San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-08-29
Editorial Correspondence.
THE PORT OF vELAsCo.
Facilities for Handling Commerce
Long Miles of Dockage Easy
OF Construction-AD Deep
River Front for
Operations.
VELAsC co. August q.

Every day witnesses important
change in this rapidly developing sea-
port. The fact of deep water over the
bar established and becoming some
what known there is rush Of pros
pectors and investors such as Texas
has never witnessed. But it is not of
these investments that this letter
must treat, nor of the magical changes
that a month has wrought, nor of the
plans for the future now rap
idly being carried forward. The
whole policy of the company has
been opposed to any special bid for
notoriety and blooming" has been
means of speedy railway connection
IL assured and the rapid centering Of
commerce at this port certainty 1t Ia
in order to speak Of the facilities for
handling that commerce.
Velasco port is not a harbor basin,
but it is the best harbor tor ships and
the easiest of en- trance of any on the
Gulf coast of Mexico. The jetty
openings face the prevailing winds
of the Gulf of Mexico and sailing
vessels can come right up through
the jetties without delay or the ser
vice of tugs nineteen times out or
twenty. The zen fathom line apprO.
aches go near the coast and the bar
is so narrow that in the stOrmiest
season vessels approach without dan
ger, and old sesmen always welcome
the mouth of BraZos in q storm know
ing how accessible it is. Entering
the mouth of the jetties there is
somewhat tortuous river channel to
traverse until the Port of Velasco is
reached five miles above. This river
channel Is from six hundred
feet to one thousand feet wide and
of sufficient depth to float
close inshore any vessel that comes
over the bar. Plans have been
adopted for Strengthening this river
channel. A canal o mile and quar-
ter long will be cut across the neck of
the big bend, wing dams built where
necessary and the distance from the
mouth OF the jetties reduced to about
three miles. The width of the river
will be made uniform, FOR practically
so, for ten miles.above it's mouth, and
of about the same width as between
the jetties. Docks can be constructed
along this entire distance of ten miles
on botn sides OF the river for the &C.
commOdation of commerce and to this
accommodation there is practically
no limit.
Those who imagine that the width
of the Brazos river is insufficient to
h. do
stined In few years to throng this
port, need only TO be reminded Of the
conditions existing elsewhere, and
compare them with those existing
here. The cross section of the Brazos
river, as shown one week ago, In q
previous letter, is two-thirds that of
the Mississippi river, at South Pass,
and three times greater than
that of Chicago river. If Velasco can
accommodate three fold greater
commerce than en- ters Chicago river,
she need not complain of lack of facili-
ties for commercial transactions. Dur
ing the year 1889 there arrived
at Chicago and passed up the
river TO her docks 9,S02 YES
sells, an average Of nearly 40
vessels q day Tor every day that her
harbor was free from ice. OF these
vessels 522S were steamers and 4574
sail vessels. During that year there
were l0, O23 clearances of vessels; 1902
steamers and 472l sail, The sggre-
gate tonnage of these 1885 vessels
going and coming was 9l51 ,070 tons,
or from sc, 900 tons to 80, 600 tons every
day that the harbor was open. An
amount of traffic that calls for over
1000 cars every day to transport 1t to
the interior. Velasco may not be q
first class harbor in the eyes of the
United States government engineers.
In fact these sapient gentlemen have
declared that it was impossible for
her ever 70 become port of entrance
for deep sea vessels, but the Or
binary mind, the practical business
man and the intel igent ship
per will no doubt conclude that
. port capable OF handling three
times the commerce that Chicago
does is very fair port for green
one on the gulf coast of Texas.
As can be readily seen from the sit. |
uation, the practical enlargement of
this port for it's growing commerce is
almost without limit. A river from |
500 to 600 feet wide, twenty feet or |
more in depth between banks, with |
docks lining both sides as tar up and
down the river as the necessities of
commerce demand, absolutely free
from all storms, with only slight
tidal rise and fall with natural facil-
tiles for dock construction along every
rod of its length for 20 miles from its
more could be desired.
Along these docks, and over these
laval DrairieR rising from four /