The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-10-20
THE POSTS LETTER BOX.


II personal interest only viii not be
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not be answered All correspondence
should be addressed tn The Letter BOX.
care Houston Post and 20 receive atteii.
tion must be signed by the name tn full
Of the party making tho Inquiry, MS wcll
as that under which II h dcsirud that the
question snail nppenr Owing 20 the large
number Ok questions received answers can
not always DC given PROMPTLY
samson "a. what arc the main causes
that effect the tide and tidai waves Of the
occan7
Tho principal cause Of ocean tides Is the
moons nerrness Us compared With the
suns distance. The sun Is twenty-five anil
one-half million times heavier than the
moon. but MS attractive power nets npoa
the oaGrth mainly as a whole, while the
NOON being IN our immediate noighbor
hood ard much smaller IN Size. acts more
intensely upon that limited area Of the
eartb's surface which % nearest and mme
dlstely beneath her. Wherever thu moon
may be IN her conrse 81 great cein
lies directly under her, It's waters are MT
cd un aud the crest OF the lllud mass.
constitutes high water for that locality.
Ia twenty four hours and nfty minutes ow-
ing to the earth's rotation, Plus tho moon
orbltnl motion. that same part 81 the eartl
is again directly under the moon ana anoth
er similar tide must occur. These, the pri
mary tides, being accounted for, II remains
for us 90 explain the cause Of the Sec
ondary tides. which occur exactly half way
between IN point Of time. suppose ocean
a is directly beneath the moon. and that
IL 50 "a
earth The moon not only lifts up the
waters Of ocean A. causing the primary
tide there but the earth, as a whole, Is
drawn away from ocean b and its waters,
left behind. bulge mp at point dlamctri.
caly opposite the primary tide Of ocean A,
aud form tho secondary tide. It is maal-
fest. therefore. that two tides are beng
formed ot every moment Of the day and
night. on opposite sides or the earth. one
Immediately bcnenth the moon, the other
at the point farthest from the moon. When
Il Is high tide at two different points Of
the ealthg equator, two othcr points halt
way between must be deprived Of thAr
waters watch have been ebblng either ga 4
or west To make the prlmary or secondary.
Thus al any moment low water occurs
30 q rrcca east or west OF high water
I'M t.te produrns force OF the san go
estimated ut 80 20 "a per cent Of th4t o.
tho moon AZ new ana fur mooI these
forces atc united ana the force Ia equal o
their suuD pto1urlng what nre called ring
t.dcq Whom the moon IS In her quarters
the two holics are 80 degrees apart and ict
. In opposite directions, and both primary
and secondary tides are low red. educin
/ Ncap tides The solar tides are practl nil
Of no account except for their modifying
/ influence on the lunar uaeH
| II there were no lana on tne eaftns sur
face and the shoFeiess ocean were OF uu'-
( FORM depin' notn primary ana secou '"'
'idAl wave crcsts would io'oW the n'"oN 5
course IN regular succession rom e0ai 90
west But WIN our actuai Eeosiaphl man
/ local complications arse sens hAe 'he
Battle or Mediterranean nave 80 slnaH an
area that the moon can only act up"u eirn
B gs q whole, nud they have praetlciiF no
( tides. Ihe disturbing action requires an
| Immense cxponse OF deep water such as
the great Southern or South racine, anu
tucro Is assigned the birthplace OF our
great tidol wave to which many udes ~
distant seas are reterord one mighty
pu'se enters the Pac'ac IN norhWester'y
direction ana another the Atlantic both
extending to the bottom OF the ocean, an
both 90 ne nodlueu oS rue uep'n OF wafer
ana inc form OF the coaatS' O"lhs 10 tue
islands IN the Poeihc' the tides there be-
come small as the Impulse travels novlh'
ward. but In the deep trough OF tne Attain
Tie the tldai force reaeaes velocity OF W
70 $50 miles an hour ne western impulse
across the south taciae reaches Nau hle
men Lanu ~ t"''Ne hours, anu 10 tWe', !
hours more uaSneS AGAINST li'u"ooStou puu
south AFRICA Auo'ner we've nouls "ng
the uual wave hss re"gnou iouio'ln'
ON tne west anu .ape nl'nGo gu .uv e's,
turning eHs,W"iu "olues 'ne ~
lahtlS' tne tiue VI I'ul NUS - sp,at
Lup9 = hnu ''l,o tMo Ma',S nv - u,,.,,.,,
S,oMg p'uS Spu ,n Wy ,,Sor na,n ,rannN q
oa "aI,,,'' rOrnS thn north o. scotland oud
cnanr ro.oIcs the mouth ~ ma Tbo,nc.
to- 10 ,art,.o,s,nt honrs a,,or leaving rhs
,,,ar,,I, ,,coen rive Atlortlc occop no
inr dcen and free az islands nroduees M
lnSoncndent tlde. which modiaes the t,da
lmnulse from The south. one result bena
thc famous high tides OF the Raw Of Fundy
Tho tides are locally affected by the ma
ture Of the coasts and also slightly by tn,
chonres ~ atrnosnheric nreasnre