The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1868-02-07

| THE DRY DoCK.-A hearing was had last
evening before committee of the City Coun-
Gil appointed to consider and report upon the
proposition now before the Legislature to al
low Mr. E. c. Simpson and others, successors
to the Portland Dry Dock Company, to extend
the piers Of their dock beyond the harbor line.
The site Of the dock, as many OF our readers
are aware, is just below the Portland bridge in
Cape Elizabeth. and massive wall of mason
ry erected by the Portland Dry Dock Com
pany twenty-five feet inside of the harbor line
marks the front line of the work. The COM
pany was originally composed of our own citi-
zens but after the fire of 1866 this enterprise,
like many others, came to a stand. Negotia-
tions were then begun with Mr.. Simpson,
whose patents and plans the company were
using, and in June or July last, the land and
Improvements were sold to him and his asso-
ciates at a low figure in order to secure the
completion of the work. To insure this result
the company required Mr.. Simpson to give his
bond for $4,000 to complete the dock in ac-
cordance with the original plan within two
years, and with that understanding work was
begun last season.
The original plan contemplated the construc-
ton of piers, extending from the front of the
dock to point $50 feet outside of the harbor
line but still 100 feet inside of low water mark,
and the bill now pending before the Legisla-
ture authorizes Mr.. Simpson and his associ-
ates, with the consent of the Harbor Commits
sioners, to proceed accordingly. At the meet
ing of the City Council Monday evening
protest against this interference with the har-
Dor was presented and referred to committee
consisting of Aldermen Deering Lewis and
Giddings and Councilmen Dow, Winslow and
Gould. The whole question turns upon the
effect which the extension of these piers be-
yond the harbor line may be expected to pro-
duce upon the harbor, and the presumption
was naturally against the project.
Phinehas Barnes, ESQ.,, appeared before the
committee for Mr.. Simpson. After relating
the history of the enterprise and showing that
Mr.. Simpson is simply pursuing the plan adopt
ed by the Portland Dry Dock Company, Mr.
Barnes proceeded to say that he should have
great hesitation in recommending any varia-
ton from the suggestions of the distinguished
engineers, who in 1854, and again in 1855 re-
ported upon this harbor. Gen. Totem, Prof
Bache and Admiral Davis in 1854 spent fiyei
days in studying our harbor, and immediate
ly, before leaving the city, established the har-
Dor line on the Portland side. They never es-
tablshed line on the Cape Elizabeth side.
No suggestion of such line appears in their
preliminary report, or in their subsequent re-
port in 1855. But the next winter it was Thought
well to secure the observance of their recon-
mendations by legislative enactment. and a
bill for that purpose was forwarded to Mr..
Barnes, then Representative at Augusta.
In that bill, which was passed, a line is des-
cribed on the Cape Elizabeth side of the har-
Dor, and it is this line, resting upon no scientific
authority, which with the permission of the
Harbor Commissioners, Mr.. Simpson wishes
to cross. Outside Of his docks are eight acres
of fats, bare at low water. Above them is the
Portland bridge, filed in solid for 700 or 500
feet to the harbor line. What Mr.. Simpson
wants is to extend his piers, indispensable for
any work Of the kind, $50 feet over these fats.
dredging nearly three feet for every foot they
occupy, and stopping 100 feet above low water
mark. From the channel to the dock he must
dredge his way through the mud, making room
for three times the volume of water the piers
displace. ..-.
Mr.. Barnes also spoke of the Importance of
dry dock to navigation, and said that with.
out these piers the work must be abandoned |
Here are men ready to invest a quarter of a |
million on these fats, which cannot be i'm |
proved for any other purpose. 1t /. an offer
which ought not to be rejected. unless for the |
soundest of reasons. |
Capt. Warwick, of the Board of Harbor Com |