San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-09-26
Editorial Correspondence.
VELAsCo CoASTING TRADE.
The Bay System of the Texas Coast
Cheap Canal Construction
A Valuable Trade Provided
for-Bay Navigation from
Houston to Corpns
Christi
VEL AsCo, Sept. %. 1891.
DAILY LIGHT.

VEIAsCo, Sept. %. 1891.
| DAILY LIGHT.
As the question of a deep water harbor
recedeS from sight, being settled by the
success which has attended operations at
| this port, the minds of men naturally
turn to questions of commerce and the
best means Of feeding the enormous ca
pacitieS for traffic that exist and are nat
ural to this locality. Something has al
| ready been said Of the vast possibilities
Of railway concentration at this seaport;
of the local lines now under construction;
of the wonderful fertility of the soil in
this and adjacent counties; and, the large
local trade so certain to minister to the
growth of this port, enlarging its popula-
tion and increasing its commerce.
Nelasco'S expectations of development
are built upon the recognized cheapness
and safety of water carriage as compared
| to land transportation. Evidently then,
wherever she can secure water freightSas
| feeders for her ocean trade she extends by
| so much those low rates of transportation
upon which her prosperity depends,
lHE COAST BAY SYSTEM.
That the entire Gulf Coast OF Texas,
from Corpus Christi Bay TO the head of
| navigation on the Houston Bayou can be
| made tributary to the trade Of Velasco is
apparent to any one who has even casual
ly examined the coast and marked it's
conformation. With a comparatively
small amount of canal construction nav
igabe water way can be opened along the
entire coast, for light draft steamers,
| within the continuous strip Of islands
lining the coast, in water always navi-
| gable and protected from the storms OF
| the Gulf. This chain of bays is
| continuous from Corpus Christi to the
| east end of Matagorda Bay, and canal
| construction from that point to the mouth
| of the BrazoS would admit vessels into
| West Bay behind Galveston Island and
| into Buffalo Bayou. All the products Of
| the immediate coast region would natu-
/ rally find its outlet by this channel, and
| in a very short time that trade would be
| extended up the rivers which empty into
| these bays, as far as light coaSling vessels
| could reach. Thus all the marketable
| products Of the fertile region lying around
| Corpus Christi, Nueces, Arkansas, CopanO.
| San Antonio, Lavacca, Espiritu Santo,
| Matagorda, West and Galveston Bays,
/ and for some distance up the NueceS, San
| Antonio, Guadalupe, Colorado and San
| Bernard rivers, all this would come by
water, through practically inland chan
1 oh OF
The advantages of this opening for coast
| trade is already understood, and the
| planters in the valley of the San Bernard
are mooting the question Of opening COM
| munication from the mouth of that river
through West Union Bayou to
| the mouth Of the BrazoS. Care
| full estimates of cost lead TO the
conclusion that the sum of 100000 would
| construct all the canals necessary to con-
! meet the bays Of this system, from Corpus
| Christi to Houston, and a farther sum OF
| $4,000 would do all the dredging neceS-
| Sary to open channel from one end to
| the other of this coast route, ample for
| light draft steamers. The finest cotton
and sugar lands of Texas would be
| reached by such system of tranSpOrta-
| ton. Thousands of fertile acres now
| lying idle on OccOunt of remOteneSS from
| market, yet capable of the highest Guilt
| walton, would soon come under the pillow
| and the hoe. The fruit and vegetable
| production of this whole region is destined
| in few years to supply vast territory.
| Already a beginning has been made on
| the shores of Arkansas bay and on the
| NueceS, and there is no doubt that the
| future gardens and orchards of Texas
will be found on this gulf coast. The
| richest lands in Texas are in the valleys
! of those streams that pour their waters
| into the bays that line this gulf, and
wealth of production would pour its har-
vests through the mouth of those streams
| into the lap Of commerce, once this system
| of cOaStwiSe transit was opened.
1t is perhaps too soon to expect any
vigorous movement in the direction of
| this work at present, but it cannot in the
nature of things remain long in abeyRnce;
the matter is too Important: the cost so
small. the benefits so great. Certain il is
that so soon as the real magnitude of the
work now done at VelascO is realized. and
the mighty impetus to the growth Of
Texas that is so sure TO follow is felt,
there will be a change in the spirit OF
mems dreams. There will be earnest and
instant effort for communication with the
deep seaport, and this spirit and this ne
ceSSity will move TO a speedy opening OF
this waterway behind the islands and
within the bays that stretch for hundreds
of miles along this gulf coast. These
bays and islands plainly indicate what
provision nature has made for the COM
mercial needs of this coast. All that IS
needed is for human intelligence to round
out and perfect what nature has so sener-
ouSly shaped 10 a great commercials
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