Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-08-14
ENFORCEMENT OF THE SEA on
The NORTH AMERICAN
COAST.

| phenomena OF rfructuIai be.iueftN 49,
principles Of dynamic geology ana |
topographic forms, all attest that IN |
PORTIONS OF. the Atlantic and Gun
SLOPES the sea i eneroachins upon
the land. This evidence = mol IN
deed all equally clear and Apostle /
The historical evidence i weak IN /
quality because Of the inaccuracy 81 4
early surveys, early tide marks, and |
early records Of all kinds; but IL |
volume Is vast Even by itself /
the historical record shows that, |
albeit imperceptible Ia a single
year, the advance Of the sea i
considerable when decades are COM /
pared, aud enormous when con-
pdhs0n j. made between centuries |
The evidence Of submerged forests 4
and meadows has not always been I
interpreted alike; but the cases are /
legion, their significance often I'M
mistakable, and In the best Observed ]
regions the testimony l. conclusive
The evideuoe Of geographic con
figuration-Of drowned rivers hail. 4
flooded iskinps, ami outlying keys
proves that the hnl j. either re-
Gently submerged or j. now sinking. /
The evidence Of structural geology, |
and particularly Of the dearth 81
alluvian in the absence Of deiias Al |
the mouths Of mud-charged streams |
l. OF like tenor and value The value |
Of the evidence Of dynamic geology |
depends upon the validity Of The |
Powellian principle, which all COM |
peteut authorities acceTt, thoush !
some might question it, quAutitatiye
sufiiciency Ia the given case lhn
evidence OF ge0morphoiogy-oi the |
forms Of hills and the features OF |
plalns-is eminently Apostle, clear |
and conclusive; itapplies not only 10 |
the cost, but 10 the entire coastal
plain; aud Il might be male 10 give I
nude measure Of the rate and amount
Of the earth movement But, how
ever, the several lines lie weighed,
theevidence j. consistent and cumu-
lative, and permits no escape from |
the conclusion that certain portions I
ofour coast are yielding before nd !
vanciug seas. On reviewing the |
sum ofevidence by arcas, IL J. found I
10 prove oceanic cucruachment |
along the Atlantic coast from Sandy ,
Hook 10 Cape Henry, and along 1
the Gulf coast between the mouth |
Of the Mississippi and Mobile Bay;
10 suggest like condition all the /
way from Cape Cod b CAPE Fear; /
and 10 give little Indication rs TO the |
change in the relations OF sea and |
land about the shores Of the Florida /
peninsula Concerning the north |
ern New England eodst, the western |
fGulf coast, and rugged pTOmOntories
and Hat sand beaches % the Pacific |
coast, where the records are scaniy |
or equivocal, "this depOuent saith
not"
Men who hunt the shores for
pleasure or for profit, naturally In
quire the rate nj which the
SEA Is encToaching upon their
domain. The cautious estimate
Of the rate nj which the New
Jersey coast is sinking made 10y the
official g1sOlogist VI that state, i two
feet Der century. Now the mean
seawarf slope Of the coastal plain, in
Guiding it. subaerial and submerged
portions, j. perhaps six feet per mile
80 that each century's sinking would
give n third Of mile. AID each year
4 rod, Of lOwlanJ TO the ocean; and
this would appear 10 be below the
rate Of entertainment indicated by
comparison Of MAPS This Is pro-
hably the maximum rate for this |
county. Pending further Ohserva- /
ton and the scanning Of other ret
ouis, little more can be said. Men I
Of maritime lands naturally inquire |
whether the continent settles easily /
and uniformly, or whether II des-
cenls by successive starts at inter .
walls; FOR rapid Elass movement in /
the earth Is justly believed 10 beget .
the earthquake, and peTchance the /
tidal wave; but upon this point the 1
evidence aud science aside from by
pOthetical presumption in favor 81 /
per sIiiim mOvementl are silent. I
Last Island was indeed over
whelmed when, after n ten /
days northeastern which forced /
the Gull waters off.shore and al |
lowed the wateI-heavy sits and /
sands 10 settle In the lighter air, the /
wind veeret 10 the south, and the |
-uTi swept hack over the sunken /
shores and delta Islands; yet there |
were no deel seated earth tremors. /
The land went down In the lower .
Mississippi region, Il j. true, during |
the gr,1tyst OF American earth I
quakes-that Of New Madrid, in I
lsll-i2; but II has not been learned |
whether the earthquake cause,i the |
sinking or the sinking the earth
Quake. Slight quivers Of earth, too, |
appear 10 nun along the fall line"
and are commonly recorded many /
times annually in its vicinity; hut /
Il Is more probable that they re- /
present gradual and easy relief Of /
earth stn-sses than that they are pre- |
m0nit0Ey VI a catastrophe.
Prophecy OF evil is an uugrateful |
and unsraceful task, before which I
science justly quails, for science i |
no longer content only 20 make two !
bladts VI grass grow where one grew .
before She i ambitious a,so 50 wise |
~ 10 use the productions of tire /
earth tliat one h!aie Of grass will oil |
tho place filled 10y two before, and.
moreover, 10 wiring from barren
rocks and desert artificial sul,sti- /
tutes for natural blades % grass, aud /
thus TO multiply indefinitely the |
gifts vOuchsafCd 10y uuaidcd nature.
SO her devOtees are the most light /
some of Optimi-ts, the most sIuguiue /
Of philauthrupi>ts. But optimism /
must not Il. conf0undel with sl."Tt- /
sight, or philanthropy with fool |
hardness. There J. a bnuai low |
land stretching from Sandy Hook |
10 Cape Henry, and RAINING inland |
% the line OF the metropolis, and |
another washed by the Mississippi |
Sound, upon which the sea Is en- |
cruaching. They are wave-slshiOne,i !
plains, but recently wrested from I
the ocean, and ocean ryclaims it, I
own. Alrtaiy H. octopus arms |
have seized the lOwlaui in horrid /
embrace, and day by day, month by |
month. year by year, generation hy /
generation, the grasp Is Tightening. |
the monster creeping further aud /
further inland. Each average year /
the water mark advances a nd. The /
seaside cottage with n broad lawn |
before il has an expectation Of life''
u n decade OF generation; but the |
cottage nj the verge Of the cliff may /
90 in a year and must go IN lus-
trum, uuly-s human devices uutV IL /
aud ovcrpOwer the waves for an ex-
ceptiOnal Period. On most other 1
eastern and southern coasts the
waves are also encroaching. but |
their progress is lower. And the /
oceans POWER Is too great for puuy |
man b. oppose successfully; he can /
only frrnEfI L. against and afnu-Ty- -.
treat before, the invasion.-Nc,r York |
Forum.