New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-09-20
Pearl River Mills.

| from the Bay st. Louis republican.
The lumber business on Pearl river is
| next in Importance to that Of PascagOuia,
and is capable of indefinite extension, but
for the difficulty of transportation, not only
to foreign, but to domestic ports.
The only exit for the lumber, shingles and
brick, manufactured at Pennington, Leg
town and Gainesville, is through Little
lake, large and shallow lagoon, four feet
in depth at low tide, and thence into the
RigoIets. BY this route the distance is so
! great to deep water where large ships may
anchor in safety to receive their cargoes,
and the business Of ightering is SO tedious
| and expensive, that the enterprising men
| who are conducting this great business are
| practically excluded fro1nforeign markets.
| Usually they are forced to sell their pro-
| ducts i'll New Orleans, or ship thence to st.
| Louis or other Western cities.
| Until East Pearl was closed by the rail
road bridge. that stream afforded the usual
| exit to the guilt and it was greatly superior
| to Pascagoula as a naVigab?e river. On the
| bar at its mouth there is never less than
eleven feet OF water, which a little dredg-
I tg will carry to any required depth. Afttr
p tssing the bar 1.-THE water in the river is
thirty feet deep as far as Pennington, and
between that point and Gainesville it is
twenty feet in depth. AS tide water ex-
tends to Gainesville, there is never any
ma al variation in the quantity of water;
so 1t will be seen that the river itself offers
splendid harbor for vessels of large ton
mage. But this stream is closed by the rail
road company, it is thought by good legal
minds, in violation of their charter The
Legislature has ordered the Attorney Gen
eral to investigate the question, and take
the necessary steps to force the company
to build awbridga, or to have their
charter declared forfeited. If he has moved
IN the matter, we are not advised Of it. An
eminent lawyer remarked to us few days
ago that the Investigation" required of the
Attorney General was light task; that he
need not even read the railroad charter,
Tor If the Legislature had improvidently
granted to the company the extraordinary
privilege Of closing up this river, they had
exceeded their powers, and their act was
absolutely void, and any court in the world
would SO decide.
People in the interior do not understand
the extent Of our lumber interests. Years
ago the lumber market of New Orleans be-
came glutted, and the mill owners all
turned their attention to foreign markets.
The neglect of the federal government, in
giving to Mississippi none of the aid so
generously extended to States that needed
1t less, and the unWise and foolish Iegisla-
ton at home, have greatly retarded their
Efforts But still the expectation of lumber
and shingles to foreign ports has steadily
increased, until now the closing of foreign
ports to our lumber ships would cause four
hfths Of the mills to suspend, and throw
hundreds of men out Of employment. With
the fostering hand of the federal and State
governments to hold them up, this business
can be increased without limitation, and
it will prove a source of inexhaustible
wealth.
Give us this assistance, remove these OBJ
structions to our exit to the great highway
OF nations, open up and improve our har-
bors-none are naturally better-clean out
the mouths of our rivers, and give us com
munication with the interior by railroads,
and we Will guarantee that in less than
quarter of a century Hancock, Harrison
and jackson will pay more tax into the
common treasury than any three counties
in the. State.