The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1907-08-15
SAND SEAS.
Their Destructive Advances
and Means of Check
ing Them.

tENt
One az the most dificult Of the prob
HenHs which confrent modern engi-
0eeKS are the menacing oceans OF
@nd which in different parts of the
WOEEd are converting fields into des-
atE What terrific ravages can be
caused by a vast sea of sand is per
HapB best seen in Africa, but in Eng
sand IN q small extent and in the
United States to a serious degree
GnaT be found demonstrations of the
and pIagae which are, to say the
least d5squieting-
A. grain OF sand, torn away from the
gEzRite rocks countless years ago by
the great glacial drift seems such an
mfnftea1Mal object that ~proverbially
e Is the least visible thing in the
WGFi1. yet when it is united with in
Vulnerable other grains, and the whole
propelled by the winds, it becomes al
mast EapOsSible to stop the progress
al the shifting mass. It pours down
over a country, slowly, relentlessly,
laying waste everything. Buildings
are undermined, roads are obliterated,
and fks gTuesome work, once begun,
never ceases
Egypt was not always the sandy
waste the modern tourist finds it. Yet
IL the visitor to the Nile country
males a journey to the Sphinx he
wiu find that remarkable piece of
sculpture has been partly obscured by
the sand waves which now cover up
per Egypt
The Sahara. the greatest desert in
Che world. was, according to the best
scientific opinion once an immense in
land sea In the time of that sea the
climate IN upper Africa, indeed, the
whole Sxrfaee of the northern part of
the continent, was very different to
Wtat il H0W is. At present the Sahara
makes the climate for the Mediterra-
mean and Central Europe, and
while this is agreeable enough, the
Ezdazaf expansion of the great ocean
az sand which is by degrees tapping
the valleys of Algeria, threatens to
3ay waste finally to the coast. The
Atlas Mountains alone appear to have
held the monster in check.
Various propositions have beer
made concerning the African desert,
and one Of them, a scheme of inunda-
zion, Is almost too chimerical, if in
effect It would not be mischievous, to
deserve serious attention. To stem
the ti&e Of sand in this vast ocean by
ordinary means is impossible, and
Probably nature will be left to repair
her damage In her own way.
IL is The struggling vegetation. on
the edge OF the desert which is respon-
s1bie fer the tardy strides of the sand.
And IL IL from so casual a hint that
successful experiments have been
made with brush and grass on the
North Carolina coast, where the sand
GAemy has grown to be as terrible as
a nightmare only far more potent Of
destruction
While parts Uf the English coast
ere being washed away and eaten up
by the I, other parts are being add
ed To with rapidity. Although the in
roads Of sand may be natures way of
mailing compensation for what she has
elsewhere deprived the country, the
inhabitants of Southport, for instance,
do not view the situation with any
&afisfacf1un-
Within the last few years some mil
IONS on toms OF sand have accumulated
the shores at Southport. The wind
rs mainly responsible for the over
Wheim1ng character OF the sand. At
a recent meeting of the Southport
EraLtEnIess a new channel was cut al
moat5mmediateIy the toWn would in a
Very GsW years be fDnr miles from
deep water So far as the filling up
the channel lis concerned, the blame
must he pR9 upon the sea. However,
RmE cost 100000 to dredge this
1ew channel and the necessity for
che work is apparent. The pier at
Gzxf11pOrt is nearly a mile in length,
with deep water receding at the
nuEsent rate, the pier will soon become
useless
BH this is a matter Of commerce.
with the overwhelming of the espla-
nade. or seArEalk, at the same place,
which has been accomplished by the
sand and wfnh in a very thorough
wxanneE, an equally serious problem is
encountered This cannot be got rid
,Gf by such simple means as dredging
q channel The sand must be remov-
81 and a cry pretty problem it pre-
serts- I'm some places the magnificent
Eaf1eA espzanade lies under five or six
Gee3 OF end. Not only has the way
ward Saad covered the walk, blu has
accumaEa3ed In dunes between the es-
phzzAe and the see, effectively shut
GIHg cat the view. IS
Some imaginative geographers have
Affected TO believe it a girdle of des-
GtS around the world By means of
= specially drawn map this ,phenome-
NON m apparent. Following q curved
Ezne n is seen that the great deserts
OF Asia, Africa. and the lesser sandy
wastes or North America seem to bear
geographical relations to one another.
Like Levator's great circle of fire
Aruund the Pacific Ocean, the semicir-
Gle OF deserts at first sight is very