The San Francisco call., 1896-12-29
When Santa Monica Is Storm.
swept, Ships Sail to the
Free Harbor.
Theories of the HuntingtonianS Dis.
posed Of in Signed State.
ment.

from G. +. Swan, master of the bark Theo-
bald, was submitted. This communica-
ton was not read in public, but it forms
part and parcel of the evidence which will
be considered by the commission. 1t is
one Of the strongest arguments in favor
of San PEDRO that has yet been submitted,
and as its author is an experienced sea-
faring man, who has handled vessels on
Pacific Coast waters for the past thirty
years, the document will carry with it
great weight.
Captain Swan says that at times it is
impossible for vessels to land at Santa
Monica or Redondo. On these occasions
they proceed to San Pedro, where they
can always effect landing He disposes
of the Huntington contention that there
is no holding ground at San Pedro. and
sets at rest the fears expressed by the
tentacles of the octopus that shipping at
San Pedro was in constant danger from
sou'easters. Captain Swans full state
ment follows:
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 81, 1896.
To the Honorable Board of Deep Sea Commits
sioners: Learning that your honorable COM
mission is now investigating the harbors OF
San Pedro and Santa Monica, I take the liberty
of writing you, giving few personal obserYa-
tions concerning them derived from thirty
years navigating experience on the Pacific
Coast
From the Straits of Fues south to San Diego
there is not harbor a ship can enter in bad
weather or when in distress, for they are bar
barbors, with moving sands both outside and
inside of the bars. The greatest difficulty
met by engineers, and which has caused them
close study, has been to confine the channels
and tides in some narrow, straight direction,
SO as to deepen the channel, which has cost
the Government large sums of money.
Some twenty years ago il was not uncom-
mon for ship to be bar-bound from four to
six weeks on the Columbia River; now, they
are seldom bar-bound longer than from eight
to ten days During the time have navigated
The Pacific Coast, have known five different
channels at the mouth of the Columbia River;
one of these has in later years been converted
into an island. Along the entire coast like
changes have proportlonately taken place.
There are some fourteen or fifteen outside
landings between San Francisco and San Diego
that have wharves built out, about the same
as that at Redondo. At these wharves steam
ers and sailing vessels land and discharge, ex-
cept during heavy weather, when it is impos-
sible for vessel to make landing at any OF
the Wharves along the coast. When steamers
and sailing vessels cannot land at Santa
Monica or Redondo, they proceed to San Pedro
where they can make landing.
Out of any of the fourteen outside landings
along the coast ct not one of them has there
been SO much trouble as at Santa Monica Bay
with the wharves. Not winter passes but
more or less damage has been done to either the
wharf or vessels, and sometimes 10 both yes
sells and wharf.
Two years ago the sands were washed away
from the inner end of the wharf, destroying
that part, but leaving at Redondo the outer
end standing, and had it not been for the
stanchness ;and great care which has been
taken of the Santa Monica wharf that would
have gone, too. If q wharf should be extended
out from any outside port half the distance
thatSanta Monica wharf isit would answer just
well that at the latter place, for they would
be equally exposed to their greatest enemy,
the west and southwest sea on this coast
1t is not the southeast winds that do the
damage on the coast and make our bars and
landings rough; 1t is after the wind changes
TO the west and southwest that there are blows
of the greatest fury at times. If we should
get a southwest gale. such as we have fre-
quently had on the coast, ships now at Santa
Monica would be scattered along the beach
and neither property nor lives be saved.
Southeast gales blow about two or three points
of shore at san Pedro and about six or seven
points at Santa Monica Bay, while in Santa
Barbara Channel the regular southeast gale
that nothing less than properly built dock
will answer.
At Calao, Peru, a French company's first in
tention was TO run a breakwater north and
south, thinking that vessel could lie inside,
but it was found that the breakwater in
creased the undertow to such an extent that il
was impossible to hold any vessel at all. So
they built dock closed in all around, leaving
narrow entrance to the north, and yet the
nuQe rtOW iS that q M 1T Is ip1ro
sible TO hold ship so as to discharge or load.
The dock company furnish all ships with ias-
Jennings and have at hand a crew of men for
the purpose of mooring and unmooring ips.
A breakwater run out in any direction where
the bottom is of q quicksand nature and
where there is no current running in any
straight direction to keep the harbor open
and in place. the whole would in time grow
into peninsula. For an example, see the
east arm of San Pedro harbor, where break
water was run out TO Dead Mans Island for
about two miles and when completed had
blue water on both sides and now it is grow
ing sands to the east.
In no place on the coast has there been such
substantial work done by the Government in
improving the harbor has been done at
San Pedro. When they commenced to i'm
p:ove this harbor there was about four feet of
water on the bar; now there is eighteen feet
and it is deepening all the time. Point Fermin
runs out in southerly direction, which
affords protection to the bar from westerly
swells aud causes the course of the current TO
be the same year in and year out The rocky
reef extending out from Point Fermin offers
excellent foundation for a breakwa;er, and
with the same harbor regulations as to moor
ing ships San Pedro to-day would be better
harbor than Valparaiso. One is open TO the
north, the Pacific Ocean. and the other 10 the
south. San Pedro is sheltered from the worst
seas on the Pacific Coast.
read in the newspapers statement made
by G. P. Huntington, at Washington, D. c.
concerning the two places, in which he said
there was no holding ground at San Pedro,
whereas, the truth is the bottom is just about
the same there as it is at Santa Monica, being
little more rocky, which the chart will show
1t is very true that two or three ships have
gone ashore there, but that cannot be
attributed 10 bad holding ground. The ships
America and Kennebeck, which went ashore,
were deep water vessels, and on arriving at
San Pedro they discharged their crews, and at
that time that port had no pilot or harbor
master TO acquaint strangers with the port or
order the proper mooring OF vessels. When
the breeze sprung up, the mate of the America