New-York tribune., 1903-06-28
COAST LEVEL CH4NGE6-
Suspicious That Boston and Chicago
Are Being Submerged

sinking mas been excited Dy q civil en3I3S8
named John r. Freeman While engaged In
making surveys for the proposed Charles Rsyr
dam last year. he reached the conclusion tnas
the general level OF the city has sunk aocut
nine ten inches in seventy-two years. .zza
that the subsistence amounts to eighth OF
an inch year. trihe over a foot In a CEN
tury. He depends in part observations crads
at the Charlestown Navy Yard, whers yhe
drydock sills, he says. are nine inches .5-sr
than they were in 1890 Certain rocks u rs
harbor also appear to be submerged that rcucs
more than formerly
AS yet the United States Coast and Geodsnn
Survey. which directed a preliminary in7estisa-
ton of the matter by H. L. Marindin. ts not
convinced OF the accuracy Of Mr.. Freecasn's
findings. Their agent calls attention 20 the
fact that of the benchmarks, or refsr>ncs
standards. has in some way been lifted or. OF
its original position, and would give misleading
indications when comparisons are made with II.
He also remarks that the natural settling OF ths
made land in the Back Bay region Of Boston
would partially explain some of the observed
facts For the present. therefore the question
of the situation in that city must be regarded
as still open Further observation thers and
elsewhere along the coast must be made befors
the truth can be fully known
In past ages. the geologists declare, various
alterations Of level have occurred on the con-
tinent- Millions of years ago for fnstancs the
greater part Of New-York State was under
water. and the Adirondacks and certain great
uplift of which the Atlantic Highlands are a
remnant were mere islands The CatskfIs are
composed largely OF sandstone that had sub
marine origin Then came period when this
vast area was raised to higher level than it
now occupies. and subsequently other subsi-
dences occurred The Hudson was once obliged
reach the ocean BY the sinking Of the land
along the New-Jersey and Long Island shores
the sea crept further inland. The bed of the old
channel can now be traced under wassr cut for
1O5 miles. according to United States Coast
Survey expert. having width of a mile or
two and a depth OF 24OO feet. One Of the many
| consequences Of that general movement was
that the Hudson Is an arm of the sea. not
a river IN the strict sense of the term A tidal
flow is discernible all the way up to Albany
Whether change of the same nature is still
In progress is of course another question STILL
there is some reason to think that such in the
case. Cook, in several OF the New-Jersey geo
logical reports. expressed a belief TO that effect
Tarr, in his "Physicol Geography OF New-Yort."
quotes him with apparent confidence Cook
thought that the subsistence was going on at the
rate of two feet century, or nearly twice as
great that which Freeman assigns to Boston,
A curious LutlnS OF the interior or tne couIl-
nent, in the vicinity Of the Great Lakes. appears
to have been going during the last century
This may be related to the other movements
here referred to, or entirely independent of
them, but there seems to be little doubt as to
its genuineness. AS long ago as 1869 surveyors
noticed that a niIrace the north shore Of
Lake Superior had dry, while streanls on
the south shore appeared to be growing sGiler
near their mouths. even when there had ossz
4
that certain natural terraces along Lake Or%a-to.
which were level originally. were higher a. ths
eastern end than at the western These and
similarly suggestive circumstances Inspired Pro-
fessor c. K. Gilbert, OF the United States Gs>-
logical Survey. to undertake special inves-tsa-
ton.
Data for eight different stations IN Canals
and the United States reaching back rom
twenty to forty years. were secured. and ensee-
esting comparisons made. Relatively &C, Pcxs
CoIborne. the northeastern shore OF LAks
Erie Cleveland was found TO De sinking .s sns
rate of two and seven-eighths inches IN thirty
seven years; and Milwaukee seemed 60 have
sunk two inches in twenty years. Compared
with Escanaba- near the northern end oS LAks
Michigan
Gilbert was thus led to believe the northeast
ern part Of the region covered by these ohserva-
tons was rising while the southwestern part
was sinking From these revelations. he com
puted that there a rise OF water at D1fnth
amounting six inches a century. and Il Chi
cago OF about nine In the former place q
change of that character might go on a long
time without doing harm, because the Zenith
City of the Unsalted Seas Is built on a hillside
Chicago's unfortunate hatness exposes her 70
peculiar danger. In fifteen hundred years she
might be ten or twelve feet under water. At a
still later period Gilbert fancies the whole chain
Of Great Lakes will discharge into the Illinois
and Mississippi rivers AT that time-say. from
5000 TO 5000 years hence-Niagara wiz run
dry
There are indications that within the iasr one
hundred thousand years the shores OF Lake
Champlain and OF the ST Lawrence River wers
more deeply submerged than now. A recent re-
port of the State Geologist mentions some OBJ
s,rvations made at Port Kent. in Essex County
Traces OF beaches have been discovered at an
elevation OF $50 feet above the lake. and ths
character OF the material shows that II be-
longs 10 the pleistocene period This dtscov-
cry matches made by Baron de Geer
the side OF Mount Royal. at Montreal He
was convinced chat he saw similar evidences
OF the previous existence Of a sea at an ele-
walton OF go feet He aid not think tha. the
water vas ever that much higher. but that
the land had been so much lower than it is
now The matter is likely TO receive further
Investigation 10 determine the accuracy OF these