Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1855-12-12
HARBOR OF BEAUFORT
Fn- the Standard.

Fog the Standard.
HARBOR OF BEAUFORT.
lrrirn7 ct Slips tron, Enq!tnd ,cth Lron jar tn
-itit,,tic end North CHroiinn Rail It9"%.
Editors " c. Standnyd:
GrHrLEMEH: Permit me to announce in your wide
IL circulate cd journal the arrival of three vessels a
Beaufort from Newport, Wales, with 1880 tons Q
rails to Edward L. Stamiy, ESD, Contractor ON ti'
: A. < n. {. r. R. The largest of these vessels, the
. James GRAY, Capt. Plumer, brought $50 tons. We
had the pleasure of meeting the Captain a few days
since. He is polite and intelligent gentleman, and
has spent the greater portion of his lille on the sea
He informed me that he did not find less than -
feet depth Of water on the bar when he came IN
and if he again has occasion to visit Beaufort he
would not require pilot, so easy Is the harbor oil
access lie also stated that he could carry the
bar 20 feet with perfect safety, and that would be
cheaper to sail from Beaufort than New York.
Now what is to prevent the State from having city
Heretofore the cry has been Wuter' Hater'! Ha-
tfr!'! Plenty of that, you see, and some to spare
Hereafter will it be Freight. trei9ht!' FFt'Jh' :!
and none at any price: Oar Western frie ndS must
answer
The James Gray carries $500 barrels OF -four
Her depth of hold Is - feet and with full cargo
board her draft of is II feet. The three yes
sells that now at Beaufort would carry $4,000
barrels Of flour II they not large enough to ac
commoeate the Ho!t>, the Morchead>, the Fishers
the Troliingers. the IargraveS, the CamcronS, and
others in the West, and take OF their "sHrp/"S y
grain and -four to l6rjgts markets, they should know
that Mr.. Stanly and expects TO charter ships of
double their tonnage load with iron for Beaufort.
The citizens # the W est must be accommodated
VIII they give US ali opportunity? VIII they even
test the depth OF water our bar by freightns
ships with the products Of their !arIlS. Time
p~ove-thc matter is now before them. | would say
the subject as 1t is not every day yoI can
three ships in North Carolina port with 1850
tons Of freight, bat wish to Introduce, the oPpor
tun:y offers, Il few paragraphs from the Ports
mouth " cekly Globe. Of January, lSJk The Edi-
tor says, in his correct and beautiful description of
Beaufort harb0r
Three things arc quite essential to the character
OF good arhor, so far as it may be considered
haven that sailor delights 10 remembers these
sufficient depth of water, good bottom for anchor
ing, and security from the rayageS of high wi.iS
and storms All three of these requisites Beaufort
possesses beyond any suspicious Of tancy's sketch,
or eXaggeraton's picture. Practical surveying
der three different chapters in the prcgr, of reg
ular coast survey, amply attest their exis ence The
trangulatng, the Topographic, and the hyGr0graph-
ic parties were all satisfied and satisfied only upon
the best of practical and scientific evidence, that
these three essentials of good harbor combined in
the excellence of that at Beaufort The chart calls
for is feet water almost anywhere within the bar
between Fort Macon and Beaufort, the village and
in much Of that scope it is deeper, with splendid
mud and sand anchorage. Turning to the right
your entrance into the harbor, Il beautiful cXpanSe
Of water between Shackelfords Banks and Beaufort
grects and gratifes the eye of the lover of such
scene to say nothing of the qualification it carries
to the heart OF the tired and Worn mariner who
pants LOT rest III Il secure maven Here the water
varies in depth from twelve to twenty feet, with
mean depth for a considerable distance of eighteen
feet
The little town of Beaufort proper, can be APP
preached by vessels Of sufficient depth and capacity
for all practical purposes, but the soundings
sdered better at Shcpard's Point the site Of the
future Carolina city," and according TO the charts
exhibit a more accessible substantial depth than
Beaufort.
Shepdrds Point is not designated by name on the
CHART its location having been selected SINCE the last
photographic material was furnished for its Wear
not allowed however from the superiority oft over
Beaufort village proper to doubt but that it will be
the spot upon which the Carolina city will be built
Bird Island Shoal and Sharks Island Shoal, though
prominent features upon the chart do in reality
present obstacles of serious magnitude. They are |
we'll defined, easily avoided, and there is plenty of
room for ''wde berths' with all desired depth with
'ut losing any important item from the area occu-
1ied by them.
The banks alluded to-Shackelford's and ROYAL
Island, with Fort Macon Point-protect ships from
my nroads from old Neptune in his angry moods
These and also Northern breakers, which old coast
wise mariners say invariably indicate deep water.
Beaufort's pernanency harbor rests greatly
md demonstrably upon the fact that large, swift
liver empties through the inlet and to the bar de-
costing it's detritus and forming the delta which
re so formidable antagonists to commerce at the
mouths or friths of many ports Ships which in the
arbor at New York City have to wait for tides can
t any time go in and out at this beautiful harbor
The harbor is about 81 miles W. n. w. from the
outh spit of Cape Lookout affords shelter from all
Winds, and is of 1t be entered with
nc wind from any point, except N & W., carrying
Z feet over the bar at mean low water
Mariners understand bar to be unexceptionable
rhen it carries II feet over the bar mean low
water. The observations upon tides very fiat
erlng to this as port. Observe that the rise of the
rgnest tides above the plane of reference is 43O
Get, and one would suppose the fall of the lowest
you'd correspond, but observations show that the
all OF the lowest tide below the tide of reference is
My OSO feet True, natural causes, apart from the
oston account for high tides generally going above
hat plane to a greater figure than low ones below