The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1907-08-30
SAND SEAS.
Their Destructive Advances
and Means of Check
ing Them.

neers are the menacing oceans or
sand which in different parts of the
world are converting fields into des-
erts. What terrific ravages can be
/ caused by a vast sea of sand is per-
haps best seen in Africa, but in Eng
land to a small extent and in the
| United States to a serious degree
may be found demonstrations OF the
sand plague which are, to say the
least, disquieting.
! A grain of sand, torn away from the
/ granite rocks countless years ago by
the great glacial drift, seems such an
| 1nfnitesimal object that proverbially
1t is the least visible thing in th5
world, yet when it is united with in
Vulnerable other grains, and the whole
propelled by the winds, it becomes al
most impossible to stop the progress
of the shifting mass 1t pours down
over country, slowly, relenrlessly,
laying waste everything. Buildings
are undermined, roads are obliterated,
and its gruesome work never ceases.
Egypt was not always the sandy
waste the modern tourist finds it. Yet
il the visitor to the Nile country
makes a journey to the Sphinx he
will 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
the 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 surface of the northern part OF
the continent, was very different to
what it now is. At present the Sahara
makes the climate for the Mediterra-
mean and Central Europe, and
while this is agreeable enough, the
gradual expansion of the great ocean
of sand, which is by degrees tapping
the valleys of Algeria, threatens to
lay waste finally to the coast. The
Atlas Mountains alone appear to have
held the monster in check.
Various propositions have been
made concerning the African desert
and one of them, scheme of inunda-
ton, is almost too chimerical, if in
effect 1t would not be mischieVous, to
deserve serious attention To stem
the tide 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
It is the struggling vegetation on
the edge of the desert which is respon-
sible for the tardy strides of the sand
And It is from so casual a hint that
successful experiments have been
made with brush and grass on the
North Carolina coast, where the sand
enemy has grown to be as terrible as
a nightmare, only far more potent OF
destruction.
While parts of the English coast
are being washed away and eaten up
! by the sea, other parts are being add
ed to with rapidity. Although the in
roads of sand may be natures way OF
making compensation for what she has
elsewhere deprived the country, the
inhabitants of Southport, for instance,
do not view the situation with any
satisfaction
Within the last few years some mil
ions of tons of sand have accumulated
on the shores at Southport. The wind
is mainly responsible for the over
whelming character of the sand. At
a recent meeting of the Southport
Chamber of Commerce it was stated
that unless new channel was cut al
most Immediately the town would in
very few years be four miles from
deep water So far as the filing up
of the channel is concerned, the blame
must be put upon the sea. However,
it will cost 100000 to dredge this
new channel, and the necessity for
the work is apparent. The pier at
Southport is nearly mile in length,
but with deep water receding at the
present rate, the pier will soon become
useless
But this is a matter of commerce.
With the Overwhelming of the espla-
aade. or sea-walk, at the same place,
which has been accomplished by the
sand and wind in very thorough
manner. an equally serious problem is
encountered. This cannot be got rid
of by such simple means as dredging
a channel, The sand must be remov-
ed and a very pretty problem it pre-
sents. In some places the magni fcent
rallied esplanade lies under five or six
feet of sand. Not only has the way
ward sand covered the walk, but has
accumulated in dunes between the es-
planade and the sea, effectively shut
ting out the view.
Some imaginative geographers have
affected to believe it a girdle of des-