New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-01-15
COAST NOT SINKING,
SCIENTISTS PROVE
Prof. Johnson. of Columbia.
COmbats Idea Our Land
Is Going to Sea.
CITES WASHOUT
AT SEABRIGHT
Speaks at Meeting of American
Scenic and Historical Preser-
walton Society.

The Atlantic Coast. contrary 10 popular
opinion. is not sinking Professor DOUG
las Wilson Johnson. OF Columbia speak
ing last night before the American Scenic
and Historic Preservation Society AZ the
annual meeting IN the Museum Of Nat
ura' History said that the time-honored
belief that New Jerseys shore and pos
sibly Manhattan. might he some day sub
merged WAS not borne out by careful
scientific calculation.
"One Of the most recent arguments sd-
vanced by those who believe the LAND is
slowly sinking beneath the sea- Nj
Johnson said. is the recent storm tnati
did considerable damage AZ Seabrieht II
should be remembered. however. that the
village is situated on n bar OF sand that
had been cast up by the waves from the
oceans bottom. A lagoon. called a river
separates ii from the mainland. II hap
pened that a particularly violent storm
struck the coast at Seabrisht at the time
Of an extremely high tide. and the ocean
simply reclaimed part Of the land il had
formed IN years gone BY"
In back OF Sea5right. he said along the
lagoon. the old barrier against which tire
ocean beat before the island was cast w
before II, was AZ exactly the same ieyel
as thousands Of years ago. showing that
the land had not sunk. In time. Nj
Johnson asserted. the par, Of Seabright
washed away might be washed back
again.
Some arguments advanced ny those who
thought the land 10 be sinking. he SAID
were the facts that meadows around
which dikes were built long ago were n ~
below sea level that shell mounds made
by Indians in the salt marshes along the
New Jersey coast had their bases below
sea level: that islands and promontories
were being cut away. often within the
memory OF the living: that forests az
the head Of bays were becoming sub
merged, and that islands particularly ia
Boston Harbor. had disappeared entirely.
Answering those arguments. Mr.. John
son said. first, that when dixie was built
around marsh the land dried out grad
uaily. shrinking as il dried for possibly
two centuries. He added:
After that time there was no further
appreciable depression. The weight Of the
shell mounds. often more than an acre
in extent. caused them 10 sink. while a.
TO the cutting away OF islands and head
lands, that was due 10 the errosive powers
OF the waves. II had been estimated that
the ordinary sea wave eXerted a force OF
five 10 six thousand pounds per square
foot
| lie adds that the DISAPPEARANCE II
| islands was due TO the same force. while
The submerging OF forests was usually
due TO the disappearance OF bars at har-
Dor mouths, allowing a freer flow OF
tide.
while parts OF the coast were being
slowly cut away, other sections were be
ing built out into the water he con-
tinued The fact that on level sea built
plains the ridges where the waves beat
centuries ago were the same level above
the sea as the ridge against which the
waves broke to-day. proved conclusivey
that the coast was neither undergoing any
uplifting or depressing"
Previous to Professor Johnson's address.
Colonel Henry W. Sackett. a vice-presi-
dent Of tho American Scenic and Historic
Preservation Society, presented the late
Andrew H. Green's Greater New York
gold medal 10 the New York Historical
Society. Mr.. Green, founder OF the
Scenic and Historic Preservation So
ciety. was presented with the medal
in 1895 by the citizens OF New York
i'm recognition Of the services he per
! formed in uniting the five boroughs into
Greater New York Al n business ses-
sion Of the society the retiring trustees
were -r-elccted.