The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-03-05
MYSTERIOUS TIDES.
THOSE OF THE LAKES THAT THE
SHIPPERS CALL SWASHES.

They Rise Suddenly From Calm Water and
Display Many Strange Caprices-An Old
Lake Eric skipper Talks Interestingly
ON the subject.
Tidal waves IN the great lakes are
not Of occurrence, said an
old Lake Erie skipper. land although
meteorological experts have for more
than 100 years tried to study out their
cause we don't know any more about it
now than they did at the time the great
wave rose suddenly ON Lake Erie, off
Rockport, and destroyed Colonel Brad
streets fleet, in October, 1894. That
was the first tidal wave on the lakes
that we have any record of.
II have seen many of these swashes,
as we call them on the lakes, the last
n about ten years ago, when my
schooner was swept high and dry at
Port Stanley by q that seemed to
rise on the lake like some monster ma
rine animal coming from the depths to-
the surface. We could see it rushing to-
ward us a mile away. 1t came with a
boiling front ten feet high, kissing like
loud escaping steam as it swept toward
Us. That is a peculiar thing about the
lake tidal ave They do not come
with a roar, like the ocean surf, but
with a loud, kissing sound, and there is
only one instance on record where they
are either accompanied or followed by
strong winds.
THAT one instance was at Toledo, in
Decembor, 1856, when the wind, which
had been blowing stiff offshore, sudden
ly whirled into a bowling nor'easter,
and as quick as the change in the wind
that wav leaped out of the lake and
came hurting upon the shore, wild and
angry mass, eight feet high. In every
other recorded occurrence of these mys-
terious freaks of the lake waters the sur
face Of the lake has been perfectly calm
and the air scarcely perceptible.
Such was the condition when that
big wave attacked us at Port Stanley,
swapping my schooner and drowning
n Of my men. The wave receded as
fast as it had rushed in, and the lake,
in less than ten minutes, was as smooth
as q mirror.
within the next hour there were
four more swashes, each one of less
force and volume, until the last was
scarcely more than a ripple.
almost the first thing l remember.
for l was but three years old at the
time. was one Of these tidal waves. 1t
appeared early in the spring on the Can
ada shore, off Otter Greek. There was q
piece of woods there then. with a long
stretch of beach between it and the
lake. My father had a 30 ton schooner
lying off the shore half a mile or more.
The water was q dead calm, when,
without warning of any kind, a wave
lifted itself from the bosom of the lake,
probably 1 3 miles out, and swept shore
ward with its mighty hiss. My mother
IN | were with father on his schooner.
As that swash came rushing upon us it
seemed to me as if the leaping foam Of
its white crest was higher than the
%schooner's masts, but ! know now that
it was not more than ~ feet high.
The wave was high enough and strong
enough, though, to sweep the schooner
ashore Us if it had been a cockleshell, |
and across that stretch Of beach into the
woods, where it was left among the
trees, q hopeless wreck.
lin ten minutes the lake was as calm
as ever. but an hour later a similar
appeared at Kettle Creek. 20 miles
from Otter Creek, and tumbled all sorts
of lake craft ashore.
Il guess the greatest tidal wave ever
seen ON any of the lakes was the one
DR.. Foster and his party of voyagers
saw on Lake Superior. between Copper
harbor and Eagle river. That was in
August, lS45. This swash was more
than 20 feet high, and, like all of it's
kind, sprung suddenly from the lake at
dead calm. 1t was a quarter of a mile !
distant from DR.. Fosters boat, which,
when the disturbance began, was direct
ly in the path of the wave. 1t was crest
ed with foam, and curled over like a
mighty ocean surge. Before reaching
the boat, however, the wave turned so
that its nearest extremity swept past it
at a distance of so feet, the water Boz
tween that extremity and the boat being |
oCoICely Iulleu ny int lillluelCe OF tnS
rushing tide.
y 1.-The wave was only half a mile from
shore, but notwithstanding its great
size and velocity it never reached there.
The same mysterious caprice that caused
it to change its course and pass harm
lessly by the vessel seemed to seize it
once more, and it sank rapidly from its
great height as it approached the shore
n struck the beach with no more force
or rise of water than might nave come
from the wash of a passing vessel.
81 remember a notable swash on Lake
Michigan at the mouth Of the Mcnomi.
nee. That one appeared in April, 1888,
and rushed into the river with such
tremendous force and volume that it up
set the ferryboat on the Meuominee.
The recurrent oscillations of these
swashes are usually Of decreasing size
and force, but this one on the Menominee
wasn't that kind. The ebb of this tide
was just as sudden as its flow, but in q
few minutes it was followed by another