Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1891-07-17
HARBOR line COMMISSION
The Harbor Line Commission
ers Meet Numbers of Citi-
zens at The Fairhaven
Views of Prominent People of
Fairhaven are Obtained by
the Commission
An Interesting Session is Held,
and Matters of Importance
Freely Discussed

At 10 o'clock this morning the har-
Dor line commissioners, at the invita-
tion of number of Fairhayen citi-
zens, met at the Hotel Fairhaven to
receive and interchange opinions CON
cerning the l. cation of the harbor
lines, so far as thev applied to this
city.
The commission consists of Colonel
w. f. Prosser, of Yakima, chairman;
Colonel ii. f. GarretsOn, OF Tacoma;
Ex-Governor Semple, of Seattle; Col
onel ID. G. Guernsey, OF Dayton; and
Senator Frank ii. Richards, of this
district. The secretary is A. Martin,
Of Olympia.
Among the citizens of Fairhaven
present at the morning session were
Mayor Wilson, Governor G. A. Black,
II. Y. Thompson, E. l.. Cowgirl, Judge
Kellogg, Councilmen Darling and Au-
brey, Schering, Hathaway, Ware,
Hedge, Farrar and others.
Colonel Prosser called the board to
order and briefly stated the object of
the meeting. "The commission"
said Colonel Prosser, has met here for
the purpose of obtaining the views OF
the citizens of Fairhaven, in regard
to the establishment Of harbor lines.
The commission desires the fullest
information and the opinions OF the
citizens, concerning the location OF
the harbOr line and the waterways.
The question was an important one,
and affected each citizen OF FAIR
haven"
In response to request from the
chairman, Hon. ii. Y. Thompson said
he had fully expressed his opinion on
the previous day to the commission.
The question, however, was an I'M
portant one, and he felt 1t to be such.
Many of the gentlemen present ana
not seem to be prepared 10 speak
and he was afraid they would only dc
so after some of them were dissatisfied
at the result. The statement had been
made that so far only those who were
directlyinterested had appeared before
the commission. He, himself, was in
terested in Fairhaven, and had done
i'm his own small way what he could t(
advance its interests. He was there
fore interested in the location of the
harbor line, inasmuch as Fairhayen'
interests were at stake. Technically
the question seemed to be, whether
strip of land 80 feet wide, or GOO fee
wide, from deep water to the shor
line should figure in the location o
the harbor line at Fairhaven. 1t wa
subject of importance, and he wished
. to hear the opinions OF the other gen
l. tlemen present.
Col. Prosser again remarked tina
II they were here for the purpOs
of hearing citizens, who certainl
c. knew more OF the matter affect
ing Fairhaven than anyone else. |
was an important subject, inasmuc
as the decision of the commissioner
would affect the commerce or the CIT
for all time to come, and he invite
the fullest and freest discussion.
E. l.. Cowgirl, on being called t
speak, said that the location of tn
harbor lines differed materially at di
- ferent points on Bellingham Bay. "A
Fairhaven there was deep water CLOS
to the shore, and at the northern en-
there was much shallower water. ii
had always thought that it would be
good policy to adopt an inside line an
were taken at deep water and ii
r maximum 600 feet measured to IN
Y shore line, it would include these pT
| yate blocks which had been improved
good faith. The establishments of u
harbor line by the state should
done In such way as would result
the handling of merchandise and cor
ale merce at minimum cost. Ol
natural resources were exceeded by
state in the Union, and Puget sour
l. was the great outlet for this produC
III, 1t was necessary to handle the pr
duct cheaply, and unless this could
. done it would seek an outlet at u
East. Many Improvements had be-
made by private enterprise, and
y the money that could be raised In III
] way toward improving the harb
,. would not go very far, and such il
provement would have to be made
general taxation. If the rights
these owners were is1ored, leas
given without a right to purchase, p
vate parties would not feel like ma
ing many permanent improvement
on a thirty years lease, such as "
suggested.
There was deep water close to {
shore at Farhaven, and IL the II
- was eNUGHOeu DdCk wv itcU ilOhl w
Us water manifest injustice would
wrought. As far as waterways w
concerned, he did not see that Ia
. haven needed any, the distance FRI
deep water TO the shore being so "
# short.
|, The right of citizens TO extend
streets TO deep water should be rec
nized by the commission, and the II
ways should effect an arrangem'
:, which would be mutually satsfact'
lily to themselves and these owners.
oon Judge kellogg said that he had i
visited Bellingham bay In 1911,
pe had not lived here continually.
Is Colonel Prosser asked him II, dur
lion his residence, he had noticed ;
y. change in the general contour OF
dls- shore line, by filling up, either here
In Whatcom. Judge Kellogg answe
that he had observed but v
Sh little difference He had no inter
in the tide fats other than that o
. citizen In general. The so-called
~ land improvements had been made
ID good faith, and IL the measurem
- was made from deep water to