Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-01-29
TIDAL INFLUENCES.
why TiiE STRAIT Oh cARQuiSEz AL-
WAYS SWALLOWS TIM IMMENSE
MASSES OF FLOODS FROM TiiE
VALLEYS.

NNH7i' W libphn HUN Hht
VALLEYS,
The greatest valley GOODS never yet
raised the flowing tide In this potential
tlde'bearer the major fraction OF foot
probably never 80 much ~ the tenth
OF foot, according 10 the actual obser.
walton OF nautical men ffeguenting aud
experienced In II, the lest authority In
such case on such q matter; for the
eye OF the practical sailor or Waterman
notes habitunlly aud almost by Instinct
lhe progress AMI peculiarltics OF tides.
Yet, from time 10 time, during the
generation Last past, grave doubts and
alarms ~ TO the capacity Of this giant
factor OF the ocean have been raised on
the very respectable aud very weak
opinions Of laudsmun and lubberly land
engineers.
! well wot Of really accomplished
average civil engineer, who, once In
/ presence OF an official body having M.
propriate functions, became pathetic IN
/ prophecy VI terrible disaster because
Catquinel wasn't big enough TO take
/ aud carry great valley floods. II wns
Gus Of those yngarics without single
fact TO support it, theory, that are
| hAAAAA'A NNlh wv hNAfN hNhlNi
color " scientific prctcnslon, aud
which, by the sheer effect VI promul-
/ CATION In the name Of science, carry
doubts and something u dlsmay Into
| the public mind without - much M n
shade Of shadow Of demonstration.
In View OF the undisputcd history Of
Cafquincl Strait and iis all-lime past
performances la the discharge Of val.
Il Lao naHsIa 4 .NataIN 4.
| dispose Mt once OF any body OF Hood
northern lobe u open water In Suisun
Bay by tidal channel through the
/ Montozuma peninsula.
/ Whether q bnckset OF water would
temporarily result upon the bay lslands
eau never b q known by computation,
/ from any data existing or nttninable,
without the operation OF the Monte.
/ Zuma Channel itself, which would
solve the. question conclusivcly, with
out computation at all. Doubtless acres
Of figures could he made to apparently
| prove anything and really prove
nothing, aud regiments of mathcmatl.
cal physicists be- found 10 make and
verify them TO the best Of their knowl.
edge and belief. Nothing OF that kind
Il Nil- hlAAAiN Ntutttl VI iOAs
Grated. Every possible net damage 10
property ought 10 be, and under the
elementary law " our state would be-
paid. Such damage, II ever found ut
| all, could bc no more than an iniini.
tcsimHi ofisct against lcgionr OF gres,
bcncfits Of most substantial kind, even
the general Mobilization Of n new earth
Of prime worth In there valleys.
OF the things that | do not know,
which are many, Of my firm beliefs,
which arc few, perhaps tho chicfcst Of
all, next 10 the supremacy Of Divine
intelligence, Ii the BELIEF that flood
waters delivered by the MOntczlma
Channel, II II IL 10 be, will DO no more
foods, except as constituents Of the
/ mighty obb and dow, until resurrected
again by evaporation from old ocean
and again transported and deposited
by the powers Of the air upon this or
another land.
just here. charity, az against current
scientific opinion In the main, ven
ture thought that thorough tidal
current ut ebb In. greater power and
capacity for discharge than q non.tldal
or scmi.tidal river current " like yer.
teal section. The practical para.
phrase Of this thought was expressed
| by the writer Ia publication made
September II, 1875, la the following
words.
"rhe home OF the tides /. very
slightly pcrturbed by the river Hood.
that deva-iate the river margins 10
grievously. The flowing tides from
the sea that man tends of 10 easily
and cilcctually, have power TO ,irng
after Thorn at ebb the whole river
flood that denes him aud his works.
Any quantity Of water appearing nj
the door OF the tide will pass out with.
out delay or surface elevation above
high tide worthy OF remark. IL IL
this truth that gives such paramount
Importance 10 tidal channel through
tho Montezumn,
During these twelve Year,, since
those words were indlted, they have
been vindicated aud verified by the
elements " more than one heavy
river flood, ~ they Heretofore had
been guaranteed by unnumbered floods
preceding them. But here return 10
my theory Of tidal forces-and boast
nothing.
River currents are the effect OF grav.
ltatiOn operating Ia the direction OF the
lines OF Inclined planes such us the
earth 4 surface may happen 10 Indicate
for them, This Inherent cohesive
property Of water cuts small figure as n
factor In the progress Of a flowing
stream solely inipelled by gravltation,
towards the earth's centre. The pre-.
vailing characteristic OF rlvem In that
OF the greater declivlty near the source
and the lesser near the dehouohere.
The tractilc effect OF cohesion is thus
noutrallzed by the more rapid current
near the source, which thrists the
slower current forward instead OF being
itself drawn forward by cohesion 10
the latter. The exceptions, such as
the falls Of the Nile, the Niagara, the
Congo, only prove the rule, 10 viii,
That the water OF rivers glldes, rolls.
PUSHES, tumblcs, etc, with slightly M.
preciable assistance from tho tractiie
property Incident 10 tho cohesion Of H.
PARTICLES, which traction when ia
massod volume under tidal influence,
Il brought into steady aud most efiec.
tive action, together with the earth's
gravity NJ we'll,
Most effectively, say, for the motor
Of the ocean tidal rise Is not the effect
Of gmvltatiOn toward the earth's cen.
ter, but the forces operating In quite
different direction, as Instance the at
traction Of (graN itation toward) the
sun aud the moon, the centrifugal force
u the earth's diurnal revolution, and
40 on. That the Inducements 10 the
tides are but imperfectly understood
by those best Informed In them II non.
essential and indeed hardly referentinl
TO my theory ofthepower Of the ebbing