The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-07-21

so swift, it is. like all other waves. but
an uHdulatory movement of that portion
! of the sea mementarily influenced by the
! suasiOn of the planet, not, as is vulgarly
supposed. by the same mass of water
I vehementIy carried onward for thousands
/ of miles.
I Such is the benefeent tidal wave. the
wave that does it's good work with per-
feet regularity and order, but there is
another tidal wave whose benehcent eff
/ feet is not so easily apparent. To meet
; such d wave at sea Is i grim and MOTTO
1 be-forgotten experience Floating upon
the shining blue plain, with the indolent
swelling of the surface of the water
just giving a coy roll to the ship, one
su~denly sees in the distance ridge. a
knoll of water that advances with an
aspect that is appalling.
THE AWFUL WAVE.
1t is vast, silent, menacing. Nearer
and nearer it comes, rearing it's ap-
lparently endless curves higher and higher.
/ There is no place to which one can flee.
/ One can simply wait for the wave to
come ia its regular, death-dealing course.
There is little time for suspense, how
ever, for its pace is swift, in spite of
the fact that it appears SO deliberate from
the ilimitable grandeur of its extent.
When its strikes the ship there is one
moment of supreme horror. The vessel
behaves according to the way in which
she has been caught, but in any case she
IS hurled forward, upward, backward.
downward, as if never again could she
regain an even keel.
In this way the vast body of water
proceeds on its course, course that
even the limits of the ocean cannot stay.
When 1t strikes the land it still has force
enough to deal its deadly blow. Lives
and property pay tribute to its fury
until such time as it is willing to cease
its awful work.
In studying this mysterious pheneme-
non many scientists have come to the
conclusion that these upliftings of the
sea $ bosom are not tidal waves at all
that they have nothing in common to the
normal ebb and flow of the ocean that
Is undoubtedly the effect of the influence
OF the moon. They hold, on the other
hand, that these stupendous waves are
due to eosmie disturbances. to submarine
earthquakes upheaving the ocean bed
and causing so vast a displacement of the
ocean that it's tremendous fluctuations
extend for thousands of miles.
There is q certain reasona bleness about
that theory that makes it attractive, for
this would explain why such tidal waves
are not met with more frequently and
far more disasters placed to their ac-
count.
One of the scientists whose long study
or this subject has led him to the &C
ceptance of the earthquake theory is
Professor Davidson. who is well known
for his work on the out Government Coast
Survey. He holds that the trouble lies
in the crust of the earth. which is under
constant and unreasonable strain, aris-
ing from the gradual and inevitable con
traction of the materials near the sur
face. This contraction is itself the
result of the dissipation of the earth's
heat into space where the temperature
Is supposed TO be not less than 492 de-
grees Fahrenheit below zero.
According to cur best knowledge and
belief the whole interior of the globe
IS in a molten condition, with intense
fires that seem always renewing them