The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-12-04
BALTIMORE.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER A, 1853.

attracted to it considerable degree of attention.
The scheme already possesses some warm advocates,
and rs The American is hurrahing on both sides,
rs it instinctveIy does unity the strong side dc
ve!ops itself there is possibly greater weight of
public opinion in its favor than we should other
wise have supposed. That our present basin is a
great nusance-at least, during the summer
months Of the ycar-no one with the common adj
vantage of a nose, will be disposed to deny-being
nothing but a small, CENTRAL and open receptacle
for large portion of the filth of this great city.
\ college of physicians, reasoning PrloT' woGid
probably consign the jewellers on its borders to the
horrors of a perpetual prevalence Of malignant
ievers; vet we really have fact to warrant US in
assuming that had this offensive pool been filled
up, and set in clover, our bills of mortality would
have presented a more favorable result reallzed-
The presence of our basin has always been one OF
the given quantities in the estimate OF our cltys
health. With tin spite of 1t, perhaps-the
health statistics of Baltimore have compared favor
ably with those of any other American town. With
the growth ofthecty, the founess of the harbor has
necessarily incrcased but think it is not proven
that there has been any corresponding increase IN
the per centage of mortality in consequence
We are very far from asserting or believing that
our sanitary condition would not be improved by
the absence of the exhalations Of the basin, but
opinions on that point must remain mere specn!a-
lions, until some means of testing their accuracy
shall have been found.
To cast down the eminence over which Mr..
NELSON has so long presided, with banner and
pennon, peering with powerful lenses into the dim
distance between North Point and the Bodkin to
herald the approach rich argosies which under the
modern dispensation of independent steam-tugs, or
sde-wheels or propellers Of their own, usually
snug in their berth in few minutes after their APP
proach has been sgnalled-to overthrow Federal
Hill, the very jungle and lair of the gentlemanly
Tigers" and fill up the basin as far down as the
mouth of Jones Falls, would, it appears, dry up
about seventy-fve acres of the upper harbor-
This large addition TO the building surface Of the
city, in its very heart, together with the eight
hundred acres about Milestone Pont--expeced
by this measure to be brought into immediate
requisition-would largely increase the amount
of drainage seeking outlet through the harbor.
The additional population of FEELS Point and Canton
so confidently prcdcted-woud contribute its
share TO swell this stream of filth; while to sup
pose that the current of Jones Falls would have
any other effect than to materially increase the
foulness OF any basin whatever into which itmigbt
empty, would be doing that noble stream great in
Justice Wewoud have, them as the first result ofour
expensive sanitary experiment, largely increased
amount of drainage debouchng into diminished
reservoir-rendering its contents ''thick and slab
beyond all former precedent;-we would have the
same cul-de-sac of harbor, without current and
scarcely a tide-a place into which, by the laws
of gravitation, all the liquid surface filth of the
city must descend; in fact, all the difficulties Of
our present position in an aggravated FORM The
supposed seat of disease might be thrown farther
and farther from the present centre of population
but the centre of population would be sure to
follow in the direction in which commerce receded.
1t is not likely, therefore, that any substantial
improvement in the bills of mortality would re-
suit from the execution of the project of filling up
seventy-fve or more acres of our harbor. This,
as we have just said is naturally still and slug
gish pond, scarcely affected by winds, tides or
Currents. Anywhere on the Patapsco, the same
difficulty would exist there being no streams fall
ing into that arm of the Chesapeake of sufficient
size to neutralize or carry away the drainage of
large city. Nor does it appear that much is
gained from midway position on large rivers,
even if subject to heavy tides. During the last
summer, Parliament was driven out of London by
the stencil of the Thames, which is not only a
stream of considerable volume, but has Il tide
rising, at London, 10 the height of twenty feet.
The current Of the river had perceptible effect,
while the operation of the tide only carried the
foul harbor water of the great city few miles up
or down, as it ebbed and flowed. The present
state of science suggests no mode by which such
a harbOr as ours can be cleaLsed, except by the
drcdge and pump. The dredge finds no trouble
in disposng of what it excavates from the bottom
of the water; but question might arise, in the
case of the employment of pump, TO what
favored spot should receive the product of its
labors. Possibly, the famous MECHI experiment
might be advantageously initiated. Regarding
our basin as tank Of liquid manure, its contents
might be pumped to suitable points in the adjacent
country to crtiize the barren hills and fields that
greatly need such assistance. 1t is well known
that Mr. MEcHI has brought his farm near Lon
don to the highest pitch Of Improvement, by the
use Of n steam engine forcing liquid manure
through pipes TO every portion Of it.
The commercial aspect of the harbor-fllng
scheme is different matter altogether; and it is
obviously in that point of view that it is particu-
larly cherished by its authors There has been
manifest destiny party in Baltimore for num-
Der of years, who long ago discovered that the
trade of Baltimore would, at some future day,
leave our harbor in search of deep water. Hence
'Canton"' and 'South Baltimore" and "Patap-
SEQ City" companies, and Locust Point and
MILESTONE Point, and Spring Garden specula-
tons 1t has been demonstrating once, but
a hundred times-that it was fallacy to suppose
that any respectable shipping business could, for
any length Of time, be transacted west of the
Falls. In the meantime, every thing afioat in our
harbor, which could get up, persisted in going as
far up rs possible, and the great march of the
City's progress has been northward and west
ward. Our shpping-especialIy our foreign ship
piug-interests have declined, or rather have
been outstrpped by Others of later growth. The
present strength Of cur city lies in her manufac-
lures, which are consderable--in her inland
traffic, which is heavy-and in her coasting trade,
which is, and always will be, worth much more
foreign commerce, which is to rival that of New
York, or Boston even, is, we fear, not destined to
speedy realization and we should be cautious
how we destroy the accommodations of the handy
little sma-craft which do by far the larger and more
profitable part of our trade to prepare for an osten
tatious commerce with Europe which we may never
have. There is now no earthly reason why COM
merce may not bctake herself to FelPs Point or to
Canton, if at all that way inclined. That way has
been long open, and the invitations to enter upon
it have been many and strongly urged Certainly
our prospects for increased foreign commerce
would not be improved by cutting up our coasting
trade. We cannot perceive that the water at
Canton would be made deeper or more accessible by
closing up the basin to the mouth of the Falls,
though it is particularly easy to comprehend that
whatever vessels might continue to visit this port,
would be compelled to lie much nearer to Canton.
Independently, therefore, of the numerous diff
culties which lie in the way of the practical execu-
ton of the scheme-the consideration of which
we have purposely waived in this article-we
altogether fail to perceive that the proiect-eyen
if carried out in the manner proposed-would be
productive of any of the beneficial results which
are so confidently claimed for it by its advocates
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We regret to learn that information has been re-
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