The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-07-13
"BORE" OF The ST. JOHN
WoSDERFUL TIDAL PHENOMENON In
THE BAY OF FUNDY.
Reversing Falls at the suspension
Bridge, Running Up or Down as the
Tide Serves-Other
New York Herald.

New York Herald.
Every schoolboy has heard of the Bay of
Fundy and its remarkable tides. But
when he gets out Of his geography it is only
on rare occasions that he sees any refer
ence to the subject. Yet in the Bay of
Fundy, almost at our very doors, may be
witnessed some of the most phenomenal
tidal manifestations in the world.
1t is not as If you had to devote extraor-
binary study or 10 go up there with a
microscope to see these phenomena. Go to
the Bay of Fundy and they are patent on
all sides-in the wonderful cliff carving on
the Island of Grand Manan. which lies at
the mouth Of the bay, between Maine and
Nova Scotia; opposite PASSPORT. where on
Campobello island they have worn away a
huge rock to the shape of a 'friar's head"
almost anywhere in the vast difference be-
tween the water marks on the various
wharves of high and low tide; in the land
of Longfellow's Acadians, in the broad
sweeps of dyke lands-rich alluvial inter
v%ale-over which the waters of the bay oc-
casionally are allowed to flow by means OF
flood gates; but most notable of all in the
wonderful Reversing Falls of the St. John
river, near st. John, N. b., and in the ia
nous Bore, or tidal wave, at Moncton,
N. B.
Startling, indeed, are the statistics re-
garding the tidal rise and fall of the Bay
of Fundy. but not more startling than the
Reversing Falls or the Bore" But first
to the statistics. At Grand Manan the tidal
rise and fall is from twelve TO fifteen feet;
as you go up the bay il increases. Al
Lubec and Eastport il reaches twenty feet;
at st. John from twenty-four TO thirty
foot xvAfl % IAnAfn xrhArn H. =
rushes around the bend of the Petitcodiac
river, the tide must have risen seventy
feet above sea level in order TO reach that
point on the river, let alone 10 expend It's
last gathering energy in a wave which
sweep up the river from shore TO shore.
Another indication of the vastness of the
Fundy tides is seen III the Cobequid river
on the Nova Scotian shore, where there is
a distance of twelve miles between high
and low water mark, so that 1t is possible
TO run vessels far up this river on the HOOD,
leave them high and dry between tides,
and repair them as if in dry dock.
BORE" OR TIDAL WAVE.
1t has been my good fortune to witness
several Of the most remarkable tidal phe-
nomena of the Bay of Fundy. To me the
most impressive of these always will be the
Reversing Falls of St. John. a phenomenon
which hardly seems credible until actually
seen. But as the Bore at Moncton. is the
most widely known tidal exhibition con-
nected with the Bay Of Fundy | will de-
scribe that first. To begin with. let me dis
pei any illusion which may have been
caused by the statement that the tidal rise
at Moncton is seventy feet. This does not
mean that the Bore is seventy feet high.
but that 10 reach Moncton at all the tide
must have come up seventy feet from the
sea level.
The day | saw the Bore" | reached the
point OF view a few minutes before the
phenomenon was expected. There was not
the slightest suggestion OF any approach
of tide. The river was a broad stretch OF
ooze. with a narrow. muddy rent in the
middle. These ooze stretches are locally
known as the flats" or ''quicksands." AT
certain points a thin crust forms over
them. where one can drive or walk rapidly.
Were you TO stand still. however, you
would begin TO sink In less than a minute.
and III you sank only above yotr ankles the
ooze beneath the crust is so sticky that you
could be extricated only with great diff
Guilty.
AS 1 was looking out upon those broad
stretches OF mud-a river without water
there was a distant roar. and suddenly
around the bend OF the river. a short dis
tance below Moncton. there swept a muddy
wave. some five feet high. I should say.
whose crest overhung. but never broke.