Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-07-01
WAVES FIFTY FEET utn,,
Not Uncommon In Winter gtcr
mer Seas Much smoofber 81

AT this season OF the year -.
much smoother man al other times a
may often experience trIIiy h
weather in midsummer and eDinv "
opportunity TO judge Of the bsi.a,l VI
waves. The topic possesses DecnlIss r..
est. Just now. however, from ~, 'n.s
that many more people are On ~
for pleasure between June and Sen,ar.s
than during the other months.
In two recent numbers OF Knou,.,!
Vaughn Cornish brings together ~
data on this subject obtained hy na,ir
tors. Part OF this has a purely ,eehnss
value, wniie Other facts which have IL
eIicited are of popular interest u
A French naval lieutenant. besrinp
appropriate name of Paris. declares
"A wind can create waves which will 4
faster than itself under certain ciyr]
stances, but that when the sea il
lively rough the waves are aiwzys m
than the wind The same Observer y
hat with a breeze of thirteen mile
hour the average height of waves Il
feet ana their average length zg4
ratio between height and iengra III
weather * about one TO forty Eld
are given for seyerai different sfatt
the sea intermediate between this
the very heavy storms 1.-THE CROSSE
but tnep are hardly worth repetiIlony
for the climax just mentioned. twit
average wind velocity OF sixty-
Z, AZ for the mean height and is5
the mean length of waves. The
between these aimes<I 9ns Is abou
Ia twenty. 49,.
In mild weather the average TN,
tcryaI between waves was about y
onds and in the heaviest weather 8
onds. This space is not exactly u
tional to the length Of the wave Da
t.Itn the stronger wind. the waves
somewhat higher velocity. Still. 4
list been pointed out one must not
urc wave velocity by wind We
Lieutenant Paris give twenty-five4
an hour as the average speed
waves with thirteen n-miie breeze
he gets only forty miles as the
movement the waves In winds
ing sixty-seven miles an hour.
IN the course OF q long series Of
vations Lieutenant Paris found ths
there Is heavy swell, produq
previous gales, ana Tie winG is IN
waves have almost the same lei
when the heaviest storm Is pre-
Indeed, the greatest average leHSf
on single day Of heavy swell
actually exceeds the best average
day of storm. which was $50 fee
Cornish remarks that he has aims
served a succession of 159 billows 4
IN from the broad Atlantic al II
month. whose average time intsry
1895 seconds. from which he co
the wave length at 1918 feet, or
lIIan third OF q mile. III iS SAID
period OF fifteen seconds is not unc
with western sweiis ON the soutf
~ England. Sir Gabriel StckeS n
breakers with an average period OF
teen seconds. which is equiv alent
feeI. good quarter of a mie.
referring to the well-EnoWn IA
a swell sometimes arrives before
Mr.. Cornish attempts an exp
which is somewhat coInpiicat
winch is not repeated here. 1t is
that ne has forgotten tfat the
as the velocity of winds within IT
cal hurricanes often NOV
five or ten mics an
but develop wind veiociCes
or hundred Even
the swell thus raised dld not trs
than forty or fifn' miles an hour
easily get a DAY or TWO ailesj
cyclone itself A we'll marked q
though a smaller one, might r
he expected from the averaS q
storm of middle latitudes. whid
moves faster than thirty miles
but Is attended with gales bio
pr sixty.
What interests most people "
a safe distance. is not the avers
Of waves in storm but the Gle
Lained by the exceptional billoH
er one watch from a sea beach
ties in the size OF waves. And
fail to notice, too, another
Every now ana
wave of only moderate dimen
parentiy. travels a little taste
fellows. There are often twtf
sets of undulatio which a n
can distinguish by their veIoc
when one wave overtakes
two merge. and uplift of extra
,urs.
Mr. Cornish says that he
measured one or two waves H5*S3
storm which Were at least tort
and probab more He is
credit the statements made
hat they have seen
that size or even fifty
+ il he distinctly unders
-hese figures represent 4
Examples and not the average
II his Memoir on the
study of the waves" saws:
ain In adopting sixteen me
is the maximum limit of
Mr.. Cornish. while not G
7. ...ni figures, is prepared&
..c .'rCnchman has undeD
NJ. Bertin. by the wayS
iortant distinction betwef.
open sea. and those Will
solated rock eighty or e4I
Get high. dash clear ov
With an obstacle is thuS..
'ause which augmentS ILL.,
wave. In this way. perHnE
he deluge which occasids
crows s nest" of an oceu
lNty feet above the decl W
bove the Sea. But for3h
lat side of the vessel IT,
manner, perhaps the W,
rove much bigger than ir
With proper combinatissT
itances ii will develop M