San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-09-16
AN OLD MARINER.

| Galveston is manifestly uneasy over
the results of deep water enterprise at
Velasco. Too polite to make any di'
rect attack upon the efforts at the
mouth of the Brazos no opportunity is
allowed TO pass in which some covert
insinuation as to the correctness of
the Velasco statements Is not mad e.
Assuming to be the only deep sea.
port, possible or prospective, on the
| Texas Gulf coast, Galveston assum es
too much when she also assumes
that no one outside of her wharf
company understands the differenc 9
between q vessels draught and her
depth of hold. A vessels hold is the
interior cavity in which her car go is
stored; her drsught is the depth to
which she sinks in the water. Tn e
depth of hold depends upon her con-
struction, her draught in large meas
ure upon her freight. A vessel hesv-
lily loaded naturally sinks deeper in
the water than if lightly loaded, and
her draught is more or less accord ing
to circumstances; her hold remains
Just what her builder made II, and no
variation in tonnage of cargo could
possibly alter that Below the floor
ing Of the hold are the ships frame
and keel, and were the vessel so load
ed as to bring her lower deck on a
level with the water she would draw
as much more water than her depth
of hold as made up the thickness of
her keel and frames and inner plank.
ing; that is depth of from one and
half to three feet or even more accord
ing to construction of vessel. Every
one can understand this and yet "An
Old Mariner" in published In terview
in Galveston News of a late date says
that no vessels drawing 16 feet of
water have come over Velasco bar
because their holds were not that
deep. There is not shipping por in
the world that will not show vessels
whose draught, full loaded, is greater
than their depth of hold. Tne CAL
weston News either did or did not
know that the statement of "Old
Mariner" was utterly mons ensical. If
it did not know, then, it does not m eet
the requirements of a big da lily
at the only seaport Texas has
had until Velssco was opened,
and should study up marine archi.
lecture. If 1t does know, it was not
in keeping with the candor of q great
journal to permit such a misleading
statement to pass for fact. To say
that in every instance the draught
of loaded vessel Is greater than its
depth of hold, may not be true, but
in nine cases out of ten 1t will be true.
The nearer vessel is loaded to it's
full tonnage the deeper always W ill be
its draught, while its depth of hold
depends upon its construction
and the particular trade for
which 1t Is designed. SUCH fool
statements as those of sold Mariner"
may pass with those who have never
seen ship, and the attempt to dis
credit the statement made as to
vessels of Is feet draught passing
through the Velasco jetties may
temporarily succeed in some quarters,
but the facts are certain to come out
in the end and misrepresentation and
deceit will recoil upon themselves.
Velasco bar admits vessels of 16 feet
draught, and this fact is not altered
by the shipmasters measurement of
the depth of their holds. "Old Mari
ner" must have been "half
seas over" when he gave the navi-
gator of the News" that intervie W