Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-05-02
Hon. Roger Q Mills, on the slst day Of
January, 1885, stated ts follows IN regsnd


ing, that they have been educated at West
Point by the government; that they are
learned and skillful, end al thEt. Their
success has oeen precisely the same al
Galveston thss it vas at the mouth of the
Mississippi river, and precisely The same
ut Brownsville that IS was st Galveston
End st the mouth OF the Mississippi
river, snd that is, their success is ex-
pressed By the word "failure."
Il 1874 they began the work OF the i'm
provement OF Galveston harbor by the
"gahloEu sde" system. The engineers all
expressed confidence that this system
WAS success. They never fsltsred in
their devotion TO it, and never wsvered In
their confidence OF procuring whist they
Undertook to get, that Is. eighteen feet OF
water on the bar. But in 1879 the gsbion-
made system was abandoned, swept away,
and it has gone "There TIE woodbine
swineth." daughter
Mr.. Stewart OF Texas made strong
speech in favor of the appropriation. He
said: I have accorded to the gentleman
from Maine all the Tina it % proper for
me TO yield, and as member Of the Com-
mittee feel that IL Is necessary or ia
cumbert upon nae TO say something In re-
gard to this appropriation.
Mr.. Chairman, before addressing my
self to the question before the committee,
1 desire to express my sincere regret that
anything like sectionalism should have
been brought into discussion Of mis-
bill. stated, on former occasion dur
ing this discussion, that In considering
places where the public money WAS to be
appropriated for such improvements We
were not governed oy state limits or stste
lines; but we conceived thai the only
jurisdiction Congress had over the mat-
ter was because of the fsct that these
ports oelo geJ to the United States, and
we gave consideration to the improve
ment OF these different places for which
we nave appropriated money, not because
they happened to be embraced within the
limits OF state, but because they were
hsrbOrs that belonged to this great gov
pfopriating money for the Improvement
Of tn m.
l stated slso on a former occasion that
before the committee attempted to deal
with these subjects we found 1t necessary
to be governed by some sort Of rule.
What better rule, ask, could we have
adopted than the reports Of the different
officers OF the government on these va
rious works ana in charge Of theml We
adopted IS means OF guiding US in the
appropriations we ms6e these reports;
and, as I have stated, whilst 1t was not 3
rule to which we adhered in ell cases and
at all times, we did most generally adhere
to ths. rule of giving from 40 to 80 per
cent. of the appropriations demanded fer
the Improvement Of these different
points.
Now, Mr.. Chairman, in regsrd to Gal
weston. This Is great commercial en-
porium of the great state of Texas. 1t is
the largest city in our state; and il re-
suits commensurate with the amount OF
money expended there have not been OBJ
tanned, 1t is not due altogether to the
obstacles to the Improvement of the vavl-
CATION at Galveston, nor should say that
it Is due to the ignorance or ineflciency
OF the officers who had the work in charge.
Everyone who has familiariz I'd himself
with jetty works must know that they are
somewhat tentative in their character;
sud that the engineers, from the expert
ence gained in the prosecution OF the
work, and from the result OF the tides
upon the works themselves, have often
been compelled to change their plans, for
sometimes these plans have failed.
This, admit, is the misfortune at GAL
weston. A large amount Of money was
appropriated, which resulted in
40 practical benefit. But in 1852
the jetty works were commenced
there, after survey by a board
of competent engineers OF the United
States army. Unfortunately they adopted
the mattress system, and the mattresses
were destroyed by the teredo; and, per-
hsps, there was supsidence of the mat
tresses themselves because of the weight
placed upon them. IL view Of the ex-
perience of the past the plan has been
changed again, and instead of using
wooden mattresses, subject to the attacks
of the teredo, they use stone and granite;
snd the recommendation made by the
officer In charge at Galveston for the
necessary works on this plan was IS ,000,.
900. The chief engineer saw proper to
cut that estimate down to 81 1000, 900;
and we, adhering to the rule that was
adopted in other states, and to which
have referred, gave 50 per cent of the
amount recommended by the chief engi-
neer.
Mr.. Chairman, there Is no more i'm
portant work in this whole country thsn
the Improvement OF the harbor OF Gsl-
weston.
Without going into . detailed state
mens OF the work that has been done
there, let me say to the committee that
there are two projects: One to extend
these sea-walls cut to and across the bar,
which, it is believed, and the engineer 30
expresses the opinion, will give eighteen
feet of water. By extending them farther
a depth of thirty feet Of water can be OBJ
tanned. To accomplish the first will re-
quire SO, 600, 600, but by the second plan
1t is estimated that 81. 100000 would be
required.
Galveston is one of the chief cotton
ports Of the United States. 1t has very
large and steadily Increasing trade. The
engineers report shows tnat there is
commerce there amounting annually 10
some S7S. 0so, 900. There Is tonnage
there of $50 steam-vessels and more than
29s sail vessels that enter and depart from
that port annually. The tonnage amounts
to 44s,sO1. And back of this port is the
great state OF Texas with its immense re-
sources, with population now OF per-
hsps two and one-han millions Of peo-
pie, continually increasing in number, in