The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1923-11-15
SAND
TAKES CENTURIES
Shelfish Aid Mother Nature In
Long Process Of Cutting
Huge Cliffs.


you bask at the seashore Is not a
ready-made article, nor docs it find
It's way to the beach In q haphazard
way. Sand is one of natures mos,
finished products. 1t Is the result Of
countless thousands Of years Of cease
less work and a wondrous compound
Of a myriad ingredients.
The microscope reveals to the scien-
fist that no two sands are quite alike,
though they may look and feel much
the same as you walk over them.
Take a handful Of that which sur
rounds you and spread II out and ex-
anime carefully the tiny particles Of
which 1t consists. Man, will be lit
tie stones. Others are fragments OF
shells. And II you have sharp eyes
you may find among them numbers
Of beautiful unbroken shells. varying
In size from that of the smallest pins
head to that Of a pea.
Shells Under Microscope.
The smallest shells must be see
under a magnifying glass before
their full beauty car be appreciated.
They arc the discarded homes Of tiny
creatures who wormed them into per-
tect cups and twists and spirals and
had the skill, ever In the small space
available to introduce a wondrous
scheme Of say colors.
The stones are Infinite In their va
riety. As the sun falls upon them
they glitter and fash like 80 many
Jewels. Many of them are Jewels
little chips Of the less precious
stones. such as carpelian and the diff
terent crystals. Others are quartz,
lint or granite. But you will notice
one thing about all of them-their
edges are beautifully smooth. That
Is why II is so pleasant to ramble
barefoot over the shore. for the tiny,
rounded grains feel as soft as a car
pet.
What is natures method OF making
this mixture? Briefly, geology eI-
plains II as follows: She hurls the
waters OF the sea at the feet Of the
great cliffs which guard the land. The
force Of tides and storms 10 so ire
sistible that as attack follows attack
the stoutest rocks are Clipped and
cracked.
To aid the waters she makes use Of
boring shellfsh, whose fle-like tongues
weaken the stones by eating tunnels
into them. Al the centuries pass
and time to nature Is a thing that does
not matter-fragments large and small
are torn from the rocks and fall to the
beach below.
Battered Against cliffs.
Here they are rolled and ground
and ratified against each other by the
tides. being split gradually into
smaller pieces and having all their
edges worn smooth by their constant
movement. Once a few chips nave
been wrenched from the cliffs the
work Of the tides become easier. Tn
water picks up these fragments and
hurls them like battering-rams at tho
rocks.
And now nature begins to sort out
her ingredients and arrange tn
stones so that they are graduated ir
!, order NJ size. You will find close Il
the cliffs a coarse gravel composed o
. stones as big as oranges. Nearer th'
|. waters edge they grow less and les
in size. Coarse gravel is followed b!
J fne, and fine gravel by sand.
AS the stones are split and torn TIT
5 larger fragments resist the pull OF TIT
: water and therefore remain close 4
the cliffs and the smaller ones rol
, farther and farther out with recedinl
' tides. During a storm the waters OF
e sandy hay may look like pea soup
e owing to the tiny fragments they ar
2 carrying.
1 In some places the tides pick n
the sand and remove 1t as fast as !
e is made. carrying II away, to deposi
!. II on other beaches. That Is why som
$ shores are sandy while others are not
: And when atu lays down her cal
p pet Of sand she mingles with 1t tn
shells great and small for which he
), tiny creatures have no further use.
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