The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1878-08-10
Official Press Of King County
Saturday, August 10, 1878.
THE HANDWRITING ON
THE WALL.

ton of the Flanagan mine, have shu.
down, and the presumption is that the
suspension is permanent, The reason
assigned is the shoaling of the bar at
the Coos Bay entrance to such an extent
that the coal cannot be transported,
except at such cost for freight as to
render it incapable of competing with
the Seattle and British Columbia art
icles.
This announcement gives a melan-
choly emphasis to the fsc: asserted
years ago by engineers, that there we're
only two harbors on our Pacific coast.
And now comes evidence that even that
slim number is in process OF being re
duced still less AS the old saying is :
1.-TWO little blackbirds sitting on a limb:
One few away. and then there was one.l
In 1853, Gen. Lander wrote: "On
q coast line of | 200 miles there are but
two available ocean harbors San Fran
cisco Bay aud Puget Sound Now it
appears that the same natural process
which in time past has choked up Coos
Bay, Humboldt Bay, Gray's Harbor,
and oil the other ocean offings along
the coast, is operating with startling
rapidity to abolish the far famed Bay
of San Francisco. Other celebrated
harbors Of old-world renewn and seats
of a world wide commerce are mere
tide fats to-day, but in the case of San
Francisco An artificial cause co-operates
to accelerate the speedy doom of that
great and world monopolizing sea port
San Francisco Bay is the reservoir
that receives the wash of the entire river
system of the California interior
basin lying between the Sierra Neva
da and Coast range. The alluvial detris
delivered by the Sacramento and San
joaquin rivers, naturally great, is aug
mented by the hydraulic washings from
the mines that are worked throughout
the foot hills and which send down
continuously yellow flood CT fluent
mud to clog the lagoons of the bay and
choke the bar at It's entrance. Last
winter. it will be remembered, almost
as much difficulty was experienced BY
shipping in crossing the bar at the en-
trance of the Golden Gate as at the
mouth Of the Columbia river, and
almost as many mishaps occurred. Ali
these things point to day, perhaps
Tot far distant, when the chosen road
stead within the headlands of Puget
Sound shall DO the preferred rendez-
vous of the argosies of Pacific coast
commerce The channels of commerce
are themselves shifting as those of the
Delta, and forces that work unseen and
silent. though ceaselessly. are more
Potent than armadas. plague or tenn
pests to subvert or create empires.
Relative to this question of the shoal-
ing of San Francisco harbor, scienti-
fic correspondent of the Post, thus treats
of the problem
During my stay here my attention
has been called to the rapid filling up
of the bays and straits fed by the
Sacramento river. The Endorsement of
the scientific theoryis optional with the
reader. but Investigation will demon
strate its orgectness. The alluvium of
the Sacramento river aud its tributaries,
and the incalculable amount of tailings
which is now and has been for twenty
five years pouring into them from the
numerous hydraulic mines. are deposit
ed in vast quantities In San Francisco
and San Pablo bays. The ebb of the
tides carries part of it through the
Golden Gate. over the bar and into the
ocean beyond. The remainder, in time.
is permanently deposited along the
shore and at the bottom of the bays
and straits. From the operation of
natural laws, the amount carried away
To the ocean becomes less and less each
wear, and the amount deposited in tho
bays and straits becomes greater. The
rapidity with which San Pablo bay was
filled up on the flats was found by oh
servation to average about ten inches n
year for the entire area The most
rapid deposit took place in April. May
and june of this year. reaching fifteen
inches. The deposit in Mare Island
straits averages eight inches a year
When the filling up Of San Pablo bay
and the straits Is completed, aud the
waters of the Sacramento river aud It's
tributaries pass through San Pablo bay
by narrow channel alone the deposit
IN San Francisco bay will ba immense
ly increased. There follows asa natural
Consequence that for every cubic foot
Of sediment deposited. one less cubic
foot of water enters the Golden Gate
with the flood tide. thereby diminish
ing the power of the ebb TO carry out
over the bar the immense quantity of
sediment held in solution. What will
he the result As soon as the tidal
flow out aud into the bay has reached
. minimum for overcoming the action
of the subsurface currents, slack water
will be had on the bar in the subsur-
face currents and rapid deposits will
take place at the surface Hood in the
under eddies. This condition Of the
water in the bay is likely TO exist be-
fore many years. and then the
amount of deposit will increase in a
still greater ratio. In the not far dis
tant future the community will awake