National Republican., 1884-11-05

HIGH TIDES.
An Explanation OF n Phenomenon
That Usually Puzzles People.
Boston Herald

Boston Herald
The tides Of Funday are, perhaps,
familiar to almost every one and, though
they are remarkable, like the maelstrom
and other marvels, they are greatly ox-
nggerated, writes correspondent from
Falmouth, N. 8. To thoroughly under
stand the phenomenon the shape Of Fun
day bay must be considered, and II will
be seen thut the great daily tidal waves
that sweep over the Atlantic, caused by
the attraction of the sun aud moon, strike
ehe New England ooast and tend north
ward until the great body of water is
Bdueezed into the narrow limits OF the
jbay of Funday, just as wo sec great
wave from a steamer entering brook
from a lake The effect is TO immo-
diately raise the water level, and so in
Funday tho tidal wave rushes in and,
suddenly compressed with the narrow
bounds, Immediately rises, and the iwator
forms o wave and rushes rapidly onward,
filing up the rivers and bays along its
passage.
A famous place to observe this phenom-
enon is in what is called the Minas basin,
branch Of the bay of Funday, that ex-
tends into the country of Evangeline and
cuts IL up In q curious manner.
Can this be tho riverp you ask. 1t must
be, as here are bridges, two of them, but
90 woefully long and shaky on their pins
and high above the stream that they
appear like the very ghosts of bridges on
stills. From above the chasm appears
shelved and cavernous in the aspect. Tho
sides seem to grade of into terraces OF
red and gray mud, until finally the pan
of bottom rock is reached, along which
tho pseudo river flows. Something Is eX-
pected, as here arc expensive dykes, that
are reared to keep the water from the
farms in tho back country; then again
vessels lilo at tho docks of this inland
town, high and dry, miles and miles from
water deep enough to float them. Do
we wait an hour or SO oil this
will be changed. We first notice this
Bilvery thread Of water stop In its course,
then the water is seen to flow up stream,
and IL you turn your head for q few
minutes you find upon again looking that
the silvery thread has grown to stream
fifty feet wide. Twenty minutes later it
IS raging flood, foaming, rushing, and
boiling, rising in waves that break against
each other, ever pushing on, as IL pro-
pelled by some mysterious force.
In this sudden rush of the waters ami :
mails are often caught; pigs that have wan
dered out into the mud are overcome by
the onward rollers, and fowl have been
seen surrounded and floated away on the
waves, to be rescued, perhaps, far up the
stream, thirty feet higher than the spot
where they were taken up. Flocks OF
birds frequently follow the tidal wave.
or bore, as it is called, feeding upon the
fish that are cast ashore and catching
them as the tide goes out.
Why tho wave should be so high in
coming in is explained in different ways.
One theory is that IL is formed by tidal
current rushing against the current Of the
river, and passing over obstruct. IS OF
more than ordinary height that tend tC
push the water up. In the Hoogly river
the wave rises TO o height Of twenty feet
in the Amazon thirty, and in the Taien
tage. China about the same. The wave
in Funday, however, is not to be compared
to these in any respect. As to rapidity
the tide comes in about as fast as al
ordinary horse can trot, and man would
have to exert all his speed to escape.
The height to which the water actuall,
rises differs in different places, and de-
pends upon circumstances. Thus, if the
sun and moon could pull together, so tc
speak, and a strong wind set in at tn,
same time. an exceedingly high tid
would be the result. 1t is claimed tina
II has risen sixty feet at Moncton; a
Sackville flfty-foot fall and rise is com
mon. These are remarkable figures, ant
the sight of vessels that. say, in the morn
Ing have been alongside the dock inos
forty feet below and no water In, sight, i
still more remarkable. wv