Evening journal., 1907-01-21
BAY
BOTTOM SINKING
Islands Are Gradually Dis
appearing Coast Line
Has Changed

The cable dispatches bringing infnr-
nation that the city OF Kingston, in
Jamaica. was sinking into the sea has
recalled to mind that the face line Of
the entire Atlantic Coast has changed
considerably in the past few years.
This fact is noticeable In the Chesa-
peake Bay particularly. and the pilots
who have for years gone up and down
the waterway, and are qualified au-
thorities on the subject, say that the
islands which have been known In the
bay for years are gradually disappear
ing. due to the sinking Of the earth's
crust and continual erosion. The pilots
also assert that in some parts Of the
bay the channels have been made
deeper In the past ten OF twenty years
and that this is due to the sinking Of
the earth along the Atlantic Coast
Scientists assert that as the coast
line Of the Atlantic sinks into the
ocean there is a proportionate rise in
the coast line on the Pacific. This fact
has been established beyond doubt.
Island Has Disappeared.
1t is figured by persons competent
to talk on the subject that in less than
100 years from now beautiful and fer
tile Kent Island will have sunk into the
bay and Hooper's Island, Sharps Is
land, Barren Island, Taylors Island and
Hollands Island and others will have
disappeared and nothing of them will
remain TO remind future generations Of
these beautiful places.
Cobbs Island, once a famous fishing
and cunning place. has disappeared
from the surface Of the bay, and other
islands equally famous years ago have
been swallowed up in the great action
OF nature.
In talking over the matter Provost
Philip r. Uhler said that there was no
doubt that the entire face OF the coast
line was sinking into the sea and that
the islands in the Chesapeake would
meet the same fate.
DR.. Uhler has made a study Of the
matter and is deeply interested I'm the
action Of the sea. He said that Kings
toms probable fate was due to the
earthquake which had shaken the coral
coast line to its very foundations and
caused It to disintegrate.
In regard to Sharps Island, as a cor
roboration that the bottom of the Ches-
apease Bay is sinking, Is given the
following figures: In 1903 the island
consisted Of 700 acres. In 1906 there
are but so acres, showing that in 81
years $50 acres of land had been swal-
lowed up in the Chesapeake's great
NAV
Cooks Point. at the mouth Of the
Choptank river, has lost 13 acres to the
Chesapeake in 80 years. The crahbers
and fishermen on Smiths Island now
ply their vocations over the graves OF
their own ancestors and where at one
time there were blooming fields and or
chards.
On Western Shore.
The sinking Of the western shore
Of the Chesapeake is more noticeable
1t was stated that where once was Fair
Haven, a well-known excursion resort
Of 25 or 80 years ago, there is now a
waste of water. showing that the land
had sunk out Of sight. carrying with Il
all traces Of the old place.
The slow sinking Of the Atlantic
Coast is a fact well known to Ameri-
can biologists, but the definite meas
urements or the rate Of the subsistence
is matter Of scientific interest.
AS long ago as 1868 the late Profess
sor George II. Cook. State geologist OF
New Jersey investigated this matter
thoroughly, collecting numerous obser-
vations indicative OF the encroachment
Of the sea on the Atlantic Coast and
particularly along the coast Of his own
State. Subsequent Investigations made
by the United States Geological Survey
have demonstrated that the encroach-
ments of the sea were not OF a local
character alone, but a condition char
acteristic of the entire Atlantic sea-
board, including the Chesapeake and
the other bays along the coast, Long
Island and Pamlico Sounds.