The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1906-06-08
Islands in Bay Washing Away
From Baltimore American.

Less than a century from now Kent
Island, Hooper Island and possibly few
Islands in the lower Bay will be the only
landmarks in the Chesapeake that viii re
main. said Commander r. G. B. How
ard, Of the Oyster Police Navy SHARP 5
Island will be gone Barren Island will
be no more Taylor Island and Holland
will be at the bottom of the Bay. Only a
spot will be left to mark the site of Poplar
Island. and even that may be gone.
Rapid has been the disappearance of
islands within ms observation covering a
period Of 30 years, and if the erosion of
the land continues at the same rate as At
present the waves of the Chesapeake will
be rolling over what is now solid ground
Some Of the islands in the lower Chesa
peake are partly marshes which protect the
main land Hooper Island Is similarly
protected.
What Is the cause Of the rapid ero-
-ion2
There are several The chief of which
are the strong tides do not know why,
but 1t is & curious aud startling fact that
the tides in the Chesapeake Bay are
stronger and more rapid now than years
ago. lee, too, paves the way for caying
in Of bluffs. The erosion il greater on
the Eastern Shore than on the Western
Shore. because Of the differences IN soil.
On the Eastern Shore the sand easily falls
a victim 10 the constant washing. On the
Western Shore there Is = stratum of fuller,
earth which docs not yield to the wave
forces
In 30 years have seen 100 acres
washed from Sharp's Island The Island
now contains only about 40 or so acres.
Two hundred years ago it was a part OF
Talbot county, separated from the main
land by narrow and shallow stream.
Now that stream Is nearly three miles
vide and is Is feet deep. Steamboats,
navigate It.
"Cook Point, at the mouth of the
Choptauk River, is rapidly disappearing.
Hills Point. at the mouth of the Little
Choptank River, Is also going james
Point will soon be no more. The same
fate awaits Barren Island, west Of the
mouth of Houga River Fully 80 acres
Of Cooks Point have disappeared in 30
wears. Hills Point has been washed away
fully as much As Cooks Point. The same
proportion applies to James Point, which
is now an island.
The erosion at these points Is very
rapid because OF the lessening Of the area
Of sharp Island which served as a pro-
tectiug wall against the wind, the waves
and the tide.
.On the Western Shore Thomas Point
aud Greeberry Point are disappearing, but
not a. rapidly As the Islands ou the Eastern
Shore
Fishing over the tombstones of their
ancestors i the novel experience of dwell
ers OF Smith Island for where once was
the village graveyard now ebbs and flows
the tide. This Is striking illustration of
the rapid erusions Of the currents. For
many years the salt waters that swirl about
this Venice Of Maryland have taken their
tolls of the land until now over many
places ON which were located fields within
the memory of living inhabitants, there Is
now sufficient depth of water for bugeyes
and skipjacks to work the oyster beds
The washing process IS going on just
as rapidly in the rivers as on the Bay
shore. Little by little, but always, the
banks are yielding to the wave force. 1t
is apparently slight force, this splash of
the tiny wave upon the bank, but it never
ceases.
.'Dav and night it is at work, never
tiriug. never ceasing. Whole farms are
now mud fats at low tide The founda-
tion of an Episcopal church that over a
century ago stood upon the high bank OF
the Manokin River in Somerset county is
now 100 wards out in the river The
foundation has not moved. The land has
not sunk. The tiny wave undermined the
structure.
The remedy? There is none, unless
the owners of the land that is disappear
ing build brick walls to combat the waves
and the tides. Piling has been used in
many cases, but the wood lasts only few
wears. The force of the waves and tides
is reduced by this method, but it is not
DESTROYED The water makes its way
through the spaces between the piles and
the work of erosion goes on.