Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1871-02-22
Immense Wharf i'm San Francisco Bay.

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From the Alta California, Jan IT.
A wharf, 1000 feet long, running
out to depth of "a feet at low tide and
of 81 feet at high tide, in bay like
that of San Francisco, having II rail
road tracks upon it's last 800 feet, a
wide carriage-way, spacious passenger
depot and railroad offices, warehouses,
grain or other merchandise, three large
docks, one of which affords ample space
for five of the largest steamers or clip
pers ofoat, is not often seen, even in
this age of railroad and engineering
wonders. Such a structure has been
completed by the Central Pacific Rail
road Company on the Oakland or East
side of the Bay of San Francisco. The
extreme end of the main wharf is only
three miles from the foot of Second ST.,
where freight is landed in this city, and
is less than IL from the foot of Pacif-
ic ST., where passengers are set down
ON this side. 1t would be much more
difficult to build such long wharf with
safety on our side of the bay, because
the bottom here is yielding mud, hut
on the Oakland side there is nard
clay bottom. Nothing has been neg
lected in the quality of material used
ana workmanship employed to make
the wharves the very best ever built in
the United States. Experts in the
construction of such work, army and
other engineers, who are familiar with
Like structures in Europe and America,
all agree in saying that for engineering
! I Il
and excellence of all the material en-
ployed, the work is not surpassed by
any that they ever examined The
piles used, where the water deepens, are
IS feet long, and are ~ to 81 inches in
circumference, or as heavy as the main
mast of the largest clipper. They are
all of the very best pine, which, FOR
lasting qualities under water, is one of
the best kinds of wood. The main
wharton 1000 feet east of the latter
there are two wharves, one for the Oak
land local trains, and one for the regu-
lar freight aid passenger cars of the
through overland roads 800 feet wide
at the extreme or western end, and on
it are pens for 500 cattle, two immense
warehouses 50x500, another 53x6OO),
with the passenger depot, 75x305 in
size. The piles were driven into the
bottom to depth of IS feet. They are
set 10 feet apart parallel with the course
of the wharf, and and feet across it.
In the docks, or slips, there is double
row of spring or fend off piles, and the
regularity and neatness with which
they are laid, is especially worthy of
attention. Those who will examine the
al Il cI5 l. -
to run, or who remember those used at
Brooklyn { N. Y. } ferries, will be able
to appreciate the superiority of the
Central Pacific slips. The upright
piles on the last 900 feet of the main
wharf are braced with immense cross
piles, and iron anchors. Trains of
heavily loaded freight-cars pass over
this gigantic structure with as little Jar
as over solid ground.
The massive new freight ferry-boat
of the Central Pacific Company has
been Completed, and is now running
from the Company's extensive wharves
and docks above described, on the Oak
land side of the bay. The boat carries
l6 loaded cars on each trip, and has, in
addition, pens for 800 cattle. She can
carry 1000 to ], 230 tuns each way per
day, making the trip across the bay
three miles in 40 minutes when load
ed. A railroad now connects the Pa
cific Mail Company's dock and the
Central Pacific wharf on this side, by
means of which the cargoes of the
China steamers can be Immediately
discharged into the Central Pacific
freight cars, and thus the utmost dis
patch will be attained in shipment of
teas, silks, and other fast freight in
tended for the Atlantic States and
Europe. The Central Pacific Company
owns all of the Oakland water front on
which its vast wharves are built. It
has its own docks there, capable of
accommodating five of the largest clip
pers or steamers at time. In future,
all grain ores, wool, wine, and other
merchandise that are to be shipped to
Europe or elsewhere, by water will be
discharged directly on shipboard from
the cars at the end of the Company's
wharf, while all steamers or other
crafts those of the Pacific Mail Com
pany alone excepted-which come into
this port with Oriental cargoes for the
Atlantic States, will go direct to the
SoLuptly .. uOChS d1u llulOdu lIlJO Uno
cars. In this way heavy wharfage tolls,
loss of time, double handling and it's
onerous attendant costs, will all be
avoided. In the building of these deep
water wharves and warehouses, the
Central Pacific Company has omitted
nothing which would tend to facilitate
business and reduce expenses on the
Company's railroad. Mr.. S. Montague,
the Chief Engineer of the Central
Pacific Road, and Mr.. Arthur Brown,
who built all the Howetruss bridges on
that road, planned and built the great
wharves and warehouses which we have
described, and the whole work stands
as a fresh monument of the engineering
talent Of the one, and the mechanical
skill and ability of The other
RHODE ISLAND claims to rival Con-
nectlcut in raising onions