The Meeker herald., 1901-07-13
A Low TIDE TOWN.
Where Business Stops and Schools
Close When the Water Rises.
Its site q. Island That IL Rapidly
sinkinS In the Waters Of CAes-
apsake Bay-kesDfng Its
People 81 the Move.

On Holland island. in Chesapeake
hay. Is the queerest town in the
United States.
The ocean tides regulate the whole
life of the place. At low tide the town
il in full activity. Business, society
functions and schools are then car
RED on. But when the food tide sets
IN nll people and children scamPer for
their homes, regardless of the time
of day or night, says the New York
World.
The cause OF this peculiar arrange
ment is the fact that the town is grad
ually sinking under the waters Of the
bay. Holland island, which used to be
= body of land rising high above the
water, has sunk rapidly in the last few
years. Its principal streets are food
ed at high tide. Only the houses on
the high central ridge of the island are
above water.
When high tide occurs at four or
1--WE o'clock in the morning the AFFAIRS
of this town go on much the same a.
in any other town. BY six or seven
the streets and the merchants open
their stores. Al nine o'clock the chill
dren 10 to school and the women 60
shopping. All are happy in the
thought that they can stay away from
home till late in the afternoon. when
the returning tide is due.
but when high tide occurs at mid
day all this is changed. The children
must get up and go to school before
light in the morning. Men hustle down
town to their stores at three or four
O'Clock in the morning, anxious to do
part of days business before the tide
comes in. Before noon they must close
shop and go home till evening. when
they can open up again at low tide.
In spite of these Inconvenience. GOO
people live on Holland island. They
are mostly oystermen and their fam
lilies.
Much money and labor have been ex-
pended by the property owners to COM
bat the terrible action of the swift
running tides, but now oil seems
doomed to destruction.
DR.. Amos Brown. head professor Of
geology at the University of rennsyl-
vania, has this to say about the island:
There may be two causes for this
very peculiar disappearance. The fast
that islands 70 out of sight. however.
IL no new thing. but for one TO be swal-
lowed no rapidly IL certainly startling.
This disappearance may Be due - ths
weight of the Island itself. Deep car.
rents are oftAn 1oaad In ! hap w13sh
eat s.nd cus away fron below, ~ that
the upper or exposed portion Of tie
island gradually sinks. Especially II
this the case where the land II Of allu-
vial formation. and. consequently. soft
and very yielding.
"A second consideration IL that the
swift tides Of the Chesapeake may be
rapidly cutting away the land from
the top and sides, and this Is much
slower process. think that the ra-
pidity of disappearance in the case of
Holland island would point to the first
cause / mentioned. or. possibly, to
combination of each. There Is no
doubt that this island ia of alluvial
formation and was once Joined to the
other islands in the bay lying near 1t.
When the rich farms of Virginia and
Maryland were in their best condition
of cultivation before the war immense
quantities of deposit were carried
down the Potomac into the bay.
'Most of the islands opposite the
mouth of the river were thus built
up and sustained against the action
Of the sweeping in. Since the war
these farms have not been worked. the
land has become baked, and the debris
carried down by the river is thus
checked. The islands receive nothing,
therefore. to compensate for the ac-
tion of the tides and underlying exca-
walton OF deep counter currents. and
must in time entirely disappear. This
island is particularly well situated for
the best possible action of the tides.
A. the tide advances 1t cuts away on
the west. then travels up Holland
straits and eats away on the south and
east. Coupled with the causes already
mentioned, one must not forget that
the whole eastern coast line is slowly
sinking. This has become already n
serious matter to real estate owners
on the New Jersey coast. The Pacific
coast. on the contrary. is gradually
rising"
aASDiDes fer the ss1taa 81 Morocco,