Roosevelt High School - Bwana Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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Twenty-one JUST BEFORE DR. BEEBE KRIGHTJ AND OTIS BARTON CLEFTJ DESCENDED INT7O THE SEA rw V NN UN u m 5 no :s Q2 C O 0 feet was made 51 :xi Q. o 'U :Q .... 'cs -cs 3-u o U O L-1 0 .: E- xr

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Feature Section AN EXPLORER OF THE DEEP K E HEAR much about the daring of those who explore the far North, the adventures of those who seek the far South, of those who Hy over tropical jungles or unexplored countries, but until Dr. Beebe devised the globe that enables him to go down to the depths of the sea, we knew very little of the beauties and mysteries of the deep. Charles William Beebe, who was born on July 20, l877, is an author as well as a diver. He writes in a most entertaining style, with a human, moving, and whimsical manner, interspersed with occasional side trips into fancy and philosophy. We, however, are interested in him as a deep sea diver, the one man who knows more of deep sea life from personal observation than anyone else. He has made several descents to a quarter of a mile, and one to 2,5l0 feet. From the bathysphere in which he descends, he has taken pictures and gathered information heretofore impossible to get. ln i929 Mr. Otis Barton and Dr. Beebe conceived the idea of descending into the ocean in a large steel sphere with heavy quartz windows. This sphere was to be strong enough to permit them to enter, be sealed up, and to be kept alive at the bottom of the ocean. Mr. Barton did most of the work, but Dr. Beebe helped him with a few small suggestions. Most of all, however, Bebe aided him with his indominable spirit and his unshaken belief in the success of the venture. When the steel sphere finally took shape, they in turn called it a tank, a cylinder, and a ball. One day Beebe was writing the name of a deep sea fish-Bathytroctes-and he decided that the Creek prefix meaning deep was very appropriate. He coined the word Bathysphere, and so it remained. . The first time William Beebe descended into the ocean several miles off the coast of the Bermuda Island, he realized that he had added thousands upon thousands of wonderful miles to his possible joy of earthly life. When he crawled painfully into the sphere, his emotions were such that he was nearly tongue-tied. The only thing he could ask for was a pillow to make himself more comfortable. The inside of the sphere was four and one-half feet in diameter, and at first it seemed quite roomy, but Beebe said the longer he was in it, the smaller it felt. He was slowly and gently lowered over the side, and the last visible link he had of the world he was leaving was the hull of the ship. When he reached the depth of six hundred feet, he began to realize the great adventure he had undertaken. It is true that other human beings had been to that depth before, but he was the first man to look out at the strange illumination that his electric torch made when it cut through the dark blue. When he reached the depth of eight hundred feet, he called a halt. He felt that was deep enough for his first dive. He was on deck about an hour after he had started, feeling rather surprised that he had suffered no ill effects from his journey. When he climbed out of the sphere, Twenty 93

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BWEHE however, the lower half of his body was practically paralyzed, and his legs and feet were sound asleep. The most impressive thing about the descent was, to Beebe, the slow change of color from dark blue to blacker blue. After his first trip, Beebe began to wish for all sorts of new apparatus. The next trip he made was five days later, and he and Otis Barton had devised a number of improvements. There were shelves for books, writing materials, and sample colors, and the inside of the sphere was painted black so that there would be no reflections. A camera was placed in a tight brass box so that moving pictures could be taken, and sheets of zinc and pads of waterproof paper were taken to make needed notes. The most exciting places to dive are probably the reefs and shallows far from shore, like those of Bermuda. ln the Galapagos, jet black rocks, over which crawl crabs, cast jet black shadows, and red octopi creep out of the crevices. The Australian barrier reef is shrouded in mystery, and expeditions are just beginning to explore it. Alaskan ocean life, however, is certainly the most weird. Sharks, although not Arctic as a race, are frequently seen in Alaskan waters. To dive there, it was necessary for Beebe to encase himself in a heated wool-lined suit. The waters in the South Pacific are exactly the opposite of the Alaskan waters. There are the most luxuriant reefs and shal- lows. Many types of fish exist, and a thousand printings need never repeat species, form, pattern, or color in their composition. The thing that impressed Beebe most when he dived in the tropics was the brilliance of color. The fish are rainbow-tinted, and corals send up unearthly purple branches. Here one can climb into growth formed from boulders six to eight feet across. After Beebe had dived down one place in the tropics many times, he said that the individual fish could be recognized immediately and were claimed as friends. It is hard to picture what it is like a mile beneath the surface. lt is darker than anything or any place at all in the upper world-a darkness so intense that nothing can penetrate it. The temperature lies between the freezing point of fresh water and salt water. Some deep-sea fish are soft when brought to the surface, others have scales as hard as a surface fish. The fish have two alternatives to find their way in the dark. They may develop long tenacles, called feelers. ln this case, the eyes in time become reduced and are not visible at all. On the other hand, as they enter the lightless zone, Nature may come to the aid of some of the deep sea beings and provide illumination from their own bodies. On some fish there are searchlights on cheeks, fore- heads, and tails, which no doubt are of great importance in signalling and answering in the search for mates. Others have glows of fire on their sides which perhaps send messages of friendly recognition to scattered members of the school. The lantern-fish, instead of having half a dozen scales like those caught in the net, are ablaze with their full armor of iridescence. Beebe caught the Hash of their light organs for only an instant. At eleven hundred Twenty-two 93