New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-03-10
TRADE WITH MEXICO.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPING 1T.
THE JETTIEs AT TAMfICo-THE FUTURE HNAh
OF VERA CRUz-THE BULK OF THE COAST
TRADE ALREADY WITH THE UNITED
srATEs-BEARINGS OF RECIPROCITY.


srATEs-BEAMNGs OF RECi PRoclTS'
fynonA STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF THE TmBsNEl
Tamnico Feb This is now the worst har-
bsr ON the Gulf coast of Mexico but American
snterprise and mechanical skill are endeaVorihs
IN make il the best. Tampico is town WIN
pspulation of 5000, which aspres to De COIL
mercial rival of Vera Cruz and Progreso II ICES
near the mouth of q broad and deep river which
has a channel adequate for the requirements Va
sbin.ine Of heavy draught. A sand-bar, shift
ing it's direction in every northcr, blocks the en-
trance. Work was begun eleven months ago Oh
system of jetties similar TO those constructed al
the mouth of the Mississippi. f. j.. COrthel'
Captain Eadess associate, made the surveys Tor
these iettes and is the chief engineer oil the en-
terprise The ietties are now half hnished, ana
by June 1902 il Is expected that there Will DC
depth of twenty feet where lighters are now az
the mercy Of most dangerous par. WIN hve
entrance at the mouth of the river tne Town VIII
have shipping facilities superior 10 those OIL any
other Mexican port. Vessels of the deepest aiaugh.
will be able to 90 in and out at all times anu VIII
take and discharge cargo at wharves equipped WIN
railway tracks. The success of the Jetucs VIII
be one of the NEST remarkable achievements Vi
American engineering The difficulties ehcouh-
tered here are even greater than those whioh co-
fronted Captain Eads at the mouth OF the MIS-
sssippi, owing to the mobility of the bar ana the
exposure of the jettes TO heavy winds and mgh
seas.
There will be two etties about 900 feet apart
built ont into the Gulf over and one-thlrd
miles and curving at the outer ehds at rishV
angles with the northward current. About 1900
men are now employed directly or indirectly IN
the work, with five trains, thirty barges and
Az fast as
and timber framing is added, brush mattresses
are weighted with stone and sunk These mat
tresses gradually diminish in width upward, ana
are to be covered with stone coping ana &C.
mepted at the top. The engineers are confident
that the current will be strong enough TO WASH
away the deposits of sand brought down by the
river and that the channel, when once deepened'
will not be filled up again. If these expectations
are not fulfilled il will he because the current
is reversed when northers are blowing ana con-
sequently the channel is liable to be blocked
The work is now proceeding rapidly, j. ii. Hamp-
son having the entire contract, and before many
weeks the soundings will show whether the bar
is deepening or not. The capital for this great
enterprise is American, being supplied by the
Mexican Central Railway Company, which opened
direct communication with Iamplco from San
Luis Potosi last year. The Monterey and Gulf
Eagle Pass. and the Interoceanic in time will APP
proach it from the South. With these railway
facilities and with deep-water harbor secured
through the construction of the jetties, Iampico
will inevitably become large city and a great
commercial centre.
The completion of these harbor improvements
will have an important effect upon American
trade as may readily be illustrated. In conse-
auence of the exclusion Of low-grade ores from
the United States four American smelling com
panies are now constructing extensive worKs AT
San Luis Potosi and Monterey. The Companla
Metalurgica MeXicana, the Kansas Clty COM
bination is known, will have within year ten
furnaces in operation and t/e largest smelling
plant on the continent All these works VIII
REQUIRE large quantities OF coke and coal, ana
as soon as there harbor and wharfage facilities
a great trade will spring up between Tampico and
the Alabama coal-helds. Coal is now very high
in Mexico. owing to transportation charges and
heavy duties Let the price I've reduced One-hai, as
it will he if American coal can be shipped 10 Tam
leo without ighterage deliveries and delay, and
a great impulse will be impaired, not only 10
the reduction Of ores. but also TO all kinds OF
manufact uring In the same way great market
for American lumber will be opened, II the bar
which now obstructs navigation he removed
Vera Cruz, while affecting to believe that work
has been abandoned on the Tampico jetties, is
making q belated and unscientitc effort To i'm
prove its own harbor. A breakwater or mole is
to be extended to the reef, which now renders
the entrance to it's harbOr very danger Gus. About
100000 tons of stone have been sunk and 40
900 more in readiness TO he deposited as
soon as a new derrick is completed. The mole
is to be a mile long and twenty feet above tide
water. but it cannot be finished before 1898
ka nia huil so
that vessels can take their cargOes from rail
way cars The plan is very effective on paper,
but conservative engineers predict that it will be
a failure since such a breakwater will not pre-
vent the blocking of the harbOr entrance with
sand OF the two rival engineering schemes the
Tampico lefty system is the more scientific and
provides a practical method of securing out the
harbor. Vera Cruz, while 1t is laboring over
it's clumsy breakwater. will not admit that its
commercial supremacy is menaced by so lnsig-
nifcant a rival us Tampico. 1t is the natural
gateway TO the capital, and, moreover, has be-
hind it the rich coffee districts of Cordoba and
Orizaba. These advantages are very great, but
little TampicO is surrounded by mountain slopes.
where coffee can be produced readily as iXtle
Hbre and it is the natural shipping point for the
ores and metals OF Central and Northern Mexico.
Vera Cruz cannot afford TO despise ambitious
TsmpicO
The export trade Of both TampicO and Vera
Cruz is largely with the United States About
threefourths of the merchandise shipped from
Tanpioo goes to New-lork and New-Oreans. The
exports include iXte fibre, fustic, hides precious
metals. coffee, sarsaparilla and small quantities
of caoutchouc hair crude gum, asphalt, honey.
fruits and deer-skns. The shipments 10 the
United States are less than 81 ,O00,O 600 a year.
whereas the aggregate exports sent out from
Vera Cruz in 1890 exceeded $4,000, 600 Mexican
currency as is shown by the following table
EXPORTS FROM VERA CRUZ TO UNITED STATES.
Coffee 81 24J $50 IA
Goat skins 29I. % %
wrappers Observation-Disclosures. IJO,34j
IA = \