The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-03-24
THE PASSING THRONG.

THE Nicaragua canal would not benefit the
Pacific coast nearly - much - people think IL
WOULD" said Z. n. Hsrrick, Of San Francisco,
president OF the Pacific Pine Lumber Company,
and proprietor Of the Grsy's Harbor Commercial
Company's lumber mill ct Cosmopolis. "Es-
pecially would IL not benefit the lumter interest
OF this section. In fact. IL might prove detri.
ment In the first place lumber will hardly
ever be carried In any other class Of vessels than
saiiers. and the canal would offer no advantage
to them for tho reason that the time lost in
beating out from and into the trade winds ct
either end OF the canal and the towage and
canal tolls would fully Offset the time gained
BY shortening the distance. All mariners agree
on this point Now, ~ for the lumber trade,
the territory which 10 peculiarly ourB at the
present time 10 the Asiatic coast, Australia,
Hawaii and the west coast of South America,
but the canal would let the Gulf feet of lum-
Der vessels carrying Alabama and Texas
pine into the Southern fields now con.
trolled by ua Alabama would not b
farther away from the west coast Of
South American than We are. nor would it DO
much further from Australia. But even on
broader grounds. the Pacific coast states would
reap no advantage by facilitating the traffic OF
Europe or the Atlantic states with the Orient.
large share OF this trsffic now passes through
grows this Coast wants to control It, a. It will,
under . continuation Of the present conditions.
The tonnage Of the Nicaragua canal will never
equal that OF the Suez, and the tolls to maintain
the canal will principally come out of the stimu.
lated steamer traffic between the Atlantic states
and those on the Pacific Commercially we
should lose large share Of vast empire which
10 rapidly becoming tributary to the Pacific
coast states, and We should diminish the pro-
lection to our manufactures which our present
distance aRordA We want the commerce OF
the Orient to come through our gates and not to
pass Us 1900 miles to the south. We want the
west coast OF South America and Hawaii and
Australia to come to rs for supplies and manu-.
features, and to find here the market for their
exports, and We do not want to throw down the
barrier which makes this great field ours for all
time"
Lieut. Lucian Flynne. q. g. n, commanding
United States coast survey steamer Gedney, now
anchored at Tacoma, 10 stopping at the Arling-
ton Tor few days. ave are now getting ready
for the seasons work aud shall resume 1t about
the middle OF April" sid he "Last summer
We were engaged in the triangulation Of the
straits Of Juan de Fuca, aud We shall continue
our work there this summer. The triangula-
ton is In charge of Mr.. J. J. Gilbert assisted by
men detailed from the Gedney, the total compile
ment OF the vessel being thirty -four men. The
United States coast survey charts are the finest
ever made, and have received worldwide praise
In fact, some people say that it II too fine, but
time will disprove this assertion. Tho ultimate
object OF the survey is to make Q correct hydro.
graphic survey. but the first preliminary II to get
the shores correctly located geographically. In
doing this several stations on each side of the
Strait are located with astronomical precision,
and they are connected BY trianglea Between
these main stations are located intermediate
stations BY surveys, and from these q topo.
graphic survey OF the coast line II made. It il
very dihicult to triangle across the Straits, ~ It
can only be done By flashing the sunlight across
with heliograph. and often IL 10 too ioggy and
smoky to see ACROSS the Straits"