New-York tribune., 1871-07-11
THE GERMAN NAVY.
VISIT TO THE HARBoR OF FwILHElMsHAvEN-TlIE
RoN-CLAD KONIG wILHELM-0THER NES-
sEIs BUILDING.

sEIS BUILDING.
IFRoM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
WLnELMsHAvEN, June 23-Wilhelmshaven
sught be rich in recompense for the depressing char
aeter Of the journey TO IT, An uger country than that
between Bremen and Odenburg the keenest connosseur
In uglinoss could not desire In appearance is mix
ture of o low country Scotch and an Irish bog. AT
intervals In the desoaton there little oases OF
patches OF grass land and stumpy rye fringed with
miserable stuned willows and aders. The country Is
perfectly nat 1t seems as il there woods on the
horizon but this turns out TO he an ilus'on-the
wooded appearance is given by the mis-
Rnthropic alders Occasionally, IL is true, there
ts patch OF forest but the trees are mani
festly discontented with their lot Life Of any kind is
rare After pass Oldenburg there ls
a marked change in the scenery After interval of
scrub heather stuned pines and sand holes we come
out tract OF rich, fat meadow land The dtches are
fun Of water suggestive OF marsh evers and agues; but
the grass Is thick and tall, with fine bg-framed catte
wadng azy through it, On the little hillocks are pretty
farmhouses embowered in clumps of hardwo trees OF
which too there are large forests al intervals OF well
grown vigorous trees with spreading branches FORCING
ample elbow Pretty struggling villages arc
scattered the fat rich country, and the nauNes
are plump, and seem to have more sap IN
them than the wthered mfortunates on tDe
bleak wastes the other side OF oldenOurg' 80 we
travel on till great sea-wa comes In sight bounding
the horizon aud the conviction dawns upon us that all
the country is below the sea.leve The railway line
skirts the sea-ws for distance and then the train
stops abruptly at the terminus of Heppens, otherwise
wilbelmshaven A dreary prospect meets one on
emerging from the little station which seems 10 have
been dropped promscuously in the middle Of field but
recently reclaimed from the There is not house
near the station STIR life and hustle totally want
ing Before the line OF the sea-wa. as stood
on a brick paved road, which seemed to lead straight
the through chaos of bricks earthh heaps, and
big half finished brick buildings.
ON my arrival had in my pocket map Of Wihelms
haven, which 1 unfolded determined to be guided
thereby. my left went down the brick paved road
found open wdenesslike field full of waterholes
THE square is marked my map the marketplace
1t possible that at remote the waste may
become ,rket- place; n.the time, 1t is wilder
On the rghthand side Of the road is succession
OF Lrck edces various stages Of constructions none
are finished. There is building which my map informs
is, rather is TO be, a school; then comes the
church. already crowned by neat spire; then club
house for officers yet rooted n with large hospital
behind IT, on which few wOrkmen busy; then
large dOuble barracks each for 800 men says the map
but, yet, long way from being finished; d;
and then another interval is waste land
and mud holes. Looking 70 the left again, saw
few sheds the stocks further of, the gaunt
rbs another vessel in the earliest stage OF construc
ton the stmpy lower Of two three large ships
laid up ordinary and the great stern Of large iron
clad doubt these vessels in the warharbor men
toned on my map. Between II and the road is space
when, on tnt tne NdNdl stOTcs
sheds and magazines" with dotted lines TO indicate the
poson of their erection they shall be constructed
present they not constructed The space is waste
with few seemingly engaged among the mudholes
in eXcayating foundations Close TO the road Is long
deep trench which told has been cut for the fouhda
zion Of the dock yard lncOsureWaH Az present 'eo 10
nothing TO inclose.
little further on and the road with the seawal still
looming on the right reaches what suppose one must
call the town of whemshaven. The site has been iald
ont rather pretentously There three cross streets
and running parallel to the main road between
1t and the ses-wall On the margins Of these some
houses have built. There two hotels, several
beerhas few shops, and the rest OF the houses are
for the most part neat cottages presumably inhabited
by the officers, foremen &C. Of the embryo docEyard
The largest the pacea square twostoried edi
6ce-s residence OF the captain who commands the
port and his Office is the ground floor After cOntnu
ing straight along the road passed through the
town and out another piece Of waste g1rded by
the seawal. with masts visible beyond The road
straight all the way the station TO the sea- passes
through the seadyke by cutting and terminates on the
wooden etty Of a little haven harbOF toerably
crowded with small craft discharging bricks, timber,
&c The name OF this little haTbor is Lege Haven il
existed here before the war; haIbor arsenal and dock
yards were thought Of and was used by the country
people for bringing lime manure, Goals &c. and for
taking away their produce to markets along the coast
Cargoes Of cattle have been sent from the little
port but its chief trade since the railway was made
is in connection with the adjacent war-harbor
Orening into the southeastern corner Of the
North Sea- and in close proximity 10 each other
are three considerable estuaries-that Of the Jade
te most westerly that OF the WeseT and that OF the
Elbe The mouths Of all these, and the coast generally
sro obsructed by sandbanks, and the navigation
the easy. The warhaTbOT of WIhemshaven
the western side OF the bay Oi Jade near where
the outer bay OF channel ons the inner bay, which opens
into lake-lke expansef of shallow At the spot
chosen for the harbOr there was naturally blunt pro
iection with its point looking TO the southeast the
whole coast being girdled 10y substantial sea-wal
since IL IS considerably below hiRwater mark The en-
eneers ntrused with the construction Of the harbor
TOOK advantage OF this protection To obtain the requisite
depth Of water they the original sea-wa and pro
jeeted the bsected edges either side considerable
distance the bay. From the rounded examinations
of the sea-wa on either side Of the artificial channel,
solid granite moes are s further projected seaward
distance of about $50 feet terminating in substantial
rounded butresses The general effect IS that sharp
triangular projection has been thrust out seaward from
the the original seawa cut in two from apex TO
base by artificial channel leading 20 the warhmbor
This projection has been hanked on either side by low
stone dyke stretching along the face of the old wall
considerably seward the intent being 70 reclaim the
interval and thus diminish the abruptnes Of the artificial
projection.
Between the two moleheads is the outer entrance to
the harbOr-35O feet This porch as may be
styled is paraeoam 700 feet long and half a. broad,
banked continuously by the solid granite moles, and
founded nwards by lock 1872 feet long and &C feet wide
shut in at either end by pOnderous slucegaes Inside
this lock another BASIN coo feet long and 400 ieet
vide called the forehaven and it again, at its inward
end liz bounded by second lock Of the dimensions
As that separating IL from the porch This fore-hayen
has it, iees brick trimmed at the corners and the
oopes with granite. From the second lock runs back
ward with a slight bend into the inner haven, long,
brickfaced canal, varying in width from $50
To 96O feet, and in length 1890 feet, having
n square recess on it's right about half