Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1894 — Sounding the Deep Sea. [ARTICLE]

Sounding the Deep Sea.

A ship regularly engaged in deep sea sounding usually has the sounding machine mounted at the after end, and when about to sound is brought to a standstill with the stern to the sea. The stray line, with the sounding rod and sinker attached, is over the guide pulley and carefully lowered to the water’s edge, the register is set to zero, and the deep sea thermometer is clamped to the sounding line; a seaman is stationed at the friction line which controls the velocity with which the wire is unreeled, another at the brake, and a third on the grating ouh side to handle the sinker and instruments and to guide the wire as it passes overboard; a machinist is at the hoisting engine, and the recorder takes a position for reading the register. When the sinker is let go, the vessel is maneuvered so as to keep the wire vertical, and the friction line is adjusted so as to allow it to descend from 70 to 100 fathoms per minute. The instant the sinker strikes bottom, which is unmistakably indicated by the sudden release of the wire from strain, the reel is stopped by the friction line and brake; the recorder notes the number of turns of the reel. In an hour this messenger of man’s ingenuity makes its excursions through five miles of watery waste to the abyssmal regions of perfect repose.