Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1888-08-24
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IehRORS OF THE SEA
S'o'onic' Volcanic ana Other n.u.
- Types of Waves-


a wave is thing Of beauty. but it /.
onIy q Joy to those who watch il march.
ny III splendor and foam from the safe
refuge OF the shore. 1t is very nans.
eat'ng condition of voyagine. II maxi,
.ne bones of ships creak as Il thev wers
lnli OF rheumatism. It fills the brain
win a sense OF chaos, and one momen,
swings the moaning traveller to the
STARS and the next plunges him into an
ABYSS hideous with gloom aud the hiss.
ing as OF millions Of snakes To meas.
uie waves IN severe tempest Is even
more difficult than to mark effects
"nen the weather rises to such fury as
makes The seas colossal enough to rem.
Ger the determination of their beiob,
exceedingly important, there is usually
VOC much anxiety. and eyensdistraction.
Ior observation The weight oflthe
wind is'so violent Chat it Is almost i'm.
possible to show ones face to it.
For the true Andean sea one must oo
aowh 70 Cape Horn-perlaps to as far
as sixty degrees south There are sail
DTS who, standing at the wheel of a shin
running before these seas. win never
willingly look behind them, lest the
s'ght OF the oncoming rampant of
green water. arching toward the taft
RAIL- should unnerye them. Standing
on deck twenty feet above the water
hne, you yet look up at the crest Of
fh<a.
.nese seas as at the top Of mountain.
me gigantic grace, the huge majesty
OF these liquid 1itans can not be de-
scrtbed. IL is necessary to be hoye-to
70 appreciate Their height, volume and
power; to watch from the low broad
side the swelling approach of the mighty
mass. with its freckled front and foam
less head Pickering in bottle green 10
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 breath only. she hangs poised
with upright masts and shrieking riy-
ging on the headlong brow, to look
down and behold the valley beneath.
into which the vessel an instant after
slides like comet. ''t'5
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 ex-
aggera ion; they must be seen, and
little spell of custom will render ad-
mlration easy. 1t 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 seamanship the
old navigators were enabled to beat
against them in their small, half.
decked boats, some no bigger than a
Deal lugger, without touch of the
weatherly qualities of such craft.
But let it not be supposed that the
high wave is the dangerous one. The
regular running surges may all be as
tall as the biggest hotel in London with
ninth fellow among them as high a.
the monument, and yet none prove
nearly SO dangerous as the pyianidal
seas of the cyclone. OF all forms of
vexed water the cyclonic agitation is
the worst Here is a whirlwind of as
tonishlng fury SO many miles in diane
ter. For little while it runs steady
sea, but presently its gyrations brings
up a surge from another quarter, then
comes.the hill, followed by frightful.
outhy of storm from direction opposite
to the point from which the wind
last blew. The seas, coming into
collision, fight like wolves. They snap
and howl. leaping high in conified
shapes in the very similitude of sentient
passion. The staggering of the ship is
Undesirable. There is no rythmic
swing to give her motions something Of
the vibrations of the pendulum. Her
decks are filed with water, while her
bows dive into a chasm that has opened |
under her forefoot, a valley yawns
under her stern and hill of water
flashes up on either side. 1t has not
been suggested that the altitude Of the |
cyclonic wave should be determined. |
Probably there is no eye atioat equal to
such an undertaking.
Another very uncomfortable sea is
the volcanic wave. 1t is not very long
ago that a vessel, steaming through
quiet waters on dark night, was sud-
denly hurled up by an 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 en-
counter as this. London Telegraph.