The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1922-07-06
WAVES MOVE FAST
Average Speed of More Than
Forty Miles an Hour.
Fortunately, Their Velocity and Power
Are Materially Reduced AZ
They Near the Shore.

When the wind blows fercely most
d~ellers in towns, particularly in
those near the sea, think of them
selves what a stormy time our ships
and sailors must be having, says q
writer in a London paper, according
to the Montreal Herald.
Storm-waves around the shores Of
these islands frequently have immense
force behind them, treating blocks Of
stone and heavy timbers as playthings,
smashing like match sticks apparently
the most substantial obstacles.
During one storm in the Solent, near
Hurst castle, the waves exerted such
force ninety feet below the surface
that stones weighing 800 pounds or
more were torn from their resting
places ana hurled on the beach, to-
gether with heavy masses of seaweed
attached to them.
II is in the deep ocean where the
storm-wave is seen in its full majesty.
Forty, fifty and even sixty feet is the
height TO which the pillows Of the At
lantic, the Indian ocean, and the
Southern will rise in times of tempest.
In pre-steam days a British man-of-
war encountered an unusually heavy
gale OF wind Just outside the Bay Of
Blscay. Between two seas her storm
trysails were totally becalmed. while
the crest of each sea was above the
level of the center Of her mainyard.
The mainyard was sixty feet above the
wster-line.
The water from a wave-as distinct
from the body of the wave itself-has
been known TO do serious damage to
vessels Of great height above the deck.
One notable instance Of the kind was
the smashing Of the port lifebOat of
Hamburg American liner, dashed on
the bridge deck eighty feet above the
sealine.
Giant storm-waves Of the ocean have
an average speed of rather more than
forty miles an hour. Their length is
the distance from crest to crest. This !
Is about 400 feet for the Atlantic |
waves. 1t Is much more, however, for |
the waves of the profoundly deep |
Pacific ocean.
OF course, 1t has to be remembered |
that giant waves in the open ocean |
can move with perfect freedom. 1t is |
when they begin to touch bottom in |
comparatively shallow water that /
their great speed is reduced-luckily |
for the fronts Of the British coast
resorts.
The velocity Of the storm-wind In
the Atlantic is frequently several miles
an hour greater than the velocity Of
the wave. This results in a good deal
Of spraying, which, in very severe
weather, sometimes seriously thickens
and obscures the air.
At the seaside in summer we may
sometimes see spraying caused by q
stiff breeze blowing against an advanc-
ing wavelet.
During gale on the British coast IL
will be noticed that the waves begin
to break long way out. That Is be-
cause these waves, being big ones,
touch bottom the sooner. Their lower
part moves forward at its old speed.
The result Is that the upper part
curls over and breaks
In very deep water a giant wave has
been known to touch bottom and stir
up the fine sand there at a depth of
100 feet.
On fine autumn day we may some
times see a procession Of big ground
syells' coming shoreward and break
ing on the beach with the boom Of dis
tant thunder. They represent the dis
turbance Of the sea caused by a storm
far out to sea. BY closely observing
the direction from which these swells
come one can form an idea Of where
the storm is situated Sometimes the
waves travel faster than the storm,
and even give warning Of its approach.