The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-18
MIGHTY SEAS WERE THESE.
Great Damage Which Has Been
Wrought by Tidal Waves
The Normannia's Escape From
Destruction Towns Which Have
Been Overwh elmed by the Ocean.
From the New York Trfpbuna

OS6A OV6EWnSlmed Dy the OcG an
From the New York Tribune.
The so-called idol wave which played
such havoc with the Normannia has drawn
attention TO the fact that great seas, the
cause of which is sometimes known and
| will arise on that great mass OF water
which encircles the earth. These great
and towering masses of water are not
| tidal waves, though they are popularity
called so. AS a matter Of fact, they are
IN their origin and their effect entirely
| separate from the tides or their action.
| The tidal waves flow in courses as well
! defined and as well marked out as the
! courses of rivers. These great waves.
| which swamp and demoralize big ships,
devastate islands and rdepopulate coasts,
are local in their origin and in their
| effect.
The human mind never has been able
| satisfactorily to solve the problem of the
| deep or put its scientific formula upon
! the restless waves. The third sea is the
! highest of the series, a fact of which
every one who has made his living on the
'vasty ocean is well assured.
STRUCK BY THIRD SEA.
II was third sea which swept over the
| the Normannia. Why third sea should
| be higher than the two which rolled
| before it all the algebra in the world has
| never been able to explain. In the case
| OF the Normannia the second sea was an
| unusually big one, and the valley between
1t and the third sea was unusually small.
| The big third sea was as much bigger
than the ordinary third sea as
| the second sea down which
the great snip plunged was bigger than
| the ordinary second sea. The first sea
was an ordinary one and the officer on
watch was surprised at the size of the
| second. When the ship plunged down
the further side of the second wave
| the officer saw the great mass of the third
sea IN front of him, If the ship had been
stouter she would have climbed up the
| watery wall before her, but she was so
long that the second wave lifted hers stern
and did not let IL go until her bows had
struck the third wave. She might as
well have struck an iceberg as that great
mass OF water. She was going at speed
OF sixteen knots an hour, and prOba bly
the wave was travelling faster The i'm
pact was terrific, and the only wonder is
| that the ship survived it,
EXPERIENCE OF ANOTHER VESSEL.
Fifteen years ago vessel under similar
| circumstances would have sought the
port of the missing ship" Such waves
as that encountered by the Nor
MAMMA are by no means tidal waves.
They are waves which are infrequent and
the causes Of which can only be guessed
at but are not without record.
Last winter one of the Allan State L,i2e
steamers IRAN Glasgow to New York
encountered Just such wave. She was
so badly wrecked that she had to put
back to port. AT that time the writer
was approaching the Azores on the
tuerst Bismarck and it was matter of
remark that all the North Atlantic
| seemed to be pouring itself southwark.
For several days, while the weather was
far and there was scarcely breeze, the
long and heavy waves extended from
horizon to horizon, and the third
wave showed only small excess
OF night over the two waves
which preceded it. AT the Same
time that the t'uerst Bismarck was roll
ing in the long seas sweeping southwark
the wave which nearly swamped tho
Allan state Line steamer was rushing
eastward.
THE MOON HELD RESPONSIBLE.
The true tidal waves, as has been said,
move in regular courses which have been
made the subject Of much study, but of
which the data are still incomplete. The
| moon is held responsible for the westward
| movement of the waters which men call
the ocean in that waste and desolate
| space Of ocean south of the Indian sea.
| When the mass Of water is lifted it
sweeps araund tho Cape of Good Hope.
and so around the world, dividing itself
into more or less well-defined tidal waves.
or, as photographers would1call them,
| tidal currents. The tidal waves which
affect the eastern shores of this country
| are called for purposes of classification
| the second and third tidal waves. The
| first tidal wave throws itself on the lesser
Antilles and under the influence
of the trade winds gathers enough force
| to become the tides along the Gulf
Stream. The second tidal wave causes
| the tides along the Atlantic coast of the
! United States as far eastward as Cav
Head. Then the third tidal wave begins
| its work.
WHERE THEY HAVE EIGHrT1DEs ADAY.
One of the few places in the world, If
not the only place, where two tidal waves
| overlap, is at Falmouth, in Vineyard
| Soutnd. 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 observer
| who was sent to observe the
| tides at Falmouth in 1873 was surprised
| by the rapid rise and.-fall, and after
| correctly entering in his book a day or
| tWos fluctuations or the sea, apparently
| thought that the ocean had gone crazy.
and began to record Now she's going
| up-now she's going down" When his
book came TO the chief Of the hydro
| graphic party an officer was sent down to
see the ocean, as the observer was treating
the supposed laws of nature contemptu-
ously The overlapping of the two tidal
waves was then discovered.
Most of the great tidal wayes-which.
1t must be remembered, have nothing to
do with the tide at all-have occurred
in the Western hemisphere A notable
one was that which swept into the Bay of
st. Thomas in October, 1865. That tidal
wave was the result of an earthquake
which was felt throughout the Windward
Islands. AT that time the question of
the annexation Of the islands TO the United
States was mOoted.
AN EARTHQUAKE CAUSED DARING RHYMES
The earthquake and the tidal wave gave
Bret Harte an excuse for his daring
rhymes with the name Thomas. In put
ting the thing into poetry he began:
Very fair and full of promise,
Lay the Island Of st. Thomas;
There. said William Henry Seward
AS he cast his eyes TO Toward
quite important to our commerce,
Is this Island OF ST Thomas.
The harbor of st Thomas was crowded