New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-07-30
j..
THE GULF PORTS OF TEXAS.
Their Condition and Capacity.


The st. Louis Republican furnishes the
following extracts from a letter to Mr.. l..
N. Reavis, from Mr.. j. c. Kay, a resident of
st. Louis:
BENHAM, Texas, July IL, 1871.
Your request last winter, that give you
such information in regard to the "harbOrs' -
on the coast as / might obtain at my leisure.
is hereby complied with. | find that it will
not do to believe half that is told you by
those who live at the different ports on the
gulf coast All are more or less interested
in the port where they live, and you had as
well believe what a politician or the devil
tells you, as listen to an interested party
speaking of the advantages of his locality,
or the disadvantages of the place compet-
ing against him.
TEXAS HARBORs.
The truth is none of the Texas harbors
are worth place ON the map. There is not
water enough at any of them TO float full
laden Mississippi river steamboat. Calves
ton island is surrounded by shoals in every
direction, and there is no possible chance to
improve permanently the depth of water,
so as to allow anything but a light steamer
to come in, and when inside at the wharf,
there is danger of their being bumped" to
pieces against the piers, if the wind should
rise. Cotton is all taken out in lighters, and
at a cost from the main shore over the
island and out to the ships at anchor of
almost as much as the price of freight from
ST, Iouis TO New Orleans. Houston. sitn-
ated fifty miles from Galveston, up slug
gish bayou, is free from storms, and with a
little Improvement, which is now being
made at the bars east of Galveston a few
miles, this city will be "a more convenient
port to send out or bring in freights than by
the island route. or. in other words. Calves
ton.
Matagorda Bay, Indianola or Rockport
have claims on the Improvement bill' al
most equal to Galveston. Rockport is a
bran-new place, and not long since some
work was done on the shoal in front, which
allows the Morgan steamers to come in and
go out with the same facility that they do
at Galveston. The mouth of the Brazos
is as good a place. probably, for harbor,
if the bar in front could be dredged out as
at Galveston. The Sabine is about the
best choice. or as good as any; and Ber-
wiek's bay, on the Louisiana coast, is to-day
in better fix for vessels to get TO Brashear
City as any other coast town between New
Orleans and Vera Cruz. Not single one
of these places can be worth a copper coin
to Missouri. The fact is, it will be the worst
thing YOU can do at st. Louis to connect by
rail with any of the gulf ports west of the
Mississippi river. The less st. Louis has
to say about the gulf connection through
Texas the better. South Texas is already
engaged to New York and Philadelphia.
Nearly everything they buy here comes
from the East via the light draught
steamers. Every facility given central and
south Texas to trade through the gulf ports
is loss to st. Louis. If there was
blockade of all Texas it would be better for
your section, for all that is shipped from
here out to sea would then go to you by
rail, and you would in turn sell millions
worth which is now bought and brought
in from the East through the coast towns.
st. Louis has spent enough trying to get
few bushels of grain from the wild-goose
country, which naturally belongs to Chica-
go, to control the trade of every plantation
along the Mississippi river and west of it
to Mexico. 1t used to disgust me to hear
them propose to send train of cars up into
the latitude of Rock Island to bring down
grain which ought and always will go via
the lakes to the Atlantic. And then they
have been worrying about Tennessee and
Alabama, and all of that country near and
south of Louisville and Cincinnati, which
was worse than the mania for grain in Wis
consin. Now all this has been done for
nothing, and to the neglect of the people
and the country which was intended by the
WOrld-maker for st. Louis to deal with.
After every place, and the deserts, too.
have been hitched on TO st. Louis, here
comes train OF cars to Texas. After the
eastern cities have worked their way
through a dozen coast towns into this
State, and have got their labels and trade
marks on everything to be seen about the
house or on the farm, st. Louis rouses up
and starts down here. Cincinnati and
Louisville are now nearer TO Texas than st.
Louis. Those two cities have got hold here,
though the Chattanooga, New Orleans and
Texas railroad now coming through West
ern Louisiana and aiming for Houston and
San Antonio which latter place gives them
the trade of great part of Mexico, worth
at San Antonio almost thirty millions
year.
The Ohio cities are playing the game st.
Louis has been so long engaged in with
Chicago. They will give st. Louis deal of
trouble for the trade of part of this State,
just as your city troubled Chicago for few
invoices of low grade spring wheat, and
without pay equal to the outlay. This will
come all right in the end, but it will cost
your section vast deal to get from this
country what was by right their own, and
which has been scattered for want of
gatherer. | suppose now that the tram is
on the way here, your "drumhead" board
of trade and indefatigable merchant money
oysters on the gulf coast, and help as much
of Texas as possible to get to the gulf also.
At least, this is just what | expect them to
do. By that time San Antonio which
would be worth more to st. Louis in one
year than the whole gulf coast of Texas can
be IN century, will be in connection with
New Orleans and also with Galveston.
Then after while another drumhead court
will sit, and a start will be made for San
Antonio. and in the course of time st. Louis
will get the trade of a big part of Me xico in
this way.
st. Louis should, by all means, make
demonstration IN favor of immediate con-
nection with San Antonio. The people
there don't want to go out to the world via
Galveston, but unless you all make quick
stir, they will listen to propositions from
both Galveston and New Orleans. The
gulf harbors are worthless; all of them, for
any good to st. Louis, and this move must
be made, else San Antonio, with her thirty
millions of Mexican trade, will vote money
to aid Galveston, New Orleans and Chatta-
nooga' and Cincinnati connections. All OF
the beef cattle and wool and hide trade be-
longs to West Texas. There is nothing of
these things in the other parts of the State.
| know ST. Louis will finally connect with
San Antonio. but it must be the first place
and not the last in the State to go to. 1t is
worth all the south ports of Texas hun
dred times over.
Get your leading men to have special
meeting in favor of San Antonio, and it
may, induce them to keep their money out
Of the scheme for Galveston, and also the
New, Orleans connection, via Houston,
which needs some aid just now. They |
want to connect with St. Louis in preference |
to any other place, and will vote money for
that purpose if you will do something to
make them think you are coming quick.
The southwest branch and the Sedalia |