The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1872-01-13
THE PACIFIC
Commercial AO6ertiser
SATURDAY, JANUARY l3.
a Dry Dock Wanted.

In bidding for the visits of the whaling feet at
the port Of San Francisco, the local journals Of
that city have omitted to mention one great ad-
vantage possessed by that port over these islands,
and that is the Dry Dock, where ships bottoms
can be thoroughly examined and repaired with
but little waste Of time, without any danger of
straInIng the vessel, and at q moderate cost.
With all the other great advantages Of Honolulu
as a port of call and reft, the absence Of a dry
dock is a great want. The time consumed and
the expense incurred in discharging and heaying
out a ship for repairs is a very serious considera-
ton. In view of our central ocean position, and
the prevailing winds, making US the only point
in the North Pacific for which the commerce be-
tween three Continents can bear up when disabled
or in distress, it becomes peculiarly necessary that
we should be provided with every requisite for the
repair of ships, with thoroughness and dispatch.
Every one comedies this, but no moYemen is made
towards the establishment here of that most
needed adjunct Of a central Pacific port-a dry
dock. Tahiti has boasted of one for some years, al
though there is not one twentieth part the ne
cessity that exists here. The French government
was quick to appreciate the advantages that
would result to even that seldom visited port of a
dry dock, and we occasionally hear of a ship call
ing there for repairs. But there are always
obvious objections to Government entering into
enterprises of this sort, and we do not favor the
project which we have heard preached, of our
own Government taking into its hands the con-
~struetion of a dry dock for Honolulu. But
Government can, and ought, as soon as the OPP
portunity is apparent, take the initiative by
iavoring. such an enterprise very materially, if
undertaken by responsible parties. No better
location could be desired for the building of such
an establishment than a portion of the space
between the end of the steamship wharf and the
opposite east eide of the port, and that is Govern
ment property. A liberal policy in the granting
of q site, will, we are convinced, call forth the
men and the means that will speedily provide
this port with that great desideratum, a capacious
dry dock.
An instance is just at hand to illustrate, better
than any arguments, the necessity for a dock such
as we have spoken of. a large ship, loaded with
nearly a million feet of lumber, for which the
railway builders of South America are waiting,
springs aleak at sea through stormy weather and
is compelled to run into port for repairs. Ar
rived here in safety, she must first be ~lightened
OSNS DO Ni SHeSi GClbS bSh cSh - IA
order to be hove out, and after being repaired,
reloaded in order to proceed on her voyage. A
pretty round bill Of expense must be the result, a
very large portion of which would be saved, had
we a dry dock-to say nothing Of the valuable
time consumed in discharging and r~elading.
Suppose that unfortunately, the NeUada or the
NEBRASKA should come into port some day, SO
badly injured in the hull by a collision or some
other mishap that the ship could never 90 to sea
again until the entire bottom had been examined
and repaired. Why she might lie and rot in our
harbor, for all that we could do. To take out
the machinery and boilers and ship masts in order
to heave her out, would be a long, costly and I'M
satisfactory job. But a few days only in a dry
dock, and the ship is off again, as good as new.
We hear much of the colonization of one of
the Navigator Islands, at which is one of the
finest harbcrs in the world. In the event of the
Webb line becoming,-as doubtless it villa
permanency, and the Colony Cor American pos
session ~perhaps,) resulting in a success, the
steamships running between California and the
British Colonies OF the South Pacific will make
that a eoaling station and a port of call, and we
may be sure that a dry dock will not be long
wanting, to complete its advantages.
The province and the duty OF the Government
in a country situated like this, is not only to be
prompt in liberal aid of an undertaking so plainly
necessary for the benefit of the country as the
one in question, but it should be imbued with a
sufficient spirit of energy to at once take the ini-
tiative in making the preliminary sOundings and
surveys, and publishing them Cor the Information
of capitalists here and abroad, together with all
the advantages of rights and privileges to be
guaranteed, which may go to prove that such an
enterprise would be a profitable one to all con-
cerned.