Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1912-03-09
FORCE OF THE SEA
Terrific Power Is Generated Wher
a Cyclone RACES.
THEN THE WATERS RUN WILD
All Regularity Of Wave Motion Ceases
80 the Sea Bursts Its 6ounds-cran.
lie Blocks Weighing a Thousand Tons
Tossed About Like Pebbles.

ttc 0ioCHa WotBVtVH tUoeoaUb VIE
Tossed About Like Pebbles.
A pond troubled by a pebble gives a
comprehensive idea of the mechanism
Of the perpetual motion Of the ocean.
now slow. regular and majestic. run
ming from horizon TO horizon. now
rushing in ungovernable fury against
the land When II pebble falls in q
pond II produces a fine circular line.
which widcns. multiplying until stop
ped by It's boundaries lust 80 Is pro
duced the surging OF the sea.
TO Judge from appearances. the
swells transport the water toward tie
circumference OF the pond. In point Of
fact they do nothing Of the kind as Is
easily proved by match or splinter
Of wood being east upon the water
The match Is hardly raised or lowered
by the passage OF the swell The action
in evidence is simply the transmission
OF motion. not the transmission or
matter.
The fine waves If the sea are gen
erated by the wind as fine waves are
generated by the wind when IL ripples
q field OF grain ready for the harvest.
The waves that run over the field ~
grain are real waves. often waves In
fierce action The spears OF grain are
immovably fixed 10 the ground by their
roots, but every blade transmits its os-
cillatory movement To the next blade.
Just so liquid molecules are formed
In the middle OF vast ocean. such
as the equatorial Atlantic. for instance,
great regular undulations are seen mul.
tiplying In parallels like the burrows
in vast plowed field. ON the broad
ocean the liquid mounds OF the sea rise
with every swing with more or less
even regularity.
The mariners imagination has giver
the great waves OF the high sen the
reputation Of fabulous height Helia-
bic authors have talked Of waves
mountain high and Of waves 100 feet
In height. Exact measurement has civ
Ell closer estimate.
The waves OF the high sea. Of the ma
ior oceans. attain the height Of fifty
feet under the exceptional conditions
OF tempest in the vicinity Of Cape
Horn aud the Cape Of Good HOPE,
The surges here estimated are those IN
free circulation OF. the high seas.
When a wave. whatever its strength
or its weakness. meets solid obstacle.
whether that obstacle lie n rocky cliff
or ship, the swell rebounds 10 ex-
traordinary heights Lighthouses are
often swept 10y the sea from base 10
summit.
The length OF waves is between
twenty and thirty times their height.
and the slope OF the seas hills Is very
gentle A wave sixty feet high Is
somewhere between 1890 and 100
feet long.
At the axis OF the revolving tempest
called a cyclone there are many wave
systems. moving In all directions.
meeting and combining When the cy.
clone il in action the sen is said TO
burst its hounds"
Al such time all regularity Of wave
succession ceases. and the sea runs
Wild with force beyond human power
70 estimate. Blocks OF granite weigh
Ing from .nO0 To 200 tons are caught
by the sea and rolled Ike pebbles to
distances OF 800 feet and more. and
sea walls are spliniered rs by hatch
cts The "liyc power OF furious
sen is estimated by multiplying the
mass OF the surge by the square Of its
speed
When the surf impelled by the drive
Of the broad sea. meets solid obsta.
Gle It's pressure is thirty tons per
square meter Of water This estimate.
which Is close. explains how water,
when continually sapplng the foot 81
cliff. breaks down the land. forces
back the shore line and little by little.
constantly and surely, increases the
seas domain
A wave from 80 TO - feet high aud
Go5 feet long n wave rs the sea
produces every eighteen seconds rep
resents power Of about 1880 horse
power. steam. per square yard. llar'
per's Weekly.