The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1890-11-21

his money oil the prospect of either be-
coming great commercial cenlcrs will sink
it, Norfolk, though possessing superior
advantages to Richmond or West Point,
cannot compare with Yorktown in respect
to location The Elizabeth river is OBJ
structcd nv bars and shoals, which make
navigation difficult ut low tide, and render
the employment of tugs and pilots an cx-
pcnsivc necessity. 1t has little harbor
room, and the channel is too narrow for
easy ingrcss Baltimore is about two hun
drcd miles from the sea, and every ship
that leaves her harbor for the ocean must
nass within sight of Yorktown. 1t may
we'll lie asked WHY should the commerce of
the West he taxed to pursue circuitous
and difficult route. making circuit OF
hundreds of miles, to enrich the railroad
bondholdcrs and merchants of Baltimore?
This costly circuit is made to pay tribute
to Baltimore; and the West, with full
power to stop the cxaction. allows il TO
continue. Large ships must 20 under the
tow of tugs to The capcs, prcicrrlnG to
pay the heavy price Of towagc for two
hundred miles than incur the hazard and
delay of sailing down the Chesapeake from
Baltimore to the ocean. York river has
deeper water, a more roOmr harbor, Is on
an air line with the most productive sec
tions of the West, is accessible to railroads
and within sight of the sea. Commerce
loves direct lines; it will seek and uti-
metcly find them, in spite of Boston, of
New York and Baltimore to force it into
artificial and destructive channels. The
fight is one between Nature and capital.
and though the former is slow in assert
ing her empire, she will win, and the next
Centennial may lie celebrated at York
town
The old system of loading and unload
ing bv hand or horse power has been rev.
olutionizcd by the use of steam. and large
ships and deep water will win over shallow
ships and shoals.
The channel at the entrance of New
York harbor is shifting and uncertain,
requiring frequent soundings and skillful
pilotagc AT best it is only ~ feet at low
water, while York has 30 feet ut the tail
of the spit, channel a mile wide and s
fathoms of depth, and Il still wider chan
mel above.
A glance vt the map will show the i'm
mcnsc area which will pour out its prod
ucts through this port. From the south
ern part of the lakes TO Nicksburg,
commerce will find Yorktown the best
and nearest port. Chicago is fifty miles
nearer to it than to New York, and all
points South are nearer still in proportion
to their distance from that parallel. There
is no reason why Il circuit should he made
to New York when direct line can be
followed to this dccp-mouthcd cut into
the ocean, vast distance saved, and the
AS to the permanent depth of York
river, VIC make an extract from report
of the late Commodore Maurv, the most
scientific marine engineer of the century
He says
"Manv fine arms of the sea branch off
from the Chesapeake bay and cmbcllish
Eastern Virginia with noble sheets of
water, and commercially speaking, York
river is the nohlcst OF them all Formed
by the junction of the lamunkcy and
Mattapony at West Point, it continues
thence southeast TO the bay, and that by
course so singularly straight and direct
as to give it the appearance Of Il canal
with boundlcss capacities.
Work river differs in one respect, and
that very important one, from all the
other principal feeders of the Chesapeake
bay. The Potomac, the Rappahannock,
and the james rivers meet tide water at
their lowest falls. Before they pass these
they have received the waters with the
mud and silt of all their principal tribu-
tarics AS soon as the turbid water OF
these strcams-and in times of flood they
are very, very muddy-leaps the falls and
meets the tide, this mud and silt COM
mencc to settle. and the consequence is
that all three of these rivers are raising
up their beds and obstructng tlcir chan
ncls, particularly near the head of tide,
with bars. This is the case with the Po-
tomac near Georgetown and Washington,
and the Rappahannock at Frcdcricks burg
There arc places in front of these cities
where large sea-going crafts used to lie,
but where now the lightest skin can
scarcely pass, so much mud have those
rivers brought down and deposited in the
way of navigation.
'As soon rs the turbid waters of the
rivers meet the tide from the sea, the
rapidlty of their food is checked and the
deposit OF sediment commences. Hence
the most rapid filling up of channels takes
place at and near the head of tide water.
Where the running streams from the land
meet the flow of tide from the sea, there
is always Il conflict, and in this conflict of
waters deposit of sediment is made and
bars are formed This is law of nature.
Son the other hand, the York river is
without falls, and it is formed BY two
tidal streams in which the conflict of
waters has already taken place and
heavy deposit of sediment been made
long before they came together. More
over; these streams themselves receive no
large tributaries. The tide runs far up.
both of them, and the mud which their
head waters, when in a swollen state.
bring down to them is generally deposited
before they join to form the York. After
the heaviest rains, and when the Malta
pony and Pamunkcy are at their highest
stage, the MUD with which their upper
waters are charged is for the most part
deposited before if gets to York river, for
Il takcs this mni scyc r;ll ys after ii first