Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-10-13
SEA PERIL
Crumbling of Her Shores Now
 Real Danger.
MANY THOUSANDS OF ACRES GONE

xsOSuA SO""lsblOm AppO1nte0 to De.
 wise . Way to Stop Ravnges of the Ocean-Towns once Far In land Now
 Tapped by Incoming Tides-A Fort
 Captured by the Hungry Waves.
 So serious has the gradual but sure disappearance of England's coast line become that royal commission has been appointed to study the matter and devise some means to stop the ravages of the grGedy sea. says London cable dispatch to the New York American and Journal. It Is known that places tl,at were beaches few years ago now lie beneath the surface of the ocean and that towns that once were far in- land are now Tapped by the incoming tide.
 Cases of erosion or encroachment by the sea have long been known in prac- tically all portions of the English coast line, but the facts that the progress of the land destroying ocean Is going steadily on and that the island Is being gradually eaten away by the hungry waves are now considered seriously
 It has been found that between 1867 and 1900 no less than 1S2.0O0 acres that once were English territory have been claimed by the ocean as it's bed. More over, the amount of annual loss is in- creaslng from year to year, and unless something Is done to stop the encroach- ment of waters upon the land 1t can be almost calculated when England shall have ceased to exist, except as a little group of rocky islets.
 Startling as this may seem, it Is far from being mere scientific specula- tion or the alarming cry of some the orist, but is rather the unpleasant and serious fact that will soon, 1t is be- lieved, make the saving of England from the ocean national problem. That England might really disappear from the map of the world can be per haps appreciated when 1t is realized that all the space that is now occupied by the North sea and the English chan nel was once dry land.
 Great glaciers that slid down on this immense territory destroyed the land before them and dug a place for the sea. They divided the lands and made England. but their melting and processes of deposit gave her soft and insecure coat. The cliffs that seem inpregnable fortresses are as play things to the incessant tapping of the waves.
 Each tide. indeed, takes bit of Eng. land away with 1t. Some of the worst effects of this erosion are to be seen in Sussex. where Langney fort. just beyond Eastbourne, is actually falling into the sea. The waves have eaten into the brick foundation of the forti- fcations to such an extent that this once valuable piece of coast defense has been recently abandoned.
 It was not many years ago that the map of the Suffolk coast showed little bays and jutting points of land. Now for miles 1t Is straight almost as if cut with knife. The site of Dunwich, that once was prosperous market town. is now far out under fathoms of water. and Easton Bevent, the most easterly point in England. is far out beyond the general coast line.
 In the southeastern portion of York shire the greed of the sea seems now to be at It's worst. for there the cliffs almost crumble as the waves lash | them. What is to be the solution of | the subject Is not known at this time. The commission has hardly entered . Into Its work. but the members are de ] termined to end the losses of territory that England is yearly sustaining in this way. Redemption of land will be as well. and much of the destruction of recent years will be made up for.