The herald., 1896-03-29


The board of engineers of 1892, Of which
General Craghili Yves chairman. was then
appointed for the purpose of again select
ing site for deep water harbor for
Southern California, and with special ref
erence to investigating the alleged defect-
i've holding ground at San Pedro. 1t will
be remembered that this matter was gone
into at hearing upon the harbor matter
had before this committee at the Chamber
of Commerce in this city, and that in its
report the committee virtually found that
Mr.. Hoods telegram was false, by finding
that the holding ground at San Pedro was
unobjectionable. To prove that the COM
munications filed recently by Mr.. Hunting
ton before the house committee were in
full accord with the Southern Pacific sys-
tenn Of Justification which Mr.. Hood had
thus begun, it is only necessary to cite q
statement made by one Thomas Gunder-
son, sea captain, whose communication,
dated January 10, 1896, states that among
other objections to San Pedro harbor is the
fact 'that the river San Gabriel deposits
large amounts of sand in the inner harbor
and that this will injure the outer harbor
and either fill it up or make dredging ne
cessary." 1t is probably known to every
citizen of Los Angeles county that some
years ago the course of the river San Ga
briel was changed during food so that
that river has for years flowed into the
ocean ten miles south of the bay of San
Pedro and does not send a drop of water
into that bay. This fact is shown by recent
government maps of this coast, and these
have been cited to Senators White and Nc
Lachlan. SO that they should have no diff
Guilty in confoundng the opponents
of San Pedro by producing from the
government records evidences of their
falsehoods. We have now before us q
printed abstract of the remarks submitted
by Mr.. Corthell and Mr.. Hood, and we
venture to say that it will be hard to find
a more complete tissue of falsehoods and
than these remarks
afford. AS an instance. Mr.. Corthell states
that lat San Pedro, between the mouth of
the river at Wilmington, the entrance to
the present harbor, and Point Firman,
near the proposed location of the break
water, covering the entire available harbor
room, there is bluff. -. The South
ern Pacific company owns the entire
frontage on top of this blun to San Pedro
point, the land, or right of way, being of
considerable width and occupied by railroad
tracks. .. The Southern Pacific company
owns most of the wharves and tracks at
Wilmington, on the north side of the har-
Dor, and the Los Angeles Terminal rail-
way has an approach to this harbor on
the east, or what may be called the wrong
side of the harbor. . All of these
conditions make the proposed protected
harbor practically closed against railroad
and make it useless for the
purpose for which it ia intended.''
1t is known to everyone who has at all
investigated the facts concerning the own
ership of the property along the front of
the proposed deep water harbor at San
Pedro, that a considerable portion of
that front is owned by private parties,
among whom is Mr.. Kerckhoff, who was
one of the delegates sent by the Free
Harbor league to Washington, but who
had left the city OH his return home before
the Southern Pacific people submitted
their falsehoods to the consideration of the
house committee. Mr.. Hood states, among
other things. that Santa Monica was
adopted as harbor by the Southern Pa
cific company largely at the suggestion of
the Pacific Coast Steamship company.
Only few days before Mr.. Hoods state.
ment was made, Senator Perkins had APP
peared before the same committee, an
his interest in shipping upon this
coast as one of the largest owners of the
Pacific Coast Steamship company and en-.
dorsed San Pedro as the proper place for
the proposed harbor. as opposed to Santa
Monica. Our readers will be- interested in
knowing, furthermore. that these remarks
of Mr.. Corthell and Mr.. Hood contained
an estimate OF the cost of building a deep
water harbor at Sauta Monica which fig
ures up to the nice sum of over SO 500, 900,
being 100000 in excess of the sum re.
quired. by the estimates of the govern
msnt engineers, for much superior deep
water harbor at San Pedro. 1t
does not appear by the printed record of
the hearing of the house committee on
rivers and harbors that any representative
of Southern California, or indeed of the
state at large, was present at that hearing,
or in any way examined Mr.. Huntington's
experts for the purpose of disproving the
falsehoods in which they INDUCED. The
only examination worthy of the name
which appears to have been attempted
came from Mr. McCulloch, member of
from Arkansas, who year and
half ago was interviewed by thu represent.
atives of San Pedro, who explained to him
the infamous effort which was being made
by the Southern Pacific company to sub.
vert the will of the people, for whose bene-
fit this harbor is proposed to be con-
and the recommendations OF