Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-04-21
ALAMITOS.
A Place That has Fine HaFbOr Ad-
vantaRes : Good Hunting and
Ftshhnw-FrOspect That IL Will
u.cou,e N Famous oyster Garden.


Ftshhng-FrOsPect That IL VIII
HecOme "a Famous oyster Garden
Over a year ago the owners of tn
Rancho Los Alamitos conveyed thre
hundred acres of land in the vicinity o
the inlets and bays which form tn,
estuary of the New San Gabriel river to
corporation which agreed to build rail
road to Los Angeles. In addition to the
three hundred acres, the right Of way
was granted to the company through the
ranch. The line of railway was sur
veyed, stations laid out and a good deal
of preliminary work done. A townsite,
we'll located, overlooking the bay and
ocean, was surveyed, and everything
was ready for active operations, when
hard times came on and the projected
work was suspended until new impetus
should be given to it by q revival of
activities in this section.
A representative of the HERALD has
Just spent q few days in inspecting the
natural advantages of this embryo har-
Dor, and was astonished to discover its
many and positive merits. A body Of
water running parallel with the ocean
for about two miles, from fourteen to
seventeen feet in depth, forms the main
inside harbor. This depth could be in
creased indefinitely by dredging. New
River disembogues into this bay, and
carries depth of water of from twelve
TO fifteen miles inland. Its average
width at high tide is about half mile.
The fats, running from New river to the
ranch house estuary are intersected with
numerous sloughs, carrying quite body
of water. At nigh tide there is very
formidable expanse of water visible in
land for several miles, and besides pre-
senting most inviting outlook for har-
bor purposes, would make one of the
finest courses for pleasure sailing on the
coast. The exigencies of commerce,
whatever they might be, could be met
in this harbor by widening and deepen
ing the channels at any desirable point.
The entrance to the harbor from the
sea is one mile wide, and the channel is
perhaps one-half that width. The bar
forms at the extremity of Alamitos
Point and is from eight to ten feet below
the water at ordinary low tide. Compe-
te mt engineers have placed themselves
on record as to the facility of deepening
the channel across the bar by system
of jetties and training walls at compara-
lively small expense. Those who are
tions say that the channel at the bar can
be dredged to any depth that would be
required even for the passage OF deep-sea
vessels, as nothing but sand would have
to be removed. In addition to the
chespness and facility of opening this
harbor, would be the fact that Los An
geles, Downey, Anaheim and Santa Ana
can all be reached from it in from fifteen
to twenty miles. With these advan- |
tages it would eeem that it is only aues- |
ton of time when it will be utilized for |
the growing commerce of this section.
Mr.. John McGarvin, who occasionally |
writes interesting and suggestive letters |
to the HERALD, has resided on the mar
gin of Alamitos Bay for six or seven
years, has great faith in the successful |
outcome of this sheet of water not only
as busy harbor, but as a summer resort |
that possesses superior attractions to any
of the resorts that have only the ocean
beach to invite bathers to the water.
The placid bay is particularly inviting to
bathers who are not physically strong
enough to cope with the breakers, and
to those who prefer to enjoy the delights
of smooth swim in quiet waters to buf-
feting the powerful surf that sweeps in
from the Pacific ocean. He says that for
these reasons the number of campers on
the bay is increasing every year.
But the Alamitos estuaries are, per-
haps, destined to have peculiar interest
to Californians from the fact that experts
sent to this coast by the Government to
select points at which it would be ad-
visable to plant and cultivate the East
ern oyster have examined them, tested
the water and pronounced it to be, in all
10 hi To ft,A y, ~
the oyster as Chesapeake Bay. Indeed,
their analysis of the water at number
of points resulted in the discovery that it
was similar, in all respects, to the tests
applied to the water of the most prolific
oyster grounds of that bay. The experts
assured Mr.. McGarvin that they would
make positively favorable reports OF the
Alamitos inlets to the United States Fish
Commissioner, and we may look for
thorough and extensive experiments in
oyster planting in those waters as con-
sequence of the examinations referred
to. If it should turn out that oysters
can be raised in Alamitos Bay to COM
pare with those of Chesapeake, field of
industry will be opened at that point
which, of itself, will make it most valu-
able property.
In winter the inlets and arteries of this
bay are the paradise of hunters.
Ducks, geese, curlew, plover and all the
aquatic game birds seek them for the
feed and fish that abound on their mar
gins and in their waters. A large pro-
portion of the wild game brought to this
market in the winter season is sent from
Alamitos by hunters who make busi-
ness of it. Even now, with its sailing,
swimming, fishing and hunting advan-
tages, Los Alamitos is becoming fsvorite
resort with our people. If, in addition,
the harbor should be developed, and
direct rail connection be made with it,
its importance could be scarcely over
estimated