressed at the power and
grandeur of this wonder of nature as
! he is when he stands before a tower
ing mountain, an immense iceberg or a
| fall of water such as Niagara, but
when one remembers that the mighty
torrent, speeding on hour by hour and
| day by day in a volume equal to all
| the largest rivers in the world COM
| bined, carrying it's beneficient heat to
| temper the climate of continents, one
begins to realize that Of all the forces
of the physical world none can equal
this one river of the ocean.
Ponce dc 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 skirted the shore for
hundreds Of miles, thus stemming the
| current.
"The name of Gulf Stream was
first suggested by Benjamin Franklin
because it issues from the Gulf of
Mexico. While 1t is only part of
| the grand scheme of ocean circula :
ton, and the Gulf of Mexico is in
| reality only stopping place, as IL
were, for it's waters, this name is gen.
orally applied to the current now as
it was given by Franklin-that is, the
current coming from the Gulf OF Mex
leo and spreading abroad over the
North Atlantic.
THE theories as to the cause of
ocean currents have been many.
"Franklins theory, which has many
advocates 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: 1T is known that
a large piece of water, 10 miles broad
and generally only 8 feet deep, has by
a strong wind had it's water driven
to one side and sustained SO as to
become six feet deep, while the wind
1 ward side was laid dry As viii be
seen later, this Is well-taken exam
pie of the force of the wind in caus
ing the Gulf stream, but 1t does not
quite show the whole of the truth.
In the tropical regions there is a
| steady movement of the air from east
| TO west known as the trade winds
| South of a certain line situated near
1 the equator these winds flow from a
southwesterly direction. while north