The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1919-11-20
THE GRANDEUR OF
THE GULF STREAM
MOST MIGHTY OF ANY TERRES-
TRIAL PHENOMENON
Difficult For the Mind to Crash the
Immensity of This Great
Ocean River

Washington. Recent reports OF
seamen concerning the present ex-
cessiye temperature of Gho Gulf
stream, to which some experts at
tribute the heat wave along the At
lantic ccast, prompted. the National
Geographic Society to issue bulletin
concerning this mighty current.
The bulletin, based CT comm
ication from Rear-Admiral John E.
PiilSbury, U. S. N, president of the
National Geographic Society, cad the
worlds foremos. aut:rrity or the
Gulf stream, follows:
THE Gulf stream is pre- baby the
grandest and most mighty of any ter
restrial phenomena. It's waters are
characterized by a deep indigo blue
color of great clearness and high
temperature. 1t can be penetrated
by the eye to considerable depths,
and generally its meeting with the
less saline polar waters cali be at
once distinguished.
'It is difficult for the mind to
grasp the immensity of this great
ocean river. The Straits of Florida
at its narrowest point is about forty
miles wide. A calculation of the
average volume of water passing in
one hour gives TIE en-, rmous sum of
10000, 100000 to,.s. If .iis 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 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 tow
ering 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 volume e.
quail to all the largest rivers in the
world combined, carrying its bene-
ficent 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 de Leon while or his FAM
GUS 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 IF Gulf Stream was
first suggested by Benjamin Frank
lin because it issues from the Gulf of
Mexico. While it is only part of
the grand scheme of ocean circula-
ton, and~ the Gulf of Mexico is in
reality only stopping place, as it
we're, for its waters, this name is
generally applied to the current
now as it was given by Frank
is, the current coming from
he Gulf of Mexico and spreading a.
broad over the north Atlantic.
"The theories as to the cause of
ocean currents have been many.
"Franklin's theory which has
many advocates at the present day,
vas that the winds produce the cur
ent by the air moving over the sur
ace of the water, and he illustrated
his theory by the following: 1T is
,nown that large piece of water,
en- miles broad and gerer"lly only
hree feet deep, as strong wind
lad it's water driven to one size and :
ustained so. as tc become six feet
eep while the windward side was {
aid dry AS will be seen later, this
: a well-taken example of the force
f the wind in causing the Gulf ,
tream, but it does not quite show
he whole of the truth.
"In the tropical regions there is
teady movement of the air from east t
, west known as the trade winds. S
outh of a certain line situated near Il
ne equator thece winds flow from a L
,uthwesterly direction, while north S
the equator they come from more "
ortheasterly direction. The winds .
re not always strong, nor are they a
,nstant in direction, but they do not n
ary much, and then only for brief o
sriod.
winds blowing over the surface N
the water induce a current in the r,
tier due to friction. AT first it is +,