The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-07-22
MYSTERIES OF THE
OCEANS BOTTOM
Scientists Tryiu. to Discover if Tidal
Waves Are Caused by the
Moons Pull or Subma-
rine Earthquake

Several times during the past few years
the world has stood aghast at the horrors
that have resulted from tial waves.
Towns have been wiped out OF existence
thousands of human lives have been lost
and ships have disappeared, swallowed up
by the rising sea For years and cefitu-
res these terrible fatalities have been OF
not infreuuent occurrence, and yet the
tidal wave is as great d mystery to-day
as 1t ever has been. Scientists nave
devoted time and study to the phenome-
non, and yet the secret has remained
safely locked on the oceans bottom.
Almost as mysterious is the ordinary
tidal wave, that inexplicaple swelling of
the waters that, following the pull OF
the moon, rolls round this globe OF ours
twice each twenty-four hours, stemmirg
the outflow of mighty rivers, penetrating
far inland, wherever access is available,
and doing within its short lease OF HE
an amount of beneticent work freely that
would beggar the wealthiest nation OF
the world to undertake II 1t must needs
be paid for.
Mysterious it may we'll be called. since.
though its passage from zone to zone be SO
swift, it is, like al other waves, but as
unduIatory movement of that portion OF
the sea momentariy influenced by the
suasion of the planet, not. as Is vuiSarly
supposed, by the same mass OF water vehe-
miles.
Such is the benefcent tidal wave, the
wave that does its good work with perfect
regularity and order, but there is another
tidal wave whose beneticent effect is not
so easily apparent. To meet such wave
at sea is a grim and not-to-be-forgotten
experience Floating upon the shining
blue plain, with the indolent swelling of
the surface Of the water just giving
coy roll to the ship, one suddenly sees
in the distance a ridge, knoll OF water
that advances with an aspect that is
appalling.
THE AWFUL WAVE.
It is vast, silent, menacing. Nearer
and nearer it comes, rearing its apparently
endless curves higher and higher. There
is no place to which one can flee. one
cam simply wait for the wave to come in
Its regular, death-dealing course. There
is little time for suspense, however, for
its pace is swift, in spite of the fact that
il appears so deliberate from the illlmit-
able grandeur of its extent. When 1t
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 .eyer again could she regain an even
keel.
In this way the vast body of water pro-
ceeds on its course, a course that even
the limits of the ocean cannot stay. When
it strikes the Land it still has
force enough to deal Its deadly blow
Lives ana property pay tribute to It's fury
until such time as it is willing to cease
its awful work
In studying this mysterious phenomenon
many scientists have come to the con-
clusion that these upliftings of the sea S
bosom are not tidal waves at all: that they
have nothing in common to the normal
Obj and flow of the ocean that is undoubt-
edly the effect of the influence OF the moon
They hold, on the other hand, that these
stupendous waves are due to cosmtc dis
turbances. to submarine earthquakes
upheaving the ocean bed and causing so
vast a displacement Of the ocean that its
tremendous inhalation extend for thou
sands of miles.
There is a certain reasonableness 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 account
One of the scientists whose long study
Of this subject has led him to the accent
ance of the earthquake theory is Pro
fessor Davidson, who is well known for