The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1904-11-12
a Low TIDE TOWN.
Where Bushes. Stops and sehoels
Close When the Water Rises,



bss One KYk..e.vst town in the
pnited States,
The ocean tides regulate the whole
life of the place. At low tide the town
ia In full activity. business, society
functions and SCHOOLS are then car
ried on. But yhen the flood tide sets
IN nu 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.
uent is the fnct that the town is grad.
Nelly sinking under the waters Of the
bny. 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 nre food
ed ut high tide. Only the houses on
lhe high central ridge OF the island are
above water.
When high tide occurs at four or
Ave o'clock in the morning the affairs
of this town 60 ON much the same a.
in any other town. by six or seven
o'clock the water has receded from
the streets and the merchants open
their stores. At nine o'clock the chill
lren go to school and the women go
shopping. All are happy in the
thought that they cnn stay AWAY from
home till late in the afternoon, when
thc 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 a days business before the tide
eomes in. before noon they must close
shop and 70 home till evening, when
Lhey cnp open up again Mt low tide.
In srita of these Inconvenience, 600
people Eve on Holland island. They
are r,ostly oystermen and their fam
lilies.
Much money and labor have been ex-
pended hy the property owners to COM
bnt the terrible action of the swift
running tides, but now all seems
doomed to destruction.
DR.. Amos brown. head professor Of
geology at the University of Pennsyl-
sania, has this to say about the island:
''Therc may be two causes for this
very peculiar disappearance. The fact
that islands go out Of sight, however.
10 no new thing, but for one to be swal-
lowed SO rapidly Is certainly startling.
This disappearance may be due to the
weight of the island itself. Deep cur
rents are often found in bay which
eat snd cut away from below, so that
the upper OF exposed portion Of the
tslsnd gradually sinks. Especially II
this thS case where the land Ii of sllu-
vial orikpation, and, consequently. soft
and very yielding.
"A second consideration Is 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. I think that the ra-
pidity of disappearance in the case Of
Holland island would point to the first
cause I mentioned, or, possibly, to .
combination Of each. There IL no
doubt that this island IL of alluvial
formation and was once Joined to the
other islands In the bay lying near 1t.
When the rich farms of Virgins and
Maryland were In their best condition
Of cultivation before the war immense
quantities of deposit were carried.
down the Potomac into the bay.
"Mogt 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-
Lion of the tides and underlying exca-
ration 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
pm the New Jersey coast. The Pacific
COAST. on the contrary, is gradually
rising"