The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-28
IN THE LAKES
sprcTL4TION As TO THE CAUSE
TBAF PRODUCES THEM.
=. 7, U.sz-.i A~t-espherie Pressure :
Reasons fsr BeiievisE Rather That Ht ts
1890 peseeustne Upsn the water.
Nro- ne Cleveland Leader.

sls ,tlal waves which frequently sweep parts Of
N, large inland seas. The tidal wave that
soilo,rs an earthquake and causes untold de-
So, linn ofttimes, has = counterpart on the
,strs. differing only In volume, extent, and
noyyer for evil. But unlike the earthquake
s,ye. these Of the lakes are mmon A season
,srely goes by that each Of the great lakes
4. NOT visited, At least once, by such q phe-
nomenon. and thus little effort has been
made 20 gather the facts relating to these
waves and explain their cause. As far a. OBJ
served they occur more frequently in summer
than in winter. but even this Il not absolutely
certain. Lake conditions are more closely OBJ
served In the summer months, and no Ice shield
exists to both interfere with the causes which
are believed to produce them and prevent care
full notice being taken Of changes In water level.
II is highly probable the phenomenon Il more
common In summer than in winter. II the causes
;iop Iof have si not BEEN general gem enough 70 establish
the fact beyond all question.
The ke.tidal wave, like the tornado, comes
unheralded and without warning. Sometimes
its duration does not exceed twenty minutes;
again 4 may pr9lons its effects an hour. VERY
point Of obseryation. The earliest tidal, wave on
i:GGSS on the Of 1857 49,. W" e covered snas fF Il. sn tFD% LAKE ses
basin, and was noticed on every one Of the great
inland seas The Known cause , Ct that frs.
more common phenomena were due to the same
agency. Were that the case the basin of the
Centres Of seismic disturbance On the Western
hemisphere. The local character OF many Of
once snsse ws' p1e pOwsr RSe freedom Of the
shores OF. the. lakes from earthquake shocks is
likewise indubitable EVIDENCE that these waves
H Haunt % s' ohisI of The United states %Weatbs.f
Bnsssu, IN la, : re tss .tstsmsnt rtBat thew are g
"caused by sudden changes in the barometer,
c sAi:h i nss;Ion q sa Ike : .u ssssss "Df spsaFin from IN = q
sSpianstiOn fails n not being specific; Il sus-
not nn'H iS aooord With r%er-estsbi}sSed facts.
Aa a&s evening 81 Si Gi sSiz e. 1 Mio$.. ne sa Sts : u ish
twenty-six inches In . few minutes Tho lake
S gSs si fq a.: e. se oSs s%s; of I ieSsi. T Ba. : no abort SR9H sI%s
been Observed to pass over the city and out on
level in thirty-three minutes. so far as is
known the disturbance was not. general along
f S.,. ' Sssn Il sa aSs p%S be- InsS sa Rsa Bee. ss Y due ws1. as
would be naturally inferred from Prof; Harring-
tons statement 70 pn e suddsn dnSssHss S IN s ns.sss
OF the LAX. some miles out viii an outward
duced q result such as has been related; The
great effect Of the winds upon lake levels isn
r Ti,a,'i sSs Msss1. fi is every q s' SaaSo no on the S.ns so Ssa
shore Of Lake Erie. A nGItheaster produces the
;: siT Sa ss.fsf S q Sa!f !: False. ah s. T . proi Sxss q: .s ssr
changes Of level IN all the harSors q
iocity Of the gale and It's. continuance.
tnS lowest IN some h.rSors Is three feet or more.
II such effects follow moderate gales covering
the, ,hs w HSaia in assas : SEsa rssul sh fsoG . e so e ssSsn M III,
It's greater pressure on the surface Of the water
and much higher velocity, The fscts, as far as
more recent case than tina at Marquette.
Visited Fsirpcrt harSSr. Lake Erie a. the
mouth Of the Grand River. about $3.50 I. m.
q q. June 10 tv ? The s,s sss was smooth al. a
On . the : ss : %h.s.yss Tie hsisss 4 ran u
miles from ihis Sifg: The busIsss port ON ths
Cured IN The midst Of the shipping: season.
when many are about the harbor even at the
s Gs,sr i isa.i here, L L w ss: % .m nsi a. ANY 70 fSs s iSps IN
ceptible TO men on board vessels at the mouth OF
the river end could not have eiSsedsd : few
spr ans i up and d CONTINUED through the night. Il
out from Fairport with path shorevsrd and either
spent its force or risen before 1t reached the
more probable manner than to suppose there
was q trough Of decreased barometric pressure
OF small extent near the seat OF the disturbance.
The fact that q gale followed the wave indicates
the probable existence of weather conditions ia
yorable to a tornado. There would also be sud
rington speaks OF. but that does not make his
explanation fit ths case. IL . town were swept
would hardly Be asssribed to = sudden change in
the barometer, even II the readings
did show such a change. -.. ro,
waves, has not been general enough to make II
possible 10 give q complete description of their
there was a fall In the level on the Canadian
shore opposite Fairport at or near, the time of
amount OF disturbance would depend upon the
distance from the two shores at which
the tornado struck the water and the time 1t re-
The frequency OF these waves as well as their
extent is a matter of speculation 70 degree:
one each on Lakes Superior. Michigan. Huron,
IL is impossible to tell how many more there
might have been. Considerable damage has
sSns 9 Sun then n. i r. ys . tiSsi t MaSs swept Sa
the st. Mary's River from Lake Superior
with such force as TO destroy the wing dam q
sion rose to the greatest height on record in he
% GSysTR@snt or xplll AZ, The Ysos 500" w aRs
Of this character visited the Chicago Riv-
ef.. IL tore Heseels from tnelr nOOrinBs
and temporarily grounded several. The tenn
p%erature for several days had been unseason-
ably high, and the conditions were such that the
disturbance might have been caused either by
u general change in atmospheric pressure or by
q tornado. Nine years before the records of the
port OF Chicago, made by Capt. q. &. Almy. L.
!, A. show a adherence Of over 40 inches In the
level between z \. NJ. and 10 l.. NJ, when the
barometer ranged from 2g.ST TO 29.06, and the
wind Was changesble, varying from n twenty
one-mile north wind 20 a one-mile west breeze.
TLis change in water, level is not readily ex-
by. Prof. HaTrington's theory, but
might have been produced by a tornado some
distance from the shore. In fact, the change In
the direction. OF the winds rather indicated cy-
clOnie conditions.
The tidal wave which Is reported from AlpenA,
Mich, IN 1898, strongly confirms the tornado
The morning Of May II a wave came
from Lake Huron without warning, when
the sea was 80 calm. that raised tue water level
from. eighteen inches 10 three feet. There was
no wind at the time, reached its maximum
In about ten minutes from the time first
noticed and In about the same period receded,
leaving the surface troubled. The evidence
that this was the result of a tornado in mid
iske Is more conclusive than in either the
or Fa!rpOrt instances. During
the twelve hours in WHICH n occurred,
midnight to midday, a number OF vessel cap
tAlns reported that on Lake Huron they en-