The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1894-06-28


from the former has a great, deer
unde water precipice for a dumping
ground, sufficient to last for ages. But
Cathlamet Bay is q vast, shallow. and
troublesome dumping ground, e great
bowl or basin Of shifting. uncomfortable
sands from the whole Upper Columbia,
having the tremendous width OF nine
miles. No engineer has ever yet hoped
or attempted to control such a width
Of channel. Major Hamburg reports
that he has discovered the reason for
shoals in the Columbia river. He states
that an examination reveals the cause
of shoal water in the several localities.
whenever the width in the Columbia
river is less thar 1000 feet, the channel
is less than twenty-five feet in depth"
But Cathlamet Bay is nine miles wide.
1t is interesting to note how, when the
United States engineers and the board
of engineers, in taking up the 25-foot
Improvement project for the various
shoals, reach Cathlamet Bay, they prae-
tically give up hope of permanent i'm
provement, and call for a permanent
dredge. The engineers report about
such wide expanses of river is that
lin a wide expanse of river" such as is
found here, where sands are contin-
ually drifted about by the waves and
currents, points of shoals will occa-
sionally get into the deep channel and
may alter it's curse or impair it's depth.
One or more dredging machines should
be constantly on hand, and funds for
operating them"
OF the only possible form of relief,
even temporary, namely dredging, Col.
Mendell says:
The dredging proposed north of
Tongue Point is a palliative which may
temporarily arrest decay, but is INSULT
cient for permanent Improvement
Major Hamburg says of the bay:
THE river is excessively wide, the
channels variable, and shoals numerous.
This has been r%esurveyed, and great
changes have been developed"
The great natural jetties, Tongue
Point and its ~northerly counterpart,
stand like a partial dam, forever in
.destructlble, checking the Columbia
overflow above them, and compelling
the river to drop its burden Of sand.
Any n who has Travelled along the
Columbia river knows how quickly any
obstruction will cause the river
10 deposit it's sand.
Portland's hopes of future CONNER
'ial supremacy are based very largely
IN q fancied resemblance to certain in
and ports in Europe and near the At
antic seaboard. From a few such
'orts an %''unvarying immutable law, is
ieduced that all great commercial sea-
'orts must be inland at the head OF
layigation.' London, Glasgow, Ham
'urg, Bremen, Antwerp, Philadelphia,
md Baltimore, are cited to prove the
aw' All cases showing the reverse,
uch as Liverpool, Southampton, Hayre.
3oston, New York, San Francisco, are
gnored, and the ''immutable law" is
till held to exist. But ever IL these
nd many other very great exceptions
Id not exist, it is superficial work
ierely to duplicate on the map OF the
'aciic Coast what exists in some places
lsewhere. While experience is the
asis upon which predictions must be
iade for newer countries, such ex-
will have regard b conditions
f transportation and Of trade and to
Ranges in the same, quite as necessa-
ly as 1t will to mere location on a map
: along a river. All are equally part
: experience" The following general
'n~sideration will aid in a study Of
lese ports;
Cro be Continued Tomorrow )