The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1866-12-13
Kennsha Rarhor Improvement.


EDITORS TELEGRAPH..-Its not probable that any
views that may be expressed by the public press, OF
arguments that private individuals may address IL
the Government Engineers, would change thel
plans or purposes as to the improvements to be madl
by the expenditure of the money appropriated fol
| the Kenosha harbor But / am constrained to diff
fer from the views which you expressed in the las
number of your paper as to the Improvements tina
result most benefcially in promoting the business
interests of the place u sg0l53 r 1876 q. IGa
| If my voice could determine the matter, the en-
tire appropriation would be used in extending tLt
piers and no part oft in dredging.
There viii meyer be what may be denominated ;
Hdrbor at Kenosha until the piers extended int
the lake to much greater distance than is propose,
in the plan adopted, and We hardly look fol
ano ther appropriation for many years to come. 4
would therefore in my opinion, have been far more
wise on thepart of the citizens doing business a
Kenosha to have labored to induce as large an ex
pendture as possible in extending the piers, and a
small amount for dredging rather than the reverse
| fifth entire amount appropriated should be ex
pended in dredging it would be of practical val
ne, but would be disgraceful waste ofmoney. If
on the other hand the Government Engineers
should ex pend the entire sum in extending the
| piers. IL would be an enduring and important i'm
provement to the harbor. v9
There are some owners of lots on the harbor who
are too penurious to dredge out against them Let
such owners sell out to more liberal and enterpri
sing men, take the consequences of want of bust
ness deprecated value to their property. It would
be quite as legitimate for the Government to dock
their lots and build up business places on them, as
to improve them by dredging out against them
The extension of the Harbor pier by the munici.
pal authorities of this place would be an underta-
king of some magnitude, and apprehend that the
city win not very soon do anything in that direction
The City owning dredge can,b moderate expendi-
ture each year accomplish all the excavation that
may be required. On the other hand it would re-
quire large appropriation al once to do anything
in the extension of the piers. Therefore the city
can do the dredging much better than it can build
piers 1t has the facilities for doing the one and not
the other and Iconclude no one is so idiotic as to
believe that S75,ooowill complete harbor here or
elsewhere.
1t is an erroneous opinion which is entertained by
some who believe the sand that aeeumuates between
the piers is blown the piers or that it teaches
through between the timbers of which the piers are
made. Ifsuch were the fact, we should expect to
find some important gu'ches in the land from which
this large amount of earth had been displaced
There is constant current on the shore of the
lake, running south this side and north on the
opposite side This carries with it drift of
sand, and whenever storm occurs, and especially
during the period of dead swells this sand drift is
deposited in large quantities on the shore. If the
harbor piers do not extend sufficiently far into the
lake to be beyond the influence of this sand drift the
inside of the harbor receives its proportionate
amount of deposit 4
To make bona fde harbor it follows that the
piers should be be extended until they reach depth
where the water is still and not moved at the bot
tom orin the be of the lake, even in storm. The
main body of the sand drift follows very near of
course the bed of the lake. and hence not reached
by the waves. is not thrown towards the shore
The true policy would be not to dredge out har-
bor but rather to extend the piers and avoid the ne
cessity of dredging.
take this occasion to say that regard it as mis-
take IN engineering to extend north harbor pier
to greater distance than the south harhor pier At
this point where there is but little if any current il
is probable that if bar should form outside the
piers it would be of uniform height with no opening
through it. But wherever there is a strong current
running out of harbor forces an opening through
the outside bar, and il the north pier is the longest
the opening through the bar will be formed from
fourth to half mile south of the harbor 1t win al
so be found that the bar the south side of the
harbor, will be the shore and not much farther
QUE than the south harbor pier.
If, however.t the piers are extended beyond the
sand drift and to depth OF water where the bed Of
the lake is not reached by the efforts of the waves
apprehend it would make no difference which pier
was the longest.