Morning journal and courier., 1891-02-18
-. (Copyrighted.)
aNRW ENGLAND COAST.

since Admiral Blocks explorations, de-
livered recently before the New Haven
Colony Historical society by Captain
G. H. Townshend, of this city:
But we must not tarry here at this Sc
cluded spot, but push on to the more pre-
tentious harbor of tie Quinnipiac Tor New
Haven of our day. Here laid down on the
chart is noted the time of high water, II
o'clock on the full and change of the moon
this hour agrees with the tide tables OF
this date land opposite the harbor, which
is only sketched as the entrance of small
river guarded by a rocky channel with
soundings ten fathoms off it's entrance, it
says Tin the notes. there are many good
farms. It is shown on the chart as having
pretentious church, and several houses
are sketched, giving an air of Importance
to the vicinity.* Directly across the sound
from our harbor on Long Island is noted
the village of Welding (now Wading RiveD
so called as it is navigable for boats, which
can be towed inside by wading the river.
The bottom of the sound is blue owse,
depth twenty to twenty fathoms, and
the tide runs full sea at l o'clock. Mil
ford ,Stratford and Fairfield are all located
as good farms, while the islands off the
Housatonic river and located by Block in
1914 are marked sand bank and are now
washed away save the dangerous remnant
known as Stratford shoals, which has ff-
teen fathoms close to new chart twenty
seven fathomsl This demands more than
casual mention, as they with Faulkner's
island illustrate the powerful effects of
the wind and tidal force on the shore of
this arm of the sea, as has been before re-
marked Proof positive is still extant
of my theory of the dispersion of
the islands of the sound, and the
late Captain Moore, a noted shipbuilder,
of Bridgeport, Conn, informed me that he
had visited early in this century at low
tide the shoals for shell fish and had OBJ
served sedge and other marine grasses
growing there and had also examined walk
ing sticks and canes cut from grove or
scrub cedars which stood on this island
about one hundred and fifty years ago.
The canes are still in the possession of
some of the residents of the neighborhood
of Port Jefferson, Long Island. I have
been told by Mr.James Park, purser of the
steamer "Nonowan Tue" of the Port JEFF
ferson and Bridgeport route, and who was
ten years master of the Stafford light ship
that in 1850 Captain Kuinis of Port Jeffer-
son, L. l., then about seventy-five years of
age, told him he had cut rushes on STRAIT
ford shoal grounds. There is also tradi-
ton to the same effact from Stratford
| towns from people of the ownership of
lands of these islands, and Captain Joel
| Stone informed me that the Stratford light
| ship keeper told him he had walked forty
yards on Stratford shoal when laid bare
at extreme low spring tide which occurred
| during continuous west gale in the
month of March Mr.. Henry N. Boards
Icy of Bridgeport writes that his father
has seen Stratford shoal ground often bare
| for six rods.
The site of Penfeld reef and bar in 1870,
called Lewis Island, now marked with a
| light house, off Black Rock and Fairfield
is shown continuous rocky chain and
Archipelago (Norwalk Island of the first
explorer, and as there is still at low tide a
long bare sand split, which connects the
land. Could this or Charles Island, Mil
ford, have been the marriage point rec.
commended by Captain Davenport to Gov
ernor Winthrop for settlement after the
regent conquest, 1887? Opposite on Lone
Island are designated the two points, Eat
on's and Lloyd's, once part of the estates
of Governor Theophilus Eaton and his
kinspeople, the Lloyds.
Here Long Island is mentioned as hsvine
cline towns on it and on the west end
many good farms, but towards the cas-
end is much barren land though there ar
some places where there are good farms.
Mention is also made of Huntington, Oys
ter Bay milestone and Flushing, on tn
Island shore, also Greenwich, Mamaro
neck, East and Westminster, on the cont
nent, which terminates at Manhattan
Island; also there is given description O
this arm of the sea, and its shores at tn
entrance of the 'Inferno" of the Dutch
and in full view of "Heu Gate" the terro
| of ancient mariners.
At this point on the chart Sands point
the north wing of the flood tide fewinl
from the eastward through Long Islam,
Sound, which meets the south wing of tn
same wave of flood or westward tide iron
the ocean via Sandy Hook, between White
stone and Sands Point, having between on
and two hours in time different Qate1
at the Race and Hook are OF
the chart noted at about x l.
o'clock, and accompanying is this iten
eye tyde parteth at Whitestone-thel
runneth east and west" Here at White
stone and Throg's neck this arm of the SO
studded with islands and now called Eas
River, passes through a torturous rock
outlet or inlet mingling its waters with al
increased momentum impaired by til
heavy pressure from the high sea through
its contracted shores into the Hudso
river and the outfowing tide at Sand
Hook
In order to illustrate the movement Q
this tidal wave from the Atlanti
ocean through Long Island soul
and show its power to scorn a
well its value for sanitary an
commercial purposes and for the rapid
increasing shore towns. We mention tn
tidal movement westward from an imagfn
airy meridian in the deep sea east of tn
Newfoundland bank with crest proceed
ing westward ION a meridianal line) unit
the north wing is retarded by friction
with the banks of Newfoundland, Nov
Scotia and Massachusetts coast giving tn
wave line q northeasterly and southwestern
projection and as its south VIM
progresses west faster, having nc
obstruction on account of the dee
sea three miles deep between the coas
and Bermuda it reaches sooner tn
abrupt line of soundings off the Ne,
Jersey and south New England coasts
Consequently the young flood reaches th
Jersey shore about Sandy Hook tw
hours earlier than at the Race, the eastern
entrance of Long Island sound. 1t thu
| passes up the East and Hudson river
into the sound two hours earlier, whic1
tidal basin by the last ebb tide has bee
drained or lowered to the extent Q
several feet when the east flood CON
mences to flow westward through tn
Race, meeting the Sandy Hook food q
Sandy Point or Throg's Neck or east o
west of these points as condition of win
and river freshets permit. The late ez
Superintendent professor Hilgar0 of tn
United States coast and Geodetic surve
tells US the condition of the tidal circuls
ton through Long Island sound and He
Gate is such that if there was q partitio
across it the water would stand some
times nearly five feet higher and a
others five feet lower on one side than OF
the other and in the compromising of tn
two tides in distance of one hundre
feet. In He'll Gate one foot difference i
height is often noticed. When this com
pounding process is completed with the &C
emulation from both floods, re
: plenished with the drainage of the rivers
which volume of fresh water is kept BAG
J and on the surface by the body of sea wa
ter flowing into the sound near the bottor
on account of it's density.
With the compromising of the two foo
tides in Long Island sound, and Their
meeting with increased volume since He
Gate excavation, added to the heavy fresh
cts from the rivers and the tremendou
pressure from strong west gales-whicl
the United States signal services show
frequent this region-imparts to these va