Gilpin observer., 1899-08-17

shut his weather eye, whistled low and
long and, looking up at the masthead,
replied:
Why, OF course l have
Where?" inquired the questioner.
eagerly.
"In novels curtly remarked the
captain.
The curious man was so silent after
this setback that the humane salt,
thinking he might have offended him,
looked at him commiseratingly, and
said: You are not the only one in
the wrong about sea waves. There is
an instrument a scientific instrument
called the marine dynamometer, which
measures the force of waves by the use
OF springs of known strength. The
force of the impact is transferred to
the springs, and the distance to which
the springs are impressed is registered
In this manner the force of ttS wave
in ordinary circumstances only, is
found to be as high as three tons to the
square foot, and under exceptional cir
cumstances the pressure has been dou-
Bile that weight, which is something |
do not care to meet on nv vessel.
When wave of 500 tons falls on a
ship it is just as though 500 tons of
iron had struck her. 1t is seldom that
a wave strikes ship a fair blow, and
when 1t does the ship is generally
found to be built of sufficient strength
to stand the test. Three tons to the
square foot is forty-two pounds to the
square inch. Do you think it any won.
der that great wave, falling upon O
vessel with such tremendous weight.
should. in some cases, sink her? Now,
suppose wave fell from 100 feet to
the deck Of this slip, where do you
suppose you and l would be-where
do you suppose the ship and every
soul on board of her would be one
minute after? Where but gone to Davy
Jones locker?"
The old salt took a turn down the
deck and back again, and seeming wor-
ried about the subject. said:
I've read The Physical History of
the Sea-, by the Comte De Marsili,
sensible book, and he tells us that the
highest wave observed by him on the
shore Of L2nguedoc, where the fetch of
the Mediterranean is 600 miles. was
thirteen and one-half feet from crest
to base. But DR.. Scoresly found waves
in the Atlantic from thirty to forty
three feet high, measuring from the
crest to the bottom of the hollow. Mind
you, these were the largest that were
ever measured to my knowledge, and
seldom met with. While you have
been standing upon the shore you may
have noticed the swell from a large
steamer and noted its force. The tide
at that time, IL ebbing, serves the pur-
pose of the sandy shore, and the vol
ume of water in the vessels swell IL
hurled with momentum which may
have carried 1t to your feet. In such
case it would seem as If the current,
running against the incoming swell,
would either wholly destroy the force
of the latter or at least reduce its force;
but the forces of the waves are pecul-
lar. Among us seamen the fact is
well known that the nastieSt ocean
waves are in the Gulf Stream, and to
the southwark of the Banks. where the
current with mighty strength opposes
them when they come from the east.
The current makes them narrowe.
and crowds them up sleeper, and one
mass of water moves in an opposite
direction over the other, just as the
wave rushes over the sandy beach up
on shore.
"The largest waves are to be found
off the Cape OF Good Hope, where there
are not over dozen swells to the mile
sometimes, and these are not at all
dangerous as compared with such
sea as was met by the steamer Gla-
morgan in her passage from Liverpool
to Boston, fifteen years or so ago. She
got in a gale that tore her iron bull
warks off the ship as If they were pa
per. broke things up generally, tore off
matches and filled the hold with water.
Those on board who were not killed
by that wave were taken off by another
ship. But that was nothing to the
force of the waves at other times. AL
most any captain can tell you of such
a thing as his vessel having been COM
pletely overcome by heavy roller, so
that she lost headway and stood trem
bling in the sea. Everybody who has
Travelled the ocean many times has
noticed that after series of moder
ately high waves have gone by there
will be three in succession that will be
much larger. Then there will be n
long period Of very moderate waves
then three or more monsters. think
that tides or currents trip up the waves
and bring them together till they unite
in the enormous swells that are so
much to be dreaded by sailors.
"It was at Peterhead Harbor. on the
English coast, about fifty years ago,
that there was a great crowd Of peo-
pie on the beach one day watching the
enormous swells coming in from the