The sun., 1915-07-25

straw; he Just naturally does not
want to drown or sufYcr loss. This in
Sphir Gums up in sc. era. way 'ie
aWAune Of the denizens OF Seabright
s;,I that stretch OF the peninsula ly-
ing south. of Sandy Hook where the
ravages oftsfotniy seas have cut away
tho beach and the fanking shore.
These householders are loath to part
with their property. and the irresisti-
BILE Atlantic seefnxt bent upon running
villa sites and even tumblng houses
into the encroaching waters.
The sufferers have found the needed
straw. Instead of acknowledging ma
lures responsibility in the shape If
forces that hsye been continually at
work in varying measures for many
centuries. they now declare Sea-
brights predioanent to be largely due
to the dredging Of Ambrose Channel.
This logically place. the burden of
accountability upon the general Gov
eminent. and by implication the
people Of the whole nation are en-
pected to subscribe their share toward
checking the oceans inroads that the
value of building lots at that part.cu-
lar point on the .ast Of New jersey
shall r,t dwndle.
Accordips IN ARM, s,cirosrs familiar
witb the barhor-.,nd tho copf,ur,tion
~ i,s channels ,his charge bovever
LACKS logs 70 s,ana. ON and is In No
wise sunnor,.d Ia, f,c,s
Considered at, close rang the Am
brose Channel is a big engineering
nnarlv sou, hu.ss, 20, ,La u.as,o,r wi
~ Coney Island this sn,or,iid water.
way reaches seaward for tho better
psrt or -. miias I, IA fo foo, doan
and 1000 feet wide. and during the
twelve wears or more il was baing
dredged 20. OOO. 900 ,,blc Yards of ma
terial was cxcayated from the bot
tom OF the lower hay. These figures
are all OF them imprs seiye hut their
Significance dwlndles nightly when
compared with the surrounding water
basin, Ard IL IL this G. mparisou. say
the engineers. that must he corsd-
cred for II i. charged that this dis
arrangement q the previously exist
ing order of affairs is the promoting
cause for the coastal erosion at Sea-
bright and the neighboring sire hes
Of the New Jersey eaboard
NOl, r, v. ApnOt OF the nf
engineers of the United States army
has taken a particular interest i'm the
conditions at Sesbright and there
about. When asked II the digging of
the Ambro.e Channel could in any
way have set up n state of affairs
injurious to the New Jersey beaches
southwark he asserted emphatica.ly
the contrary.
The Ambrose Channe. Is scarcely
more than mere. .r-atch on the
Waterbed of the bay" he said. IF
you will look at the map YOU Will nnd
a span of something over seven miles
OF open water between the northern
most tip of Sandy HOOK and the west
ern end Of Rockaway Beach. that is
Rockaway Point In other words
there is an interval ~ $3.50 feet. and
across this line We have cut pat of
only 1000 feet Now you will under.
stand how fittingy the term scratch
applies. Tie pnpu,s: IDEA NAV DOS
sibly he that the excavation TO- the
channel involved digging ayay
through the underlying Waterbed TO:
considerable depths IN order to insure
Uniform rath reaching forty feet
AS A matter of fact the average
depth of water was something like
twenty-fv feet, and We increased this
ten feet at low tide. Even so. ou,
task ca.led for the removal only of tn,
high places and not for un!fo: m dredg
ing of that extent throughout the
length of the channel Nature hac
helped us part way. and our job wa.
mainly to smooth out the rough places
AVE took New York Bay as W,
found it, and the general condition
there differs but little from the STATE
in which the glacial epoch eft 1t wher
that mass OF ice carved out the Hud
son River Valley in It's recession. TAI
sand and stun removed from the DOT
tom OF the bay was carriel IA sea
ward and dumped. and unless all
our knowledge be at. fault that ma
terial could not have altered the tren'
Of the forces tending alternately u
build and to wear away the coast
New Jersey.
THE Ambrose Channel mas not al
fected the total ebo and now or wafer
OF New YORK Bay. Inc chahhe' car
ries seaward nothing more sunstaht!a
than floating sewage. IL does no
stimulate the movement ot the sur
rounding bottom sand nor Is theIe an
reason to- heheve mat thIs mei
scratch on natures race mas IN IN