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

an entrance Tor vessels Suuclently
large for the commerce of the Gulf of
Mexico, and that we can, by not ex-
pensive extension of these jetties in
crease the depth to twenty-five feet.
Coming to the question now before
this committee it is important first to
call your attention to the manner In
which the board of engineers which
recently made report on deep
water harbor on the Gulf of Mexico
have arrived at their conclusion, which
was that Galveston should be selected
for this port from the fact, that it and
it only, complied with the require,
ments of the resolution of congress
which was that they should make a
"report as to the most eligible point or
points for deep harbor to be of am
pie depth, width, and capacity to ac-
commOdate the largest ocean going
vessel, and the commercial and naval
necessities of the country, which can
be secured and maintained in the
shortest time and at the least cost"
This board evidently determined this
whole question before they left their
office in Philadelphia, and their action
in going to Texas for the purpose of
examining harbors and comforting with
the people was simply farce. In
this report the board fixes the follow
ing channel as required by the act,
namely: a width at surface of water
of not less than 1000 feet, a depth OF
not less than thirty feet, for width of
600 feet, and a cross-sectional area of
$4,000 square feet 1t mattered little
to them, as they practically stated,
what the capacity might be of the in
terror harbor or the dockage space for
vessels, provided the entrance chan
mel should be as large as they had
agreed upon. | contend, and | think
you will agree with me, that these re-
quirements for an entrance channel
are extravagant and unnecessary, and
that, i'll selecting them, great injustice
was done the other ports which
are capable of very considerable i'm
provement, and of being made entire
ly adequate for the largest vessels,
that will, either in the near, or per-
haps distant, future do business
along the gulf coast. l think all of
you are satisfied with the splendid
channel results that have been OBJ
tanned at the entrance to the harbor
of New Orleans, at the mouth of the
Mississippi river. The largest freight
carriers of the world come into and go
out of that port, some of them laden
to depth of 81 feet and carrying i'm
mense cargoes, and that without him
drance or any difficulty whatever In
fact, the whole Mississippi Valley is
proud of the grand success Of the i'm
portant works which were undertaken
and so satisfactorily completed by the
late Mr.. Eads. This being the case,
let me inform you what the size of
the channel is through which this inn
mense traffic passes. Instead of being
1000 feet wide as is required by this
Board of United States engineers, it is
only 700 feet wide. Its depth is fully
equal to that required by law and is
26 feet, with width of 200 feet at that
depth and with central depth of &c
feet, without regard to width. The
, channel demanded by the board is &c
feet deep and 600 feet wide at that
depth, which, of course, would give a
central depth of about 81 feet. The
cross sectional area of the Mississippi
: Jetty channel is about 1900 feet
The area demanded by the board is
$4,000 feet, more than three times as
: great. The difference between the
two channels will be better appreciat-
ed by the diagram which | now show
to YOU and on which both channels
are plotted on the same scale. Now
such a channel as that at the mouth
of the Mississippi which all know to
be adequate certainly for all
of the navigation of the
coast of Texas, can he obtained both
at Sabine Pass and at Arkansas Pass.
There is no doubt of this in the minds
of anyone who has given any atten-
ton to the subject. In fact, at either
place, a still larger channel than 700
, feet in width can be obtained and with
: fully as great depth as that at the
mouth of the Mississippi river. Hav-
r ing proven that such a channel is sui
ficiently large for commerce, and I
might say the very commerce
which congress had in view
in enacting the resolutions
, calling for this report of the
board, in which it is stated that the
size OF the inner harbor is of very
little Importance, as it can always be
enlarged by dredging to suit the de-
: mands Of commerce, the injustice Ct
selecting one port as the only port for
deep harbor, ins tead of these other
points, is plainly seen. At Sabine
Pass there's no question OF ultimately
obtaining deep water at a reasonable
cost. At Galveston the problem is
still unsolveI. The government en-
gineers have been experimenting for
+ u quarter of a century and it Is doubt
t ful if they have increased the d pth OF
water over the bar more than a few
inches, while in doing so, they have
/ pushed the bar seward several hun
drcd feet.
Now, as to Sabine Pass. The Sabine
, and Nechez rivers discharge into d