El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-01-22
MARCH OF THE SEA.
Waters Encroaching Upon Large
Atlantic Coast Cities.
New York and Philadelphia Were Once
Far InIand-Great Changes Being
wrought in the Original
~ shore Lines.

Once upon a time the sites of New
York and Philadelphia were far inland.
and there was dry land where now the
ships go sailing.
The sea is steadily cncrOaching upor
the land. In old maps, deeds and other
documents the shore lines recorded dc
not coincide with those of the present
! dav. Comparisons of Long Beach,
! from Barnegat Inlet, II miles south
ward, on the United States coast sur
! vcv maps, of 1899 and 1871, shows that
during the intervening - years the
shore line retreated more than one
| tenth of a mile. Each average year the
ocean advances a rod on the coast OF
| New Jersey. This gain by the sea
amounts in each century to third of
| mile, the seward slope being about sin
| feet per mile. The seaside resorts all
| the way from Sandy Hook to Cape May
have suffered immense losses by the
march of Father Neptune.
Only last summer great changes were
made in the ocean front at Rockaway
beach and various places along the ,jer-
sev coast. Long Branch has suffered
very severely. and it was not so very
| long ago that a hotel at another great
seaside resort was dragged back by
| team of locomotives from the threat,
4ning waves of the ocean. That the tides
now run higher than of old is proved by
| submerged forests and meadows. In
the official report of the state geologist
of New Jersey for 1852 there are ac-
| counts of ancient meadows and forests
considerably below high water mark.
recently exposed by the wear Of the
waves on the coast. Some of the trees
had been cut with the AK.
Prof. w. j. MCGEE told the writer OF
buried cedar swamps. which have given
rise 10 q singular industry-the literal
| mining Of timber. At several points OF
| eastern New Jersey enormous Quanti-
| ties of white cedar and magnolia logs,
sound and fit for use, are found sub
merged in the salt marshes, sometimes
so near til" surface that roots and
branches protrude. Many of the trees
| thus Overthrown and buried were for
est giants.
| Along the Carolina coast, Prof. Nc
| Gee said, the advance of the ocean upon
the rice-growing islands has been noted
| by Observing residents during three
| generations On the central gulf coast
|
steadily sinking. Forty years ago Lost
| Island. pleasure resort of New Or
| leans. was swallowed by the storm
| waves, with most of its transient popu-
| Iation-''thc wealth and beauty of the
| creole parishes naught but n tide
i washed bank remains to mark its site.
More than once during later years vii
| lagos and settlements on the gulf shores
| 81 81. IF n
sippi have been swept from the face OF
the land and made the prey of the in
satiable waters.
| The cause of this sinking of the At
| lantic and gulf coasts is not far 70 seek.
| The rivers which cmptyinto the Atlantic
| from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras, and
along the shore of the gulf, carry out
| into the ocean each year billions Of tons
| of material. This matter is deposited
| outside the oceans edge, and the weight
thus transferred causes steadily
progressive depression of the coast
| line.
Geological science has ascertained
| that the entire crust of the earth IS IN
such condition of sensitive equilibrium
i that the taking Of weight from one part
| of it to the other brings about elevation
| of the portion from which the weight IS
| removed and produces corresponding
| depression of the portion where 1t Is
| added. In a word, the earth's crust Is
| in a condition of hydrostatic equilib-
rum, and relatively as sensitive to
| changing pressure as the beam of the
| assayer's balance.
/ If the water in the Atlantic ocean
were dried up you would perhaps be
! SURPRISED to observe that the eastern
| edge of the great land mass called the
| North American continent is not the
| rrescnt beach line at all. You would
! see that the continent itself extends far
| out into the ocean distance varying
| from so to $50 miles. Once upon a
| time this terrace was all above the wa
| ter; the east shore of the continent had
a very different shape, and there was
| deep sea close to the coast. Gradually,
| owing to the cause mentioned, this great
| terrace has sunk, so that the whole
| eastern edge Of the continent is over
| flowed. Apparently, the entire eastern
| coastal plain of the United States is des-
| tined eventually to be submerged be-
| meath the ocean, together with all its
| populous cities and fertile fields.
| Prof. Arthur Hollack. of the geolog-
| zeal department of Columbia college,
smiled when his attention was called
| to the SUBJECT of the sinking of New
| York.
| 1T is not Il very serious natter he
| said. las centuries will be required to
make any level along this coast. But
| that there is a gradual subsistence going
on is quite well verified by careful ov-
| servation along the Atlantic shore.
| The United States coast survey has
| paid some attention to this matter, and
It's reports show that there is settling
| in the coast line of little over a foot in
| Il century''-N. y. Herald. =,
| Progressive Honors.
| She-Nai. Pommelwell wears three
! medals | wonder why they were given