, 1873-09-18
puget Soanl 5ispattls.
The Termina! City.

Thursday, and found the spectators in
town-site property at that place in a
high state of indignation at Admiral
Pennock, of the flag ship Saranac, for
failing to anchor in their bay. The
Admiral had arrived there the day bs-
fore, and finding no practicable sound
ings marked upon the authorized chart
within more than his ships length Of
the shore in or about the town site, he
laid off, under steam, and got off three
or four of his boats, each under the
command of competent officer-taking
charge of one of the boats personally
and spent three hours or more in cast
ing the leads attached to hundred faith
ON cords, without finding anchor
age within several miles up and down
the coast. Some of the proprietors of
the town-site sought to persuade the
Admiral to drop his anchor in the mud
bottom, near the head of the bay, where
it had just been demonstrated that a
pile driven twenty feet INTO the Dud
would rebound to the surface, and he
explained to them that such ground
afforded 10 hold to an anchor; that q
sharp breeze from the north would
send his ship ashore and he would be
held responsible for its loss through his
own carelessness; that he had fully sat
isfed himself by own observation that
the waters of their harbor offered no
safe anchorage to vessels of any Kind.
In conclusion, he proposed to visit their
town by land, after taking his skip to
Steilacoom, where anchorage could be
had.
The foregoing are the exact facts as
We learned them from many personal
witnesses, most Of whom were denoun,
cling the Admiral as acting from preju-
dice or under subsidy to their enemies.
Such expressions as: GA put up job"
GA Seattle trickr "San Francisco
jealousy" and the like were freely ban
died to the. populace by men who knew
themselves to be among the authors of
all the trickery and false rretenses re-
lating to Tacoma and its harbor. We
will not degrade one of the most honor
ed names and spotless regulations in
our country's history by attempting a
defence of Admiral Pennocks motives
against the assaults of batch Of artful
dodgers whose attempted fraud upon the
public has CHANGED to be exposed by his
action in the clear line of his duty. If
his character was not above the neces-
sity of defence against loose and MALI
cious charges, the documentary evidence
is amply sufficient to vindicate the hon.
esty and propriety of his action in the
matter under discussion.
The Directors of the Northern Pacific
Railroad, the Commissipne. s~who loca-
ted the terminus at Tacoma, and the
Land Ring in whose interest the loca-
ton was made, all knew that there was
neither harbor nor anchorage suitable
to commercial city at that point
Wilkes survey, made many years ago,
demonstrated that fact conclsively, and
the point has never been touched by
any party since, being abandoned as
utterly impracticable, in view of the
fact that it had the smallest requisites
for safe aud comnodious harbor of
any occupied port upon Puget Sound.
If the Directors will examine any of the
reports of surveys or reconnoisances
made by their authority for their cwn
information, they will find the same
statements fully verified, all agreeing
in the fact that the great depth of water
at that place and the Inconvenience OF
anchorage, precluded it from being con-
sidered as an available point for the
terminus of the railroad.
Another requisite for a commercial
city is easy land approaches. In this
respect Tacoma is as great failure as
in its harbor facilities. The Ieasiest
grade by which the railroad can ap.
proach the water is 116 feet to the mile,
All railroad engineers know that this is
almost, if not quite an impracticable
grade for loaded trains. During our
long rainy seasons sometimes mingled
with snow and sleet, the ascent would
be impossible, and the descent attended
with the most imminent peril.
The railroad wharf has been COM
menced in front of the new town site,
and proved another failure, the mud
mingled with quick-sand being too soft
to hold pile. Another attempt has
been commenced at the foot of a bluff
about hundred feet high above the
water and running down into deep wa
ter at an angle of about 45 degree. A
wharf built upon piles ON this side-hill,
with nothing to brace it from the lower
side, Will have to sustain leverage
iargelyin excess of its capacity for bear
ing level weight, and the first time a
loaded train of cars passes upon that
wharf, we confidently expect to have to
chronicle the calamity that wharf and
all have slid into the unfathomable
depths of the bay.
These are but some of the disadvanta-
ges of the place selected over the many
eligible harbors upon Puget Sound for
the western terminus of the Northern
Pacific Railroad. The Commissioners
tonnnInf 10 4 1,-- 10 ca1aof ha