Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1916-08-03
A TRUCELESS WAR
The Unending Struggle Between
the Sea and the Shore.
VICTORIES ON BOTH SIDES.


times the Wind and Land Combine
to Beat the BlIows Eack 10 Defeat.
1t Is trUceless war that the waters
of the world are waglng against It's
lands. John Oliver LaGOrce. associate
editor OF the National Geographic SO
ciety, has prepared for that institu
ton study Of this striking struggle
between the earth and the sea with the
shores lines of the world as the far
flung theater Of war
After calling attention to the fact
that the processes which have trans
formed the polar regions from dense
jungles of tropical growth into lands
Of perpetual ice and snow, which have
brought the tops Of mountains to the
bottom Of the sea and the bottom of
the sea to the tops of mountains, are
still going on, although the hands
upon the fSce of the clock Of geology
move so slowly that we cannot perceive
their movement, Mr.. LaGOrce con
tinues:
Along every coast line on the face
Of the earth there is perpetual warfare
between the land and the sea. with the
wind as the shifting line, now throw
ing its weight into the balance on the
one side and now on the other. Here
the land is taking the offensive. driving
the sea back foot by foot, always with
the aid of the wind; there the sea mar
shals great drive and eats its way
landward slowly and laboriously. but
none the less successfully.
'The varying fortunes Of this relent.
less and age long war which neither
truce nor treaty will ever bring to an
end can be read in the shifting sands
Of the seashore. At many points along
the coast of the northeastern states are
found bold cliffs, and the charging sea
attacks them with the shot and shell
Of loose shingle. Some of them, how
ever, are adamant and impregnable In
their frontal fortifcations and hold out
against the sorest siege, but between
them have occurred stretches of softer
rock which have been literally pound.
ed TO dust by the oceans heavy artil.
lery, thus permitting flank attacks on
the hitherto uncOnquered defenses.
Along the southeastern coast. how
ever, the rock bound cliff is the excep.
tion and the long stretches Of glittering
sand the rule. Here the sandy beach
reaches out farther and farther into
the sea, and the water is thus enabled
to penetrate farther and farther into
the land because the attack OF the sea
is usually frontal movement and thai
of the land frequently wedge attack
Thus we can account for the long
straight shore on the one hand and the
split on the other.
"The formation of the beach immedi
ately guarded by the Cape Henry light
is not changing so rapidly as is the
case only few miles on either side be
cause of its somewhat protected posi-
tion, due to the many sand bars or reefs
far out from shore which, acting as the
first trenches, serve to break the charge
Of the white horses of Father Neptune
us they dash in from the ocean, and,
because of this knowledge of defense,
1t is plain to be seen that a good quar-
ter of a mile Of beach has been added
by the defender since the old light was
erected.
"Rockaway beach, Long Island,
grows westward at the rate Of nearly
mile every twenty years. At Nag
Head, n, c., the land has extended
into the sea at the rate Of thirty-fve
feet a year. In 1904 DR.. Nathaniel
Bowditch prepared a chart Of Salem
and Marblehead harbors, giving the
Boundings over various ledges Of rock.
Ninety years later similar soundings
were taken, and in all cases the water
was found to be considerably deeper,
once again telling the tale Of endless
warnings.
ION the shore of Cape Cod, near
Chatham, the land is retreating at the
rate of foot year, and on the south
ern shore of Marthas Vineyard it is
giving up the fight to the enemy at the
rate of three feet every twelve months,
while on the southern face Of Nan
tucket the retreat has been as much as
six feet a year, the records tell us.
"In its incessant warfare against the
land the sea literally takes its cap
tured hosts and makes them do battle
under its command. The bowl1ers that
are shattered from the face Of a cliff
are dashed up against 1t again and
again, hammering others loose, the
while being worn round and smooth
as the projcctile Of big guns must be-
AS the process goes on these huge
shells are worn down and crumbled un'
til there remains nothing to tell the
story of forced fighting against their
own stronghold save grains of sand on
some distant beach or the soft carpet
spread upon the floor Of the sea many
fathoms deep.
How rapidly this process goes ON is
sometimes strikingly shown. A schoon
er laden with bricks is beached on
some bare shore in storm. These
bricks are rolled and tumbled a dis
lance Of five miles or so in the course
of a year, and by that time attrition
has usually completed its work. Au
thorities say that on the shores OF
Cape Ann fragment Of stone as big
nc n ,ot i,oc, hoe haan worn eOmnlple.