The Colorado statesman., 1923-06-02
Light Station, Heron Neck, Maine.

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
warning.
Retreat of the Shore Line.
On the shore of Cape Cod, near
Chatham, the land Is retreating at the
rate of a foot a year, and on the
southern shore of Martha's Vineyard
1t Is giving up the fight to the enemy
at the rate of three feet every twelve
months, while on the southern face of
Nantucket the retreat has been as
much as six feet a year, the records
tell us.
From Portland, Me-, to Cape Florida
there is a fairly well-connected bar
rier of sand-reefs. all of them built up
by the sea and its ally. the wind, from
the material pounded from the shore
line bv the waves. From Chesapeake
bay to Biscayne bay, Florida, dis
tance of 700 miles, there is a natural
rampant of sand so continuous. fPnc-
ing such an unbrOSen series of lagoons
in from the sea, that 1t is possible to
make the entire journey through in
land waters without exposure TO the
open sea.
In Its incessant warfare against the
land, the sea literally takes its cap
tured hosts and makes them do battle
under its command The boulders
that are shattered from the face of
cliff are dashed up against it again
and again, hammerlng others loose.
A.
smooth as the proiectlles of big guns
must be. AS the process goes on, these
huge shells are worn down and
crumbled until 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
The waves always find a most valu-
able ally in the wind while their work
of coast-line transformation goes on.
The possibilities of the wind as
worker in conjunction with the waves
are revealed when we consider that
during violent storm the air may
hold in suspension as much as 100000
tons of sand to the cubic mile. This
sand. driven hither and thither. finds
resting place somewhere, and that
resting place is usually a dune along
the shore.
How Sand Dunes Are Made.
A sand dune always has humble
beginning. a piece of wreckage cast
up by the waves may start II, or any
sort of obstacle lying upon the shore
may cause 1t to come into being. Once
started, the dune becomes trap to
catch sand in. 1t takes its toll of
every passing gust of wind, and thus
continues to grow and grow. Often
they keep advancing until they bury
orchards. forests, and even buildings
like great drifts of snow. Along the
coast of New Jersey one may see or
chards which have Eeen covered by
wlnd-blown sand within the memory
of man so that only the tops of the
trees now protrude above the surface
1t is not exceptional to see n forest
invaded and sometimes even complete
ly buried. To watch the struggles of
the trees against their encroaching
enemy is one of the most remarkable
sights of nature. AS the sand rises
around their trunks new roots are put
out near the surface, and they con
tInue to fight their hattie month in
and month out, but generally they are
finally completely engulfed.
The alternating burial and resurrec-
tion of forests is due mainly to the
tendency of sand dunes to migrate
on Hatteras island North Carolina.
the migration of dune literally
robbed n cemetery of its dead, dashing
down the gravestones and exposing the
bones of the bodies buried there, says
Professor Cobb. an authority on the
subject of beach formations.
on the northern end of Hatteras
island n fishing village has been com
pletely buried, while the sand has en-
tIrely crossed the island at several
places north of Cape Hatteras. This
movement of sand was started just
after the Civil war by the cutting of
trees for ship timbers. and, although
the section is known today as the
Great Woods. there Is not stick of
timber TO be seen.