A RI Tr i Se yA hel) p | Prepared by National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C.—~WNU Service. S ONE stands on the sea- shore at the full of the tide and looks out over the swell- ing floods surging in from the distant horizon, his feet are on the threshold of an enormous empire, so vast in extent and population that the achievements of the haughtiest rulers of mankind are dwarfed by comparison. Though fleets sail over its depth, they make no significant impres- sion upon this immense realm. The subjects of this world. In fact, scientific investiga- tions indicate that the oceans were the original abode of life on the globe, and that the continents were peopled from that inexhaustible res- ervoir. Geologists believe that the depres- sions now occupied by the oceans have been located in approximately their present positions during the entire history of the earth, and that the foundations of the land masses as they are at the present time. periods, invaded their edges and even their interior basins, sometimes to epicontinental seas. Thus, all the continents of the shallow sea, the continental which slopes gradually from coast to depths varying from 100 to al slope. This world-wide shallow strip is the seas. North Atlantic Shelf. 1 This article deals the mollusks and ot} tures inhabiting the shelf which borders coast of North America from va Scotia to New York, and includes the extensive New England fisher- ies. A most remarkable ghore this is. Its southern half of comparatively even contour, but, beginning with the region of Cape Hatteras, the coast to the north- ward has subsided and is indented with deep bays and irregularities, finally terminating in the léng curv- ing and tapering indentation of the Gulf of Maine. The latter is the most noteworthy feature of the coast, its wide mouth being guarded on either hand by espec er sn cont the inner reaches narrowing to a double apex in the Bay of Fundy. All this northern half of the At. lantic seaboard is a succession of drowned valleys, and its topography and geological history indicate that it has subsided beneath the waves of the sea during relatively recent times. On the other hand, the even outline of the coast from Hatteras f such sinking. : The oceanic shelf to the 100-fath- om line widens rapidly to the north- ward, reaching its greatest extent off the Gulf of Maine, where it is approximately 400 miles wide. The central floor of the Gulf of Maine is an ancient river valley to which the river systems, represent- ed by those now existent, contribut- ed their drainage, to be emptied in- to the prehistoric sea by a single channel and mouth still traceable on the sea floor at the edge of the continental shelf. Throughout this extensive and comparatively shallow oceanic margin, well illuminated by the sun's rays, conditions are favorable {for an enormous development of the marine plants on which sea ani- mals feed: namely, the microscopic diatoms, one-celled algae, and the larger seaweeds. Nursery for Food Fishes, Here numerous streams empty their loads of silt, rich in nitrates, phosphates, and other chemicals needed for plant food. The strong tides rushing into the narrowing channel from the open sea keep the water stirred with upwelling currents plentifully supplied with oxygen. Hordes of small crustaceans, the copepods, feed upon this plant life. At certain seasons they swarm in these waters in numbers so vast that they give the sea a reddish color for miles. These tiny creatures are rich in oils and are greedily devoured by large schools of mackerel, herring, alewives, and shad. Bluefish, cod, hake, and haddock pursue and de- vour the smaller fishes, and even the huge finback and humpback whales do not disdain to feed upon the herring. Thus the shallow banks off New England, especially Georges and Browns Banks, at the entrance to the Gulf of Maine, as well as the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, far- ther away, form a veritable nurs- ery for the important food fishes of our coasts, and thus connect man- kind by an interlacing food chain with the microscopic plant life of these shallow waters. The evolution of the animal world, as we know it, would have been impossible had these ve plants not come into existence. From such forms, also, all the high- er land plants of the world origi- nate. The Intertidal Zone. As the open seas were peopled from the oceanic shelf, so the fresh- water streams and swamps received parts of the overflow. Countless spe- cies found food and a measure of safety from enemies by creeping into the area between the tides, where they acquired resistance to exposure to the open air at the in- tervals of low water. Here a rapid evolution took place, so that the intertidal zone became densely pop- ulated with life. Finally, from fresh-water swamps on the one hand and from the upper parts of the marine tidal zone on the other, first plants and t! invaded the } produced the hig types that now reign it. North of Cape Cod, the cos: New England is predominantly Beginning with the h lands of Nahant, Marblehead, 3oston, the cli are at first isolated to local regions, with intervening stretches of sandy and flats. But from northward, unbrok > Port- the 3 almost gre an of ing outii: i fo s the Oa pro- increasing height, and ax in the Bay of Fundy. From Massachusetts Bay north to Portland, the tide rises feet. ward, until it becomes 18 feet at Eastport and 37 to 48 two tapering rns the Bay of Fundy. Here, too, there are interpolated stretches of beaches, flat points, and swampy meadows, and these are entirely covered at high tide. Na- turally the width of the tidal zone on the side of a vertical cliff is measured exactly by the vertical rise and fall of the water. For ex- le, the cliffs that surround Bliss ) at the entrance o" Passa- maquoddy bay, are exposed for 22 feet from the top the barnacle frieze that marks the high-tide limit to nine feet at the ends of ti on orns which terminate of the water level at low tide. Crowded With Life. region between the tides is rith life, both plant and in crowded array. On the vertical granite walls of Bliss island, the various species are arranged in overlapping zanes, with the conspic- uous white band of rock barnacles. Below this, the rockweeds hang in thick, gracefully festooned clusters down to the low-water mark. Concealed beneath the rockweed, and succeeding the base of the barnacle zone, the rocks are covered with a dense layer of young black mussels. Among them are closely crowded groups of the common dog whelk, feeding upon the mussels, and lay- ing their graceful vase-shaped egg cases, tinted rose and yellow, in mosaiclike patches in the crevices. The latter mollusks secrete a pur- ple dye, formerly used by the In- dians for coloring their deerskin garments. They are related to the murex of the Phoenicians, from which that people derived the fa- mous royal purple, later arrogated by the Roman emperors for their personal use. The dog whelk has a thick shell with a characteristic spindle-shaped opening. It is extremely variable in color, size, and sculpture along the New England shore. The common periwinkle creeps everywhere over the rockweed from the low-water mark to the highest part of the barnacle zone and even upon the bare rocks far above it. This remarkable sea snail can stand exposure to the open air longer than any other, marine creature of the northern coast. It is in a transitional state of evolution toward terrestrial life, for its gill seems to be on the point of being replaced by a lung. It has a very wide range, being found on both sides of the Atlantic. In Eng- land it is the common “‘winkle” sold in markets. what thinks about: Poor Lo's Revival, ANTA MONICA, CALIF.— Despite the blessings of civilization which we have be- stowed upon them, including diseases, whisky, soda pop, and $2 overalls, the American In- dians are increasing. This should give our red brothers cause for worry. Suppose they got numerous that we gave this coun- try back to them? Already we are in- debted to these orig- inal inhabitants for quinine, cocaine, cotton, chocolate, tobacco, corn, be ans, squashes pumpkins, grape- fruit, huckleberries and hundreds of oth er remedial drugs or foodstuffs 80 “er yiore- ‘tits } ntists might aspects of the al What if we did th: then, by the way of exc »d the tribesmen to tal trifling proble budget, our Europea: down strikes and the ) eration? SCI¢€ Cleaning up the Stage. HAVING lost their licer teen burlesque house York won't ever get the officials keep thei it With this example thorities might next try u aning up the there — the Cit breeding filthy lines freely offered to recruited from i families. P sphere of the t ‘the favorite si ’ aticste whe ashed out with soaj words, yet never got ov * * * The Fate of Beauly Queens, J s the weat . er gets Ey UST a he contestants wor ng wee Yi none of the 1 at the statior hat practically a jobs are being hel \ who, in addition to good I that desirable personal A 1.442 "or liftie th called ity. And next fall she'll be dealing "em off the arm in a Hollywood hashery. International Slickers. UMORS persist States, Great I ¢ are preparin agreements on moneiary ion, tariff and trade rice-fixing of adjustments, essential commodi- it or not brethren { the de- $i Maybe it's signifi want to be broa¢ itable about it, merely a ¢ -that every dispatch pean sources on this matter lists the debts last. And, verily 1 say unto you, that's exactly when and where they will come-—last. from I seem to see the big three gath- ered at the council table for the final session and La Belle France moving that, everything else having been arranged to the satisfaction of the majority present and the hour being late, the detail of those debts be put over to some future date. John Bull seconds the motion. Mo- tion carried by a vote of 2to 1, Uncle Sam being feebly recorded in the negative. » . . A Sense of Bumor. AMON RUNYON, who, being wise, should know better, re- opens the issue of whether many people have a sense of humor. This provokes somebody to inquire what is humor, anyhow? I stand by this definition: Humor is tragedy standing on its head with its pants torn. Lots of folks think a sense of hu- mor is predicated on the ability to laugh at other folks, which is wrong. A real sense of humor is based on our ability to laugh at ourselves. You have to say, not as Puck did, “What fools these mortals be,” but, “What fools we mortals be.” That's why few women have a true sense of humor. Usually a woman, even a witty woman, takes herself so seriously, she can never regare herself unseriously. IRVIN 8. COBB. ©—<WNU Service, HALL, PA. UNCOMMON MERICANS Jy Elmo Scott Watson © Western ' Newspaper Union Earliest Rebel N FRONT of the statehouse in Boston stands the statue of a woman, with a Bible in her hand and a child snuggled against her. The in- scription on the monument tells you that this woman was a ‘Courageous Exponent of Civil Liberty and Reli- gious Tolerance.” But 300 years ago Massachusetts wasn't calling her by any such complimentary names. In the year 1637 she was ‘‘that proud dame, that Athaliah,”” a "notorious Imposter,” a ‘‘dayngerous Instru- ment Devell raysed up by > ; “Breeder of Her- Anne Hutchin- this of the " and a For she was earliest rebel ir coun- the son, try. She became a leade of people who pleas Lr NARS feil ure of the ster setts Bay colony. u held meetings in her discuss and criticize the ns of Puritan ministers, these people house 10 serm the they that has Joan ween come of Arc at heresy al pared t he { Rouen. hersel shment 1 Hutchinson {1 York all of b But she “eivil tion, the er had not liberty anc principles suffered exile and the Constitutic ' states 1 are written the United Jester The ‘AS baptized Browne t once loved him im under the Jar Jorn in » served an apprentic and then became a printer. Finally he wandered to Cleveland, Ohio, where he became a local reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and invented the character of “Artemus Ward,” supposed to be a traveling show- man. writing to the paper to give i rmation and to ask for it. Read- ¢ of that paper roared over “Art. emus Ward's” bad spelling and descriptions of his ad- ventures and it was not long unti Browne got a call from New York to become editor of Vanity Fair, a comic paper. But this editorship did not last long for the wandering foot of the former journeyman printer soon be- gan to assert itself. He published “Artemus Ward, His Book’ which had a phenomenal sale. Then he took to the lecture platform and “Artemus Ward,” until now a ficti- %Yious character, became a living reality to thousands of Americans. One of Ward's devoted readers Nation's 3 Charles shop that played a role in an historic scene at the White House during the Civil war. In September, 1862, Lincoln reading excerpts from Ward's book. book and said''Gentlemen, why don’t need the medicine as much as 1 do.” He then told them the real pur- pose of the meeting which was to read to them a paper he had pre pared and which he proposed to issue when the time was ripe. That paper was the Emancipation Proe- lamation. When he had finished reading it, Secretary Stanton ex- claimed “Mr. President, if reading chapters of Artemus Ward is a pre- Jude to such a deed as this, the book should be filed among the archives of the nation, and the author can onized."” The author was never canonized but before he died in 1867, Artemus Ward had not only become Ameri ca’'s favorite jester but he had won fame as a humorist in England such as no other American before him bad ever known. | Dressed for the Occasion | when one's clothes look the part.” but We have work “You're quite right, dear, | now let's run along. | to do.” The Patterns. Pattern 1270 comes in sizes 14 32 to 42 bust.) Size 16 re- yards of 39 ma- q ree 1272 designed for 42 bust). Size res 4% vards of 39 inch 2% yards of ribbon are t | ree fc tie belt dress de- | rn 1 sizes 34 to + 36 requires 3% yands of naterial plus % yard con- is i job.” | sizes 14 to 20 (32 t« A Stylist Speaks. i I as Susie Your-Own the i ow lates for a pre-vue roper sports d your order to The Sewing Pattern Dept., 247 W, hird street, New York, » of patterns, 15 cents Cons) act € Bell Syndicate —WNU Service, and comfortable Everybody's Happy. fri nr OF ne appl Giving Properly There is a gift that is almost a blow, and there is a kind word { that is munificence, so much is 1 the way of doing things. dre BARI-CIDE Does Not Contain Lead, Arsenic or Fluorine Harmless to Bean or that of other Crops on which we recommend its wee Kili Chewing Insects such as the Mexican Bean Beetle Cucumber Beetle Potato Beetle Sold by Reliable Dealers Pleasure of Life Take away affection and goods will and all the pleasure is taken | away from life.—Cicero. Empty Victory | hing except a battle lost can holy as a battle By Fred Neher WILL-YUM
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers