The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-04-07
EHcROACHMEATs or THE SEA
ORIGINAL HOME OF ENGLISH
PEOPLE THREATENED

Great Britain Losing by Coast Erosion
Each Year Not Less Than 10000
Acies-Many Towns Submerged.
Great Course Of Engineering Con-
struction Planned to Fight Back the
Ocean Advance.
The most astounding things in the
world are, c~uriously enough, frequent
~ those which attract the least att.n-
ton. Scientists have spent years in
estimating how long the sun may live
and in debating tiercely the number
OF the moons of Jupiter, while on the
surface of our own globe the mighty
waves" 1t does not need to be a piece
not SO slowly, tapping up great sec
tons of that kingdom which so proud
ly boasts herself as ruler Of tic
waves" 1t does not need be a piece
OF sensational journalism, nor does it
require a poetic fancy, TO figure out
the fact that England is threatened
with the real and terrible danger OF
being wiped off the surface of the
globe: and that within a comparative
ly short period of time. AS a motter
of fact, the white cliffs of Old Eng
land which appear so constantly on
the e of English literature, are
made Of very unsubStantial stuff, and
form. indeed, a very feeble barrier
against the relentless activity of the
angry waves, which necessarily are
,,,J &l- oar 1~a fla
Mistress of the Sea-" \ very careful
estimate, based upon actual statistics
made from historic surveys of the
English coast line, dating back as far
as the year 1890. shows that the is
land has lost one-third of its super
fetal area in less than 500 years.
Naturally, this loss of English ter
ritOry is not an even one. Certain
sections of the coast line have suffer
ed more than others, yet the action
of the waves upon the outlines of the
English coast is fairly general. The
Cornish coast has suffered most, and.
indeed, actual figures show an as
founding loss Of territory since the
tiItn of Edward L., when that Ducly
of Cornwall contained 100000 acres.
In 1860 Il survey made for the Brit
ish parliament showed a loss of nearly
1t per cent. or tWO-f1fths of the Whole
territory, While the ordinary survey
made by the British government in
1900 showed that the alarming and
rapid advance on England by the
ocean and had advanced to such a
stage that One-half of the county of
Cornwall which had existed 800 years
,>roy;n,,, 70 thu lnct W bod .r0r,n
down under the waters of the sea.
LAST BIG ADVANCE OF THE SEA.
The great landslip at st. Margarets
Fay, on the English coast, where 4
huge slice of the cliffs. 200 feet wide
and 80 feet deep, estimated to weigh
a quarter of a million tons, has recent
~ fallen into the sea is the latest
reminder of the fact that Great Bri-
tain is surely disappearing, or, rather.
being swallowed up by the restless
ocean. It may startle many to learn
that every year England loses a tract
OF land the size of Gibraltar. On the
east coast alone England loses terri
tory equal in size to that of the Island
of HeligOland, or, to put it more for
chilly still, during the last 100 years
q fragment as large as the county or
London has slipped into sea and is
nov washed .by the ocean,.
The truth is,the contour of Eng
lands shores is continually changing,
and not only villages, but pOpulous
towns, have, within comparatively re-
cent times, been swallowed by the in
vading waters. One occasionally hears
that the important towns of Lowest
oft. Clacton, Aldeburgh and South
wald are in danger of so disappear
ing. Should that untoward fate be-
fall them the inhabitants must be in
vited to console themselves by the
reflection that history supplies abuI'-
dant precedent for their disappear
ance.
In Yorkshire alone there are 10
fewer than II buried towns and villa
2es. IN Suffolk there are at least five.
At BeXhill-on-Sea the remains of the
submerged forest were lately visible
at low water. Such a forest may also
be plainly seen on the coast in the
Wirral district of Cheshire and at
other places. To even the least obser-
want visitor there exists innumerable
relics on the coasts and shore line OF
many districts which tell of once pros
territory wrested from Britd;,-
mia by Father Neptune.
EVERYWHERE THE SEA IS CON,
QUERING.
The battle between sea and land
all along England's coasts. Some
times the land gains. but more often
the sea. From Folkestone to Sarre
the victory lies with the land. LYNNE,
Romney. Hythe. Marlborough, Sand
witch and Sarre, formerly seapocts,
now lie amid marshes remote from
the water. In certain districts, too.
principally in Lincolnshire, Cambridge
shire and Cheshire, many thousands
Of acres have been reclaimed by the
engineer from the relentless sea. But
with these effects in Great Bri-
tain's favor the balance is many hun
dreds of square miles against her.
But better than figures: better. even
than history and tradition, is the evil
dence offered by the Cornish caosts