The Bingham County news. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1918-1930, 1923-06-08

on an almost summary sea In mid
April when she struck. The berg
drift south, and In the course of thu
summer melt away, so that the fal
and winter find the seas again free
So 1t appears that frequent and &C
curate reports Of the incidence Of
storms In the Far North will be Of
great value In the forecasting Of Ice
bergs.
Wind 10 Factor.
second important factor is the
wind. 1t is the wind which, pressing
upon the crystal sails Of the bergs
blows them away from the shore and
into the full course Of the Arctic drift
then southwark to the ocean currents
A season Of light winds or Of winds
from a quarter unfavorable to the
movement Of the bergs might conceiv.
ably retard their southwark migration
long enough to permit many of them
to melt. In consequence, 1t Is Of i'm
portance to have from Far North out
posts accurate data on the incidence,
direction and velocity Of the winds.
A third factor Is the ocean currents,
which in general terms are inexorable
and immutable-in a grander sense
they, like Lord Tennyson's brook,
flow on forever" Yet they are sub
1ect to variations, and in the last year,
which has been one of extraordinary
meteorological phenomena the world
over, many curious alterations have
been noted In their movements.
Take the great lord Of all the ocean
currents, the mighty Gulf stream. II
sweeps majestically up from the south,
bearing an incalculable volume Of
warm water into the northern lati-
tudes. 1t is automatic that a warmer
fluid body assumes an ascendency over
a colder one. So the Gulf stream
mounts atop of the colder waters from
the frozen north, swimming along on
the very surface Of the sea.
One-eighth part Of an iceberg stands
above the water line; its great bulk
10 below. 1t is plain that small Ice
berg will not extend so far down into
the sea as great one. Suppose that
a small berg-but even these are great
enough to sink any ships floating
down the Atlantic. 1t encounters the
Gulf stream. The stream Is flowing
on the surface, and, as the berg does
not extend so very far down into the
water, the greater part Of IT'S bulk is
opposed to the surface current and
drift where the Gulf stream steers It,
Then conceive Of a great berg Of such
ponderous weight and size that 1t
reaches far into the ocean depths. The
Labrador current, flowing south, has
dived under the northwurd-flowing
Gulf stream. A greater mass of the
big berg's bulk is far enough down to
be chiefly Influenced by the southwark
flowing subterranean current. This
berg, then, goes south, even against !
the flow of the Gulf stream.
Constant Observation Needed.
The thing needed is constant obser-
walton of these phenomena, in relation
to the winds and the course Of the
bergs, to determine accurately which
stream Is likely to capture them as its
prize and bear them off to whatever
part of Neptune's realm 1t is seeking.
Lieutenant Smith has proposed
station at Cape Dyer, in Baffln land,
which could report on meteorological
wind and weather, and the
progress of the bergs as they passed
n majestic procession down to the
southern seas. Such stations, it Is as
serted, could chart the speed Of the
)ergs, and mariners would know that
when q berg was reported as passing
1 given point in command of a given
with such and such winds, 1t
would be due in the path of their ships
IN an ascertainable date.
The next few years are expected to
,ring many added facilities to the
weather. bureau in long-distance fore I
'astng of icebergs, storms and periods
# moisture or aridity. The science Of
neteorolOgy has advanced rapidly, 1
md all that is lacking Is more obser- /
alton stations.
The region Of the Boring sea Off the f
Alaskan coast and the almost mac
essible Businesses of the Lake Baikal :
egion of Siberia are the breeding
laces of the great storms that sweep
he world. 1t has been estimated that =
{ the principal nations would Jointly
ssume an expenditure of some $10,- %
10000 a year in establishing and v
outposts in these places
nd at some other strategic points, the =,
ncertainty Of the future, so far as b
nd.
The commercial value Of long-dis-
nee weather forecasting is inesti- :. -
able. If at the planting season, the ~
,rmer could know the amount Of =