THE REPUBLICAN-JOURNAL
Five-Sevenths of the Earth's Surface An Almost Unexplored Area — The Home of
Unknown Monsters—Giant Jellyfishes
and Enormous Cuttlefishes.
By B E X E BACHE
V
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there is everlasting darkness. All
the plant life o£ the sea, which is
\*?r
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enormously profuse but microscopic and therefore invisible to
terrestrial globe, and nearly all oC the eye, is at or near the surface,
that vast area remains today prac- where the light it requires is to be taceans, bright scarlet or yellow in
tically unesmlored.
had. Upon these minute plants color.
I n a general way, a good deal tiny animals feed; these are eaten
The fishes of the depths appear
has beon learned within recent by bigger ones, the latter in their lo be uniformly black.. They are
, years about the ocean bottom. It turn by others of larger size, and fierce anul predatory, as shown by
averages about two and a half so on up to the hugest creatures their teeth.
Among them are
miles in depth below the surface of such as sharks and whales. Thus sharks of shapes so elongated as
t h e sea, and from it rise with more all the animal life of the ocean is to resemble huge eeis. Many of
or less precipitous slopes the land ultimately dependent upon the the fishes have enormous mouths,'
masses t h a t form the continents. marine vegetation.
and are actually able to swallow
The fishes t h a t live at great other nishes much bigger than
Along: our own Atlantic seaboard
One of these, the
the slope seems very gradual, but depths are either blind or else have , themselves.
t h a t is becaiise the eastern edge of eyes of extraordinary size. Why, "black swallower." lies buried in
North. America is overflowed; the it might be asked, should they have I the bottom ooze, only its jaws protrue edge of the •continent is far eyes when there is no light to see j truding, to await its prey.
out to eastward—in the latitude of ; by? The answer is that in the | In the depths of the sea there
eternal night of the deep sea there | is extreme cold, the water never | On the other hand, there are
New York, sixty miles.
Thus will be understood what is are lights innumerable, carried by j rising ini temperature above 40 de- j creatures of the depths that are
meant by the t e r m "sea floors," the the animals themselves. There are j grees Fahrenheit even in Equa- able to accommodate themselves to
There is also i varying pressures — for example,
real bottom of the ocean. They are luminous jellyfishes and creatures | torial latitudes.
for the most part great plains, but of many other kinds that have or- ' great pressure, which may amount tile monstrous cuttles. The largest
here and there traversed by sub- gans for emitting light. One species j to two or three tons to the square existing animal, in point of length
merged mountain ranges, and in of fish is provided with lamps that inch. Against this pressure the measurement, is the giant squid,
some places sinking into vast are constructed like bull's-eye Ian- , fishes and other animals are forti- which, with a body fifty feet long,
trough-shaped "deeps." One such terns, with reflectors, and is be-1 fied by the water which at equal has. t w o 100-foot tentacles, with
trough runs along the eastern coast iieved to be able to t u r n them, on pressure permeates their own tis- eight smaller ones. Specimens are
sues.
rarely seen, but it is likely that the
of Japan. The deepest hole in the and off at will.
Solving The Pressure Problem
At The Bottom Of The Sea
species is numerous far down. The
ocean bed thus far discovered is
near the island of Mindanao, in the
"With increase of depth the aniNow and then it happens, how- creature's immense eyes, a foot in
Philippines, where the sounding mal life of the ocean becomes ever, that a deep-sea fish swims diameter, indicate t h a t it is ,a
line spins out over six miles. progressively more sparse, but it is imprudently high and falls, upward, depth-dweller. ,"
[Everest, the tallest mountain in the believed t h a t more or less of it the pressure driving it tp the surHow about the sea serpent? Is
world, if set in t h a t marine cavity, exists in all zones. There are cer- face, on reaching which it is liable there such an auimal? Scientists
would not emerge above the sur- tainly many species of animals that actually to explode, its tissues burst- who specialize in marine zoology
face, its highest peak would be dwell on the floor of the sea, for ing asunder owing to the removal are inclined to believe that there is.
overflowed by half a mile of water. some of, them have been brought of the pressure to which they are Though a multitude of yarns be
The brightest i-ays of the sun do to the surface by the trawl-nets of accustomed. Hence it comes about rejected, so many stories, apparnot penetrate to a depth of more exploring vessels. Among them are that interesting specimens are on ently authentic, agree in regard to
than 600 feet, beneath which level weird spider crabs and other crus- occasions found floating.
the main characteristics of the
I H E S E is mystery about the
ocean; much, doubtless there
alwas's will be. It covers five' sevenths of the surface of the
p^c^-zo^ic/c^yy^-y^y
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creature that it can hardly be con- sters of the depths with which we
sidered fabulous. It has a head never shall become acquainted. On
"the size of a barrel," with what the other hand, among the surface
looks like a flowing mane, and a forms are animals the most gisnake-like body 100 feet or more gantic that we know. The sulphurin length.
bottom whale attains a length of
If there be one sea serpent, there eighty-five feet, with a weight
mi;st be many. They are presum- equal to that of a half-a-dozen big
ably haunters of the depths, and it' elephants. In the Museum of Natis only by accident, now and then, ural History in New York a papierthat one of them comes to the sur- mache east of a whale of this
face and is seen. It is worth not- species is exhibited. It outranks in
ing that [he time of their appear- i size the largest of the extinct dinoarice is always summer. May it saurs. People gaze upon it in
not be supposed that the sea ser- amazement and say to one another,
pents (which may not be snakes) "who says that the whale couldn't
are native to tropical waters, and swallow J o n a h ? "
that those espied off'our Atlantic
There are sharks that attain a
shores at that season of the year
have migrated northward in the length of sixty feet or more. In
July, 1923. near Long Key, Fia.,
warm Gulf stream ?
was captured a "whale shark"
Surface Monsters
forty-five feet long, with a girth of
doubtless there are many mon- twenty-three feet and a tail-span
^yyyyo^ ^-^zc
of twelve feet; it weighed 30,000
pounds,'or as much as three elephants the size of the giant pachyderm Jum,bo. Xet it was not really
a large specimen. -In the Indian
Ocean whale sharks sixty feet long
have been taken.
Drift Life Of The Sea
. The surface waters of the ocean
contain a vast deal of "drift life"—
called by the naturalists "plankton"—composed of tiny mollusks,
minute crustaceans, and other
forms which are carried about by
the currents. Largely represented
in this category are the foraminifera, little animals that occupy
limy shells of varied and beautiful
patterns with many perforations
through which they reach out to
gather food. All the chalk beds
of the world are made up of their
shells; likewise the marble deposits, which are chalk altered by
volcanic heat. They furnished the
material for the Egyptian Pyramids and for the Washington Monument.
The great bulk of the world's
animal life is in the ocean, and it
is infinitely more varied than terrestrial life. A single "school" of
fishes may number hundreds of
billions of individuals. For the
reproduction of marine species nature makes ample provision. Thus
the female herring lays more than
a million eggs at a spawning. All
the animals of the sea feed upon
one another, save only the microscopic forms lhat browse 'on the
pelagic plants. The sperm whale
preys upon cephaiopods—i. e. cuttles—and has been seen in at least
one ferocious encounter with the •
giant squid.
The true devilfish, or "manta,"
of tropical waters gives birth to
only one offspring at a time, but
that is because the "baby" is fairly
well grown, weighing forty pounds,
when it comes into the world, and
so can take care of itself. The creature is a giant ray, attaining the
weight of a ton or more, and remarkable stories are told o£ its
diabolical ferocity.
It has been
known to run away with boats at
terrific speed, having become entangled with their anchor lines: and
fishermen's yarns ascribe to it a
trick of drowning a swimming man
by extending over him one of its
huge "wings" and dragging him beneath the surface.
If the land has its dangerous
animals, the sea has many more.
Sharks are not the only man-eaters. Not long- ago a barracuda
nipped off the leg of a young woman bathing off the Florida coast.
Indeed, the ocean is full of creatures monstrous and horrible, most
of which are unknown to us because they dwell in the inky and
unfathomed depths.
The beautiful
Erandenburger
Thor, or gate, is copied from, or
perhaps I should say imitated,
from the Propylaea at Athens, and
has five different passages, with
Doric columns. It Is the dividing
gate between the city and the outlying park and residence portion
of the suburbs, although it all for
many miles is called Berlin. As
one approaches this magnificent
gate the street, Unter den Linden,: broadens into what is known as .the
j Tariser Platz, around which are
'superb palaces. From this neighborhood cros.-ps at right angles the
famous Wilhelmstrasse, with its re| markably beautiful residences, the
' vast garden-surrounded homes of
j princes and nobles.
Potsdam
| One cannot say anything about
.Berlin without a reference to the
showplace of the whole region, the
palaces of Potsdam and Sanssouci,
with their Orangery and gardens.
TMs -whole lovely place -was the
work of Frederick the Great, who
lived here most of the time. It is
Berlin is t h e cleanest large city in the world
t h a t t e n d to disturb this perfection are forbidden
"verboten" looms large in the vocabulary of Berlin. One is not
allowed t h a t freedom so dear to the heart of many of throwing
down u p o n pavements and sidewalks fruit skins and papers, i
One is n o t allowed, even in the sacred precincts of one's own
on an island in the Havel, which is
property, to have disorder or litter of any kind whatsoever.
One does in all instances just exactly w h a t the law directs or
one walks quickly into police house cells and is apt to remain
there. One has the choice. T h e net result is cleanliness and
comfort and order. Berlin has miles of huge apartment buildings, clumsy in architecture b u t with every window gay with j or square with
bright flower-boxes. T h e city has superb hotels and shops, grouping around it of other strucm a m m o t h , m o d e r n : its subwaj's are probably the best in t h e tures. One does not feel distracted.
world. T h e little river Spree winds through the city and every- One simply realizes that all is harwhere gardens and palaces follow its course. On all sides are monious. In Berlin are huge piles
parks and gardens, enormous and very ornate public buildings of stone, houses and buildings of
shops and offices, the ornament is
and monuments, delightful cafes and beer gardens with fine altogether too heavy and too much,
music.
the lines are not good. One feels
By TiTLTAN HAYDTCN HTESTON
iFrTLTNT is not gemutlich, or so. If the war had not taken place
ihomeliKe, as Munich is or she would now be leading the world
Dresden, it is cold and formal in commerce and trade.
and not over hospitable to the
German Architecture
stranger. I t is never gay with the
Germans have a-genius for music.
sweet abandon of Paris, never reck- No music in the world excels theirs.
less like New York, never solemn They have a genius for poetry, for
and old-fashioned like London. the expression' of sublime thoughts
Berlin is new, austere, stiff, scarce- and the highest and most elevating
ly at ease in the class of enormous philosophy. There are few in the
cities, but determined all the same world's literature who can rank
to forge ahead, as Germany itself with Goethe. They have a genius
has forged ahead from a little for science, partly because of their
group of weak and humble states power of concentration and their
to a position, which, save for the wonderful perseverance and tireless
suicidal war, was foremost among thoroughness, but in architecture
..the nations of the world. Dogged they fail.
persistence and hard work, a
Buildings in Berlin, save when
painstaking thoroughness, a deter- the perfect Greek is copied, are
mination to succeed, a thorough cumbersome and ugly. In Paris
study of conditions of trade, an ac- one's eyes are rested and refreshed
curate knowledge of nationalities by the simplicity of outline, the
and languages, these brought suc- regularity of height, the promincess to Germany and will again do ence of some one feature in street
overpowered, crushed,
irritated.
Everything is too big.
One must go to old Germany for
picturesque and exquisite architecture. The ancient houses, the fascinating town halls of medizeval
Germany are the model for all that
is charming and satisfying to the
soul.
One wanders enraptured
through the old towns, one sits
enthralled and gazes at gables, projecting stories, wonderfully carved
bay windows, charming roofs,
quaint balconies, dream - story
courtyards, impossibly
beautiful
stairways. One then goes to Berlin
and exclaiims: "How could youl
With that heavenly past to draw
upon!" But Berlin is essentially
a cold, Prussian city, where material comfort is considered- more
than artistic beauty. Her houses
are very comfortable to live in. The
kitchens are the last word in practicality in her really marvelous
apartments.
The Avenue Of "Victory
The whole world objects strenuously to Berlin's Sieges Allee. It
is a beautifully laid out and flowerornamented path in the beginning
of her magnificent park system,
just beyond the Brandenburger
Thor. Wise men have ransacked
the history of the vast area of what
was once Germany in those days
•when she ruled practically all- of
Europe and her kings were emperors of Rome as well, down to
modern times, and have selected
men who stood out a s great rulers,
leaders of men, kings whose deeds
have blessed and helped the world
and have made marble statues of
them in the dress or armor they
wore, and have put them here high
on pedestals, whose inscriptions tell
their history. These statues are in
little blossoming niches with curving marble seats for the passer, and
make a long lane of German glory
that irritates the foreigner intensely.
Unter den Linden
Under the flowering Linden trees
with the spring air full of their
fragrance, wide-awake alert crowds
pass in thousands, tens of thousands, and the cool, clear atmosphere'invigorates and inspires them.
The street is some two hundred
feet wide and consists of a central
park and two roads for traffic, oneway traffic. In Berlin • the traffic
laws are to keep to the right as in
America. There are many famous
cafes on this street whose out-onthe-sidewalk tables are always full.
These cafes have balconies and
second floor, windows which attract
people because of the animated
scene below. One is 'never weary
of watching the crowds. At the
corners of this street and the busy
Friedrichstrasse the crowds remind
one of our own 42nd Street and
Broadway.
On Unter den Linden are the
most splendid and modern hotels,
the most renowned palaces and
galleries, and the great University.
The street is part of the straight
and magnificent line of roads and
parkways that lead' froin the royal
palace of the city to' those more
splendid palaces at Charlottenburg,
whose pleasure gardens were laid
out by the same genius who made
Versailles so lovely, the French Le
Notre.
more like a lake than a river at
this point. It was an ancient town
but as I say owes all its modern
splendor to Frederick the Great.
The palace of Sanssouci is, as its
name indicates, an attempt of
Frederick's to find rest from the
cares of state. It is a charming
building, one story in height, and
is seen at the top of wide, broad
steps, rising in series from the gardens below.' The waters of its
great fountain rise to the height of
130 feet. There are six flowerbedecked terraces that break the
steep ascent of the steps, and this
one superb fountain with its carved
basin and figures is a t the bottom
of the steps. Numerous other fountains appear among the shrubbery
of the gardens. The palace is interesting in that it contains the
personal belongings of Frederick
the Great and his rooms exactly as
he lived in them. The Orangery is
used as an art gallery with halls
finished in malachite, amber, tortoise-shell and'-beautiful marbles.
There are many paintings and
statues there.
One notes with surprise that in
the center of the royal gardens is
an old windmill and humble cottage. The tale is that a poor man
lived here and refused to sell to
Frederick the Great. The king
honored the peasant's wish to retain his property and the magnificent gardens of the royal palace
grew up around the humble home.
I t was not until many years afterwards that the state came into possession of the mill. and property
and it was kept intact to show the
independence of Germans and the
kindness of a powerful ruler.