The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1890-02-13

The twenty-foot chan ell Is nearly
$4,000 feet long, or about six miles.
Unfortunately, however, the govern.
ment engineers considered that eight
cen or twenty feet of water was all that
would ever be required at Sabine Pass,
and they placed the jetties so far apart
that it is extremely doubtful if even
this depth will ever be secured, even
if the jetties are built out to the Gulf
Instead of placing them 500 or 1000
feet apart, and thus surely obtaining
a good twenty-six foot channel, they
placed them 1900 feet apart. Recog-
nizing that great mistake was made,
they have attempted to draw them
into a narrower width; but even if
they should be extended to depth of
twenty-seven feet in the gulf, they
would be at that point one thousand
eight hundred feet apart. fully twice
the distance apart that they should
be. The only possible way to rectify
this grievous mistake is by building
many long wings out from the main
jetty, or an interior jetty at consider
dple eApeusG.
Concerning the harbor areas which
there will be for navigation inside of the
bar there is between the twenty-five foot
curves 176 acres, while at Galveston
there is but 100 acres in the in
ner harbor. If the channel at Sa
bine pass is widened in order to obtain
material for filling the ground along
side the pass, there will be added over
200 more acres to this area ,;ca;,f
1t has been asserted that's Tthe
ground is low swamp and unfit
for commercial purposes. This is a
mistake. The ground is hard, is above
any tides but storm tides, and, by
raising it three or four feet, which can
be done at a moderate expense there
will be an area that can be devoted to
commercial purposes, and / have no
doubt that the ground is sufficiently
solid to carry the largest structures
upon it such as elevators and other
buildings. l am perfectly frank in
saying that, having been interested in
all the harbor projects along the coast
of Texas, bear no ill-will to any Of
them, particularly Galveston, where
the government certainly ought to
continue and complete its work, and
give this important city an adequate
harbor entrance. My object in ap-
pearing before you is to urge appro-
priations for oUher points, which have
been summarily dismissed by this
board of United States engineers
left out in the cold,-and to present
some of the leading engineering
points in this discussion. In this
country with our large rivers we are
apt to not entirely appreciate the
value of what we consider inferior IA
cilities for commerce. In the older
countries large number OF the most
important ports, where an immense
navigation goes in and out, have a
comparatively restricted channel. The
Brazos river or the South pass of the
Mississippi river, would, either of
them, be considered of immense value
in nearly every port in Europe. 1t is
we'll known that the river Clyde was
formerly slough, which was deepen
ed by most expensive dredging. 1t is
also we'll known that vast amount
of shipping visits that port, and that
some of the largest vessels in the
world are built upon this narrow
stream. have only to call your at
tention to narrow river on one of our
great lakes, where tonnage of over
5000, 900, and vessels numbering over
$4,000 are accommodated without
difficulty every year, and IN
q channel not over 25O feet
wide. ] refer to the port OF
Chicago, and Senator Cullum will bear
me out in that statement. At one of
the mouths of the Danube very
large navigation goes in and out for
five different European kingdoms, and
this channel and the work which ac-
complished it are of very great i'm
portance in Europe; yet the effective
width of the entrance channel is only
$50 feet.
You will more fully appreciate the
size of your harbor entrances from the
sizes of those in European countries,
where large commercial business is
done, much larger in some of them
than we could hope to have for time
at our proposed Gulf ports. The
Brazos, which the war department
threw overheard as unworthy of i'm
provement, ranks with some of the
largest harbor entrances in Europe
and is double the size of many of
them. Aberdeen harbor, large port
in France, $50 feet; Calais, France
(and one OF its most important ports),
400 feet; Ostend, the port for Brus-
sells, Belgium, less than 500 feet; Dun
kirk, on the North sea, 200 feet;
Ymuiden, the harbor entrance to the
Amsterdam ship canal, SOU feet
Leith, an important British port, 23o
feet; the river Thames ut London,
where some OF the largest docks in the
world are, is not over $50 to 500 feet
wide Hartlepool harbor, England, has
an entrance 275 feet wide Belfast
Ireland, $50 feet.
This list could be indefinitely OK
tended, but have, ! think, estab,
lished the right, on behalf OF the en-
tire coast line OF Texas excepting