Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-06-18
Special to the Gazette.

Special to the Gazette.
AUSTIN, TEX, June 1.-THE Statesman
tomorrow will contain the following inter-
view:
Col. William p Gaines of this city, hav-
ing Just returned from the mouth of the
Brazos river, was interviewed by States
man reporter, and i'll reply to a question for
his opinion of thu place and its prospects
for deep water, he said:
| am Just from Velasco at the mouth of
the BraZos river. No one can understand
the magnitude of the work there nor what
has been accomplished without a personal
inspection.
have always believed that the first and the
best permanent deep water harbor On the
Texas coast would be secured at this place
in fact have been convinced for many years
that harbor equal, and perhaps superior in
some respects to that at the mouth of the
Mississippi, could be made there, and in
this opinion am supported by the report
of Maj. G. w. Howell of the United States
engineer corps, to the chief of engineers Of
the United States army. i'll 1875, by the re-
port of Mr.. h. l.. Corthett, the eminent
civil engineer who had direct charge of the
works at the mouth of the Mississippi and
who is the chief engineer of the Brazos
works, TO the Brazos company in 1888, and
by actual results to date of the work there
| went down to see what had been done and
| saw a great deal more than l expected. l
WAS not prepared for such vast improve
ment i'll SO short i time. Ordinarily IL
takes years to construct deep water harbor,
but the company in charge Of this work have,
within two years time and with an expen-
diture of about one and a half million dol
lars practically finished the work and
secured for Texas and the great North
west a permanent deep water outlet. and it
must be remembered that part of this
money was expended by the company in the
purchase of land about the mouth aud on
both sides of the river for some distance
up. Two parallel jetties 600 feet apart,
built of compactly and firmly bound brush
mattresses, weighted with heavy blocks of
stone to hold them in place, extended across
the bar and into the gulf 800 and the depth
of the channel between these ietties lis now
sixteen and one-half feet and constantly in
creasing.
The water, confined between two wall. is
cutting out the bottom, and it will not be-
long before twenty feet is obtained, and in
time. twenty-five feet.
The engineers say that a maximum depth
of twenty-five feet can be secured and main
tanned permanently, and this, with mean
low tide of two and half to three feet, will
give harbor equal to any in the country.
The harbor accommodations inside are
excellent. there being a stretch of forty OF
fifty miles up the river with an average
depth of twenty-five feet or more When
we consider that the average depth across
the bar at the time the company began
work two years ago, was four and half
feet and see what has been accomplished
in this short time, it is most encouraging
and satisfactory to those who want to see
deep water on the coast.
For sixteen years the United States gov
eminent has been pegging away at Calves
I,,t D. firy,n hos 2nl
600, and vet they have only fourteen and a
half feet of water. At Arkansas Pass l
have not heard of any progress being made
towards securing deep water. The BrazoS
river company has made no fuss, they have
not advertised, they have had no brass band
excursions and no lot sales, but have gone
along quietly and spent their money in get
ting deep water, and they will succeed. l
can well say they have succeeded. Some
work remains to be done in the way of
browning the ietties, after they have set
tied sufficiently, with three or four foot
concrete Gaping and supplementing-a
the action of the current by
dredging. 1t is great and expensive I'M
dertaking, but the company will get their
money back with good interest, and at the
same time the state of Texas generally will
be UNNECESSARILY benefited.
Every acre of ground will be increased in
value. Water transportation cheapens
freight rates and we get more for the
products of our soil and for our livestock
and everything else which we produce.
Q.-When do you think the company will
throw open this harbor for business.
believe they will do so this fall, per-
flaps sooner. They have already selected
high, rolling place three miles up from the
mouth of the river and have their engineers
there now laying off the city. which they
will call Velasco. This place is above all
high water and is splendidly drained by ma
ture On the 18th inst the company awarded
contracts for improvements amounting
to several hundred thousand dollars, as
follows: A large three-story hotel with
basement TO cost 10000, u system of
and docks, a railroad and telegraph
line from Velasco to Chenango on the Inter-
national and Great Northern railroad,
street grading, leveling. etc. The inmber
and other materials for those improvements
were being delivered while ! was in We
Iasco. Mr. Travis Smith, a merchant and
capitalist of Columbia, is constructing an
extensive briclsyard on the river mile or
so above the proposed city.
Q.-Do YOU look for rapid development
when this property is put on the market
Yes, do. think there will be big de-
mand for lots and probably the largest sale
that has ever occurred in Texas. People
will be surprised at the rapidity with which
tnls place Will DulIo up. everything Is Ia
vorable for rapid development. The rail-
roads of the state will, no doubt, build
branches to the new city. Business inter-
ests will in time force them to do so. The
BRACES company are now negotiating for
lines of steamships and sail vessels between
Velasco and New York and other points, If
necessary they will own and operate these
lines, as they have ample means and do not
intend to stop at anything which may be
necessary to make this enterprise COM
plete success.
the Southern states, in size and in farm and
livestock products she leads all the states of |
the Union and she will soon be first in pop
ulation. The Erazos is her greatest river,
being 900 miles long and draining an i'm
mense territory of the richest agricultural
land on earth-land which produces from