The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-05-20
THE GREAT POWER
OF OCEAN WAVES.

We who sit at home al ease" list
ening 10 the gale OF reading Of ships
going down in the storm, have but
vague idea of the size and power Of
the waves, says Pearson's Weekly.
Novelists tell us that the sea runs
mountains high on certain. occasions,
but the exact height is usually left to
the imagination Of the reader.
There is a general notion that
wave is a body of water moving along:
that is that the 'billow which we OBJ
serve at distance of several yards and
watch until it reaches and passes us,
IS the same body of water in different
places. This is erroneous a wave
is the outward sign of a state of strain.
some force brought TO bear on the
water.
When the force is first applied to
the water, it causes a displacement of
the particles of which the fluid is COM
posed; for water is practically incom-
pressfble, and the particles first affect
ed pass the stress on to the next and
resume their former equilibrium. And
so the OscillatOry movement goes on
over the whole space or until the force
is spent.
Throw stone into a pond and you
will see this at once. The force of the
falling stone drives the particles of
water aside in all directions. They i'm
part the force to their neighbors, and
fall back into their places. The rip
pie which we watch is simply the
force of the fall of the stone being
passed on. Hence, a wave is a motion,
not mass in movement.
The velocity Of wave depends upon
the wind, the depth of water and the
length Of the wave from crest to
crest; or, as we should describe it in
popular language, the distance from
the top Of one wave to the top Of the
next. To the man of science, a wave
is the space from crest to crest, where
as the ordinary person mea suras from
hollow to hollow.
The height of the waves varies in
different depths of water, as we'll as
in accordance with their length. DR..
ScOresby, who measured the waves of
the Atlantic, found some to be 43 feet
from crest to trough, while others, in
comparatively shallow water, were be-
tween and feet. He estimated the
average height to be 10 feet. A wave
600 feet long in the Atlantic usually
has a height of 80 feet, and moves at
the rate of thirty-twO miles an hour.
But a storm brings about variations
of these calculations, while earth
quakes are also responsible for many
vagaries.
Careful estimates by experienced
men have shown that during a heavy
storm in the South Atlantic the waves
are often so feet high, while their
length for hat height is about 400
feet Near Santander, on the Spanish
coast, waves nearly so feet high,
with a length of rather less than 400
feet, have been noted. In the North
sea waves rarely exceed $50 feet in
length and ID feet in height.
The longest wave ever measured was
in the Atlantic; it was 2,720 feet and
it moved at the rate of Il mile minute.
In the Bay of Biscay waves 1920 feet
have been observed; they were moving
at the rate of forty miles an hour.
Earthquakes play some peculiar
pranks with the waters. During that
which occurred at Samoda, on the Is
land Of Nippon, in Japan, the harbor
was emptied of water, then the water
came back in a rush, only to recede
again. This occurred several times.
Now mark what took place. The
wave or swell travelled across the bo-
som of the Pacific ocean TO San Fran
cisco, 1900 miles away, in twelve hours
and sixteen minutes, equal to six and
a half miles a minute. The self-regis-
tering recorder at the latter place is
proof of this.
In 1888, during an earthquake in
Java, a wave swept along a total
coast line of forty miles. 1t was ap-
parently tired of the sea. and wanted
spell ashore for it aid not conffne
itself to the beach 1t Travelled in
land, and, in sportive mood, it land
ed a steamer two miles inland in
jungle.
The biggest solitary wave ever
known was caused by the Peruvian
earthquake of 1868. Never has such
wave been originated by a seismic dis
turbance that was in itself of so small
an area.
At africa, Peru, its height was 90
feet. This also went ashore. carving
with il two waTships and depositine
them a mile beyond the railway.
Then it went on a journey around the
globe, At San Pedro. California. 1t
mad increased its stature by 10 feet.
1t visited the Sandwich Islands, and
again went ashore. quite submerging
some Of the smaller members of the
group. 1t reached Yokohama. japan
IN the early hours of tie next morning
having taken in New Zealand on lis
way, and finally spent itself in The
south Atlantic. after beating The
round the world" record.