Evening star., 1899-04-01
POSSESS IMMENSE POWER
Some Idea Of the Height and Velocity Of
Ocean Wayes
Vagaries Caused by Earthquakes-A
BillOw That Traversed the
Entire Globe.
From Pearson's Weekly.

We who 'sit at home at ease" listening
to the gale reading of ships going down
in the storm, have but vague idea of the
size and power Of the waves. Novelists tell
us that the sea runs mountains high on
certain occasions, but the exact height is
usually left to the imagination of the read
er
TO properly appreciate the majesty of the
waves, or swell, of the ocean in their
wrath, 1t Is necessary to see them, nc
doubt; but few easily-grasped figures and
facts will enable us to obtain a very satis.
factory impression of what a life on the
ocean wave may mean at times
There is general notion that a wave is
a body of water moving along; that is that
the oliloW which we observe at a distance
VI several yards and watch until 1t reaches
anu PASSES US, is the same body of water
III ultierent places. This is erroneous A
wave Is the outward sign of a state of
strain, some force brought to bear on the
water. ~ VII 'ao
When the force is first applied to the
wafer II causes a displacement of the par
tlcies or which the fluid is comnosed. for
water is practical ly incompressible. and the
particles first affected pass the stress on to
,'r r,re next ana resume their former equilibri-
UNI AND so the oscillatory movement eoes
on over the whole space or until the force
is spent. VIC ioiee
Throw stone into pond and you will
stone drives the particles of water aside in
an directions. They impart the force to
lnelr nelghbors, and fall back into their
piaces. Ine ripple which we watch is sim
py Iie Iorce or the fail of the stone being
passed on. Hence, a wave is a motion NOT
a mass in movement
ihe velocity of a wave depends rpon the
Wlnd the depth of water and the length of
| the wave from crest to crest: or ss We
snouid describe it in popular language the
Instance from the top of one wave to the
.op Oh the next To the man of science, a
wave is the space from crest to crest
whereas the ordinary person measures from,
hollow to hollow ~
The height of the waves varies in differ
eht depths OF water, as we'll as in accord
ance with their length. DIR. Scoresby. who
measured the waves of the Atlantic. found
| some to be 43 feet from crest to trough.
@ Mnlle others In comparatively shallow
water, were between and feet He esti-
mated the average height to be 10 feet
wave 6oo feet long in the Atlantic usually
mas height of 30 feet, and moves at the
rate of thirty-two miles an hour
But a storm brings about variations Of
these calculations, while earthquakes are
also responsible for many vagaries
CareIul estimates by experienced men
nave shown that during a heavy storm in
the South Atlantic the waves are often 80
rect nigh, while their length for that height
Is apout ADO feet. Near Santander on the
with length Of rather less than 400 feet
have been noted. In the North sea waves
rarely exceed $50 feet in length and IL feet
| in height.
The longest wave ever measured was in
the Atlantic: it was 2, 72O feet and it moved
at the rate of mile minute In the Ray
| OF Biscay waves 1920 feet have been OBJ
served; they were moving at the rate of
forty miles an hour.
earthquakes play some peculiar pranks
with the waters. During that which oc-
CURED at Samoda, on the Island of Niphon
| 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 bosom
| OF the Pacific ocean to San Francisco A. 500
| miles away, in twelve hours and sixteen
! minutes, equai to six and a half miles a
! minute The self-registering recorder at
| the latter place is proof of this.
| In 1883, during an earthquake in Java a
| wave swept along total coast line of forty
miles 1t was apparently tired of the sea,
| and wanted a spell ashore for it did not
| contlne itself to the beach. 1t Travelled in
| land. and, in sportive mood. it landed a
steamer two miles inland in a tvnge.
| The biggest solitary wave ever known
| was caused by the Peruvian earthuuake of
| 1868. Never has such wave been origin
| ated by seismic disturbance that was in
! itself of small an area.
| At africa, Peru, its height was 80 feet
| This also went ashore. carrying with it two
warships and depositing them mile be-
yond the railway. Then it went on a jour
ney around the globe At San Pedro Cal
! ifornia, it had increased its stature by 10
| feet. It visited the Sandwich Islands, and
again went ashore, quite submerging some
| or the smaller members of the group 1t
| reached Yokohama. Japan, in the early
| hours of the next morning, having taken
| in New Zealand on its way, and finally
| spent itself in the South Atlantic after
beating the round the world record.