The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1888-02-23
.rERRORS OF THE SEA.
eYcLoNic, VOLCANIC AND OTHER
TYPES OF WAVES.
Colossal Billows Which Ruu Mount>e
High-The Passage Of Cape Herr
WhiFlwind at sea-Efecta Of y
Sanic Wave. 40 soA'

~
High-The Passage Of Cape Hsr
whirlwind at sea-Eneets Of y
S,,;. xv.r .e Vol
A wave is thing of be,
only joy to those who luty, but 1t Is
in splendor and foam = iatch it marching
of the shore. 1t is rom the safe refuge
dition of voyaginr very nauseating con-
Of ships creaI >. 1t makes the bones
rheumatism. T.. as if they were full OF
sense of CT 1t fills the brain with q
moaninr aos, and one moment swings the
plung- traveller to the stars and the next
glor IS him into an abyss hideous with
s. IN and the Kissing as of millions OF
lakes. To measure waves in severe
tempest is even more difficult than to
mark effects. When the weather rises to
such fury as makes the seas colossal
enough to render the determination OF
their height exceedingly important, there
is usually too much anxiety, and even dis.
traction, for observation. The weight Of
the wind is SO violent that it is almost i'm
possible to show ones face to it. The
ship, whether a sailing vessel or a
steamer. hove to plunges so abominably
that a mans main concern is to hold on
and save himself from being drowned
should one of the frothing mountains tum-
BILE on board. There may be- other rea-
sons why the officers Of the mercantile
marine have not very zealously devoted
their leisure moments to measuring the
height of waves. But more information
than may already be found collected is
1,adly wanted and, unquestionably, cap
fains and mates would be doing substan-
tial service by neglecting no opportunity
to ascertain, by the best means in their
power, the true altitude Of ocean seas.
DOWN BY CAPE HORN.
For the true Andean sea one must 90
down to Cape Horn, perhaps to as far as
60 dogs. south. There are sailors who,
standing at the wheel Of ship running
before these seas, will never willingly
look behind them, lest the sight of the on
coming rampant of green water, arching
toward the taffrail, should unnerve them.
Standing on Il deck twenty feet above the
water line you yet look up at the crest OF
these seas as at the top of a mountain.
The gigantic grace, the huge majesty of
these liquid Titans cannot be described.
1t is necessary to be hove to to appreciate
their height, volume and power; to watch
from the low brOadside the swelling ap-
proach of the mighty mass, with its
freckled front and foamless head flicker
ing in bottle green to the dull light of the
gray sky; to feel the sweep of the ship up
the enormous activity, and then while,
for the space of a breath only, she hangs
poised with upright masts and shrieking
rigging on the headlong brow, to look
down and behold the valley beneath, into
which the vessel an instant after slides
like q comet.
1t is difficult TO write of the seas which
run in heavy weather off the southern
most point of South America without
risk Of being charged with eXaggeratiOn;
they must he seen, and q little spell of
custom will render admiration easy. It
IS impossible to be tossed by them in such
vessels as now make the passage Of the
Horn, without wondering by what miracle
of luck Or phenomenal merit of seaman
SHIP the old n;lvigatOrs were enabled to
beat against them in their small half
deckcl bouts, some no bigger than Deal
Iucser, without touch Of the weatherly
qualities of such craft.
CYCLoNIC AGITATION.
Tut let It not be supposed that the high
wave is the dangerous one. The regular
running surScs may all be as tall as the
biggest hotel in London, with ninth
fellow among them as high as the monu-
Incnt, and yet none prove nearly SO dan
,rcrous IS tho pyramidal seas of the
cyclone. O. I'll forms of vexed water the
c-clcnic agitation is the worst. Here is a
whiriwinA Of astonishing fury so many
mile; III ,iiiElcter For a little while it
runs = steady sea, but presently its gyra-
tiDn% bring; mp q surge from another
quarter; then comes the lul1, followed by
e frig.!tG:.I n;Itfiy of storm from O direc-
tioI opposite 10 the point from which the
,iind last blew. The seas, coming into
coliiiGn. fight like wolves. They snap
aiil howl, lelping high in conifed shapes
in the very similtude Of sentient
passion. The staggering of the
.iD is indescribable. There is no
rythmic swing to give her motions
something of the vibrations Of the pendu-
lum Her decks are filled with water.
while her bows dive into chasm that has
opened under her forefoot, valley yawns
under lfer stern and o hill of water flashes
mp oa either side. It has not been sug-
eested that the altitude of the cyclonic
wave should be determined. Probably
there is no eye afeat equal to such an un-
dertakinG. ..-
Another very uncomfortable sea is the
volcanic wave. 1t is not very long ago
that Il vessel, steam1ng through quiet
waters OH q dark night, was suddenly
hurled up by na invisible billow that was
reckoned to be between thirty and forty
feet high. Three such waves passed under
her, the last being the least in volume,
and then all was dead flatness OF ocean
again. The stoutest heart might well
thump to such an encounter as this
London Telegraph.