The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-10-01
The Visitors Favor Making
Larger Expenditure on
the Waterway.
TO sTRAIGHTEN THE. CREEK
Changes lin the Course Would
Result in a Saving to the
Government. -.

i congress and United States engineers who
came up to-day to Petaiuma could not have
asked for better arrangements than were
made for them to inspect Petaluma Creek.
On the.7:40 train from San Francisco were
! Senators Perkins and White, Congressman
Hilborn, Major VIII. Heuer, the United
| States: engineer under whose direction the
work on Petaluma Creek is being done,
I and Lieutenant c.. L.. Potter, who has
charge Of the work on Petaluma Creek
/ during the absence of Colonel Benyaurd:
Congressman, Loud, who was to have come
along. failed to arrive.
+. Judge Barham of the First District came
over from Santa Rosa and met the party
at: the Petaluma depot with a. committee
composed ofthe following citizens ! Colonel
w. p. Edwards, chairmanl F. H. Den.
man, City Engineer; DR.. Maclay, City
Clerk E. E. Dreese; President of the Board
of City Trustees; Captain Gould and Will
liam Robinson, mem bers of the Board OF
City Trustees; F. M. Collins; City Mar
shall; John A. McNear, I: g. Wickersham.
H. T. Fairbanks, J. l.. Dinwiddie, Frank
]. Fairbanks, j. L. Camm and f. A. Wick
ersham.
The committee first took the visitors to
the top of the Golden Eagle fourmills,
from which place they obtained birds
eye view OF the upper reaches of the canal
| Then John McNear's little steamer, the
Hettie B, was boarded in McNear's canal
and the party steamed up to the head of
navigation and then down to Lakeville
The members of the delegation made a
thorough inspection of the work done and
asked to be done by the COMMITTEE They
all expressed themselves as very much i'm
pressed with the value of the work and the
Importance of further and larger expendi-
lures to deepen the channel to FIVE feet at
low tide.
| The Government engineers have already
| recommended that the channel be dredged
out to the head of navigation, at Washing
| ton-street bridge, to depth of five feet at
| low tide and for width of fifty feet. But
the people of Petaluma ask more. They
claim that with no very great increase in
the amount expended the creek can be
Strengthened out by making several cuts
so that the canal would flush itself.
Frank j. Fairbanks, speaking Of the po-
sition of the Petaluma people in the mat
ter, said:
enough appropriation to cut across all
! these bends and straighten out the canal.
| By doing this the fall would be increased
and the canal would flush itself. The great
| advantage of this would be that the Gov
eminent would be saved the cost of dredg-
!. ing out every year the bars formed at all
I these turns. This in no very long time
would repay the Government for its out
!, lay. The work done has been work that
will call for constant expense in the fu-
! ture to make it of any value. Another
! great advantage would be the fact that a
/. straight canal with greater fall would pre-
1 vent the flooding of the town every winter
during freshets. Last year on account OF
! the turns in the canal at the time of the
I, freshets we had three feet Of water in the
/ main streets of the city. By strengthening
i out the canal its length would be de-
! creased to one-third what it now is.
! 1.-The main thing for the Government to
Il consider is whether it would not be better
! to spend'now at one clip $75, 900 or 100000
4 year."
q John A. McNear, speaking of the advan-
: tages of Strengthening the creek, said:
= "The cuts that have already been made
= hby the Government have reduced the rates
= aof freight from 81 80 to 80 cents ton.
E hon't think you will want any stronger
: argument than that"
II Colonel Edwards said to the delegation
+ "Ne make one point that this creek is
ientitled to as much consideration as
i, streams in the East which have not hall as
, much commerce and yet receive much larger
= appropriations. The canal is a great bene.
lat to large and rich territory, and has
Hone much good, but by improving it we
hope for much more from it. We have
lust as good facilities here for manufac-
. Turing as Stockton has, except that we
heed better shipping facilities, which will
, home with the improvement of the canal. .
( That Petaluma Creek is regarded as 6
stream of Importance by the United States
! Engineers is shown by the statements
, made to the War Department, and recon-
nendations made by them in their reports
Major Heuer, in his report to the Secre
tary of War in 1894, says:
"Petaluma Greek, which is really ar
estuary, extends from San Pablo Bay tt
the town of Petaluma and is the outlet for
large amount of freight from a rich agri
cultural district. The commerce
! of a large, fourishing and constantly in
. creasing agricultural community. as wei
, as of several manufacturing industries, il
carried on this creek, which considerably
influences railroad freight rates, not onl!
from points actually on she creek, but als(
from all points within hauling distance
The commerce is large, important anC
increasing, as shown by the statistics here
with, and to properly accommodate. it
, channel should be dredged, with deptl
I of five feet at low water, to the head o
II naylgauon.
y Major Heuer's recommendation at tina
!, time was for an appropriation of $53,543 70
4 this work, which, he said, could all be don
i lin one year. As to the future, he said tina
: Iabout $4,000 would be required every 'tw,
+; lgears to keep the bars dredged.
At the request of Major Heuer, com
: hittee consisting of Colonel w. P. Ed
Yards and DIR. Maclay was appointed t.
!, make a report on the value of the com
merce of the creek for the year ending Ma,
!; 81 1898. This they placed at Sill ,442, las.
j The amount appropriated by the las
Congress- was $4,000. Very little of thi
hal been expended. Major Heuer has ad
verised for bids for dredging, but rejected
r alleeceived, as they were all IA cents an,
o oves per cubic yard, The Government
IT dreeger, however, is going on with th
y worI, and it is costing but about 10 cents
i \ yard
Z! Seiator White, in speaking of the wor
d afterthe trip down, said that the Govern
: mentwork so far done was success an
of great benefit.
"Bul," said he, ''the commerce of thi
e wwA ~vn~x YA vw