New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-28
MIGHTY SEAS WERE THESE.
GREAT DAMAGE WHICH HAS BEEN
WROUGHT BY TIDAL WAVES.
THE NoRMANNIAs ESCAPE FROM DESTRUCTION
TOWNS WHICH HAVE BEEN OVERWHELMED


TOWNS WHICH HAVE BEEN OVERWHELMED
BY THE OCEAN.
Tho so-caled tidal wave which played such havoc
with the Normannia has drawn attention to the TACT
that great seas the cause OF which Is sometimes
known and more often not known. Will arise on tha
great mass of water which encircles the earth
These great and towering masses or water are not
tidal waves though they are popularity caled So
As a matter of fact, they are In their origin ana
their effect entirely separate from the tides or ther
action The tidal waves flow in courses as well de-
fined and we'll marked out as the courses Oh rivers
These great waves which swamp and demora.ize
big ships devastate islands and depopulate coasts
are local In their origin and in their erect
The human mind never has been able satsfactor-
lily to solve the problem Of the great deep or put It's
scientific formulate upon the restless waves Inc
third is the highest of the series, fact OF which
every who has made his living on the Vastly
ocean Is well assured.
STRUCK BY A THIRD SEA.
II was third sea which swept over the Nor
MAMMA. Why a third sea should be higher than
the two which rolled before 1t all the algebra IN
the word has never been able to explain In the
case Of the Normannla the second sea was an I'M
usually big one, and the valley between II ana the
third sea was unusually small. The big third sea
was as much bigger than the ordinary thlrd sea as
the second sea down which the great ship plunged
was bigger than the ordinary second sea. The first
ordinary one, and the officer on watch
was surprised the size of the second when the
ship plunged down the further side OF the second
wave the officer the great mass or the thlrd
sea in front of him. If the ship had been stouier
she would have climbed up the watery wall before
her. but she was long that the second wave
lifted her stern and did let 1t until her bows
had struck the third wave. She might as well have
struck iceberg as that great mass OF water she
was going a speed Of sixteen knots an hour, and
pr baby the wave travelling faster. The i'm
pact was terrific. and the only wonder is that the
ship survived 1t.
EXPERIENCE OF ANOTHER VESSEL
Fifteen years ago a vessel under similar circum-
stances would have sought the "port OF the missing
snIps." such that encountered by the
Normannla are by no means tidal waves. They are
waves which infrequcnt and the causes OF which
only be guessed at. but are not without record
Las, winter Of the Allan State Line steamers
from Glasgow to NewYork encountered just such
a wave She badly wrecked that she had to
put back to port. At that time the writer was APP
preaching the Azores on the Fuerst Bismarck. and
f. was matter Of remark that all the North At
lantic seemed to be pouring Itself southwark For
several days. while the weather was fair and there
was scarcely breeze the long and heavy waves
extended from horizon to horizon and the third
wave showed only small excess Of height over the
two waves which preceded It. At the time
that the Fuerst Bismarck rolling in the long
seas sweeping southwark the which near.y
swampel the Allan State Line steamer rushing
eastward.
THE MOON HELD RESPONSIBLE.
The true ulal waves. as has been said. move in
regular courses which have been made the subject
~ much study. but Of which the data are still in
complete. The moon Is held responsible for the
westward movement OF the waters which men call
tiles. Il is said that II gets its grip the
- OF q
the Indian Sea. When the mass OF water is lifted
II sweeps around the Cape OF Good Hope. and so
wrN-deiin"d tiial waves. or as photographers
Would cail them. tidal currents The tidal waves
called Ter purposes OF cassihcation the second and
third tidal waves. The first tidal wave throws
itself the Antilles and under influence
Of the trade winds gathers enough force to be;
tidal wave causes the tides along the Atlantic
coast Of tho United states as far eastward as Gay
Head Then the third tidal wave begins It's work.
WHERE THEY HAVE EIGHT TIDES A DAY.
one Of the few places in the world. II not the
only place. where two tidal waves overlap. Is at
Falmouth. In Vineyard Sound. At that place there
are as shown by the observation Of the United
States Coast Survey eight tides day four high
waters and four low waters. The first tidal o.
server who was sent 10 observe the tides at RAJ,
mouth I'm 1919 surprised by the rapid rise and
fall and after correctly entering in his book day
that the ocean had gone crazy and began to record
"Now she's going up-now she gong Gown
phi, parry an officer sent down 70 Sc, the ocean,
as the observer was treating the supposed laws OF
nature CONTEMPORARY. The overlapping OF the TWO
ttIal waves was then discovered.
Most OF the great tidal waves which. II must be
remembered have nothing to do with the tide at
al" have occurred in the Western hemisphere.
n1tah.. one was that which swept into the Bay OF
81 Thomas in October. 1858 That tidal wave was
ne result Of earthquake which was felt through
ont the Wndward Islands. At that time the qles-
ton Of the annexation OF the island 10 the Cni;ed
States WAS mOOted
Az EARTHQUAKE CAUSED DARING RHYMES
The earthquake and the tidal wave gave Bret
Uarto an excuse for his daring rhymes with the
name Thomas In putting the thing into poetry he
BEGAN
fair and fun OF promise.
Law of Thomas;
Heu