New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-12-16
m THE WEST INDIES.
,,reorAuoNs FOR THE cEsSIoN OF A
PORT TO THE UNITED STATES.

washington 10 Sraor were entered into by the |
'no administration in the cary par VI .,,e
present Au".'s ., &c believed, been Temporarily s's
they nav 10 cause which the sta'e Dcpaiu"o"'
Penoe" av,ll,ne 10 disclose. There Is So ' 80.
sen Cor stating that they VIII oe iesu-. 'a,,,no
INV" a.. In view of this isc' - ~ 80
ra,Aaps 10 recall the history v - nar, &c
Pria'e fe, ,sa the same object In Vie"' pas' :"
tations WV" :. ha found In the archives OF the
when hl'',-s and in the executive uoc"h'ch's
ee"s 800 now published Tor the n's. -
OF .he 80, a., uayti at which the Uni'ou ''"'oe
Inc p'~ -. lang contemplated inc os'aoi4Snuion'
W - staton is the harpor VI ~ ,,
Va o-+hsrn extremity OF inc iS'e"a' , .'
-. ,nAuari passage to tue ""- -. go. No.,
WV sea The coliecuon :" w 80,
CarioOcan ~,rrc upon what secretary So"a"
ment OF ~ a.. indispensable necessity OF having
cbarac'er'1.u rdsr our own flag for naval observa-
cosiihs 1911" 1910 and for defensive war as wei as
uoh "'~ o,uct,on OF our widely sprean oohinerco
-. ws are at peace ourselves. very iSfeo'
,,s official matter on this suolect - Onolo"en
...rhc description Of the haroor OF d. Nlooias
", r,,ten By the United states Minister 10 hayu
49, hs and a commander Of the Navy IN oni.eo
s,s,ss warshp had made careful Observations VI INC
s~ .rd q. surroundings. The Minister stated
ha'o' s,r.d N have the Government in the posses
'ha' ,hs oninion of candid and experienced Naval
spH " "a he venturcd 10 write description OF
-. n,.cs although. said he II is so out OF the
'e =, che ordinary works of nature that words can
not do 1t Justice ,..,. .h,~ surnl;ad
=, the state Department by It's Minister are as
follows: 49,. -.,,os ,oro
-, =, uniform height and at a distance looks like
- ,.st Roman wall 1t is mainly composed OF lime
-. BEFORE YOU come to It. you enter from the
.ss Cape St Nicolas your right is tbs first object
hat commands your attention 1t is magmhcenty oOu
,,a volcanic looking. ana clouds always HIDE me summit
- h.t Won cannot judge Of its height The haroor
nav be said to begin where the mole and the cape are AZ
sptoste points In fact the cape proper begins Aeay
noote the MOLE this point the cape rises from the
t., IN series OF natural terraces at proper distances
49, he mounting OF guns The first three seem as level
.. -. house floor. The others are more rugged tnihk
there are six in ALL As you enter the haroor inc mo'e
. an your left and it stretches along between e ocean
"a ,bs harbor until IL meets little neck Of land which
r-,,sets the inner harbor the on the cast
rh outer harbor Il almost deep for anchorage in
,s places protected enough from storms Tor that
purpOs and would hold all the heets IN
N. world. Just in front OF the TORT ana
"a, ope.thrd Of mile further in. is the beautiful
ana bach shapedike a crescent and back of It plateau
.endnC 10 the mountain in the rear from quarter to
half Of mile In width Commander Irwin took sounoings
an Along the beach The of this part OF the hsrbor
has sand bottom and the water is 50 GEAR that could
see the tufts OF sponge AMI the little fish at the depth OF
e,cht fathoms The whole length Of this beach above
described could be made into perfect wharf oy uVins
plies into the water at depth demsnoen oy any Aiu
ship and filling in from the shore so that all easSs vi
vessels coud be fastened by cables m perfect safely
The ,ableland behind the proposed wharf would be en-
tssy practicable building purposes ana behina tne
plateau are quarries the mountain side TOT ou
ing materala Besides this near by river oil COCA ires
water could be made available with little expense ana
connected with any enterprise either naval or otherwise
The river would supply the city If 1t were nifty times
large 1t is.
IL is as healthy place as Newport. Sept on the
hurricane deck in a cot under awning all night and
WAS Obliged TO protect myself with double blanket ana
had fine fresh breeze blowing in my face
The inner harbor is 80 from the end Of the mole
that a. is perfectly landocked by it, ASIDE from TINS te
mainland which forms this little pocket projects far into
the water leaving deep and narrow channel but "ioe
enough for the passage ships After get In you can
hardly persuade yourself that you are not ON htue
lake surrounded by bold shores Ships can ahcho
everywhere this basin. according 10 their SIG Inc
commander went over it, whole surface and took the
sndncs where he thought 1t necessary and FOUND tnem
10 correspond essentially with the old French char du
don't know how many years ago Ihe outer haroof
itself with battery the end Of the mole and batteries
IN the terraces Of the cape be perfectly unasa
able Besides no ship could anchor outside the mole OF
outside sthmus before described for the purpose oi
landing troops it is wild coast and the waters are
without soundings Aside all this both the mole
and the sthus are nsurmounaoe the mole being about
eighty feet high and other the side from forty
% fifty feet high The back country few miles from the
village said to be exceedingly fertile and the "hole
nagsborhood is salubrious
Nearly half century ago Admiral Porter then
lsuenant was sent by President Folks Secretary OF
the Navy, the distinguished historian, George Ban
eroh n Hsyti on a secret mission and he traversed
nearly the whole island from east 10 west ana nom
north 10 SOUTH travelling sometimes too on foot ana
sometimes on mule. and made an elaborate ana
highly favorable report OF the resources OF the slanu
and Of the character of the population Only rag
mensry portions of this interesting document py Lieu
tenant Porter remain in the archives of the Navy De
partnent About ten years later during the Admins
tration of Franklin Pierce. George B. Mcclellan AFTER
ward major-general accompanied by other engineers.
Vas sent by the War Department 10 survey the bay
and ueninsula of SANTANA The expedition sailed IN
The United States flagship Columbia. Commodore Now
Ton CAPTAIN Mcclellan selected a place for naval
coal depot In the course of the negotiations ior 'he
cessou IN the United States of the place selected and
for other rights in Domingo the state Department
Informed OF the machnaton s OF Officers OF loTeis
Governments especially SPAIN England and France 10
prevent the accomplishment of our object The United
States agent al san Domingo wrote TO the state D9-
patuent that the Consuls of spain, England ana
Frsnce held a secret interview with the Dominican
Cabinet the object of which was 10 obge the Wild
drawal OF the American treaty. threatening In case OF
REFUSAL to put INFO execution threats already mauS'
declaring that It would be permitted for the
people OF the United States to have foothoid IN the
Dominican Republic.
In his official report Jefferson DAVIS secretary
Of War. relative to his reconnaissance and survey
of the bay of SANTANA. for the purpose of obtain
Ing Naval station In that first OF bays In the
Antilles Captain Mcclellan made the important
statement that it Is to be observed that the Haytan
portion of the island possesses more good haIbors than
Dominica. That Of the Mole of ST. Nicolas is from
its position the most Interesting to us. commanding
the windward Passage even completely than that
SANTANA does the Mona Passage. 1t is so we'll
hawn that viii merely mention that 1t is a good
bsbor for large vessels. and was under the French
strongly fortified
Commander Sefrldge sixteen years later was sent
the United States steamer Nipsic (the predecessor
Of the Nipslc which was injured in the hurricane at
Atn samoaJ 10 the bay of SANTANA with Instructions
10 examine whether there is at that place good
position for coal depot. and whether the United
states Government can obtain such spot without