The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-06-07
BUILDING TO
THE HARBOR Line
A Citizen Greatly Fears That Asto-
ria NiIl Lose It's One Great
Advantage.
TRUE CONDITION OF AFFAIRS
nafbor Anst BE Extended under Any Cir
eums,anees 90 Keep Face With the
March Of Improvements
More Room Needed.

one OF AstorlaH citizens. In discuss ng
the Improvements being made along the
water front, said 20 an Aatorian reporter
the other day. II see McHarn Fisher
Bros, have commenced driving pillng for
their new dock This new wharf viii ex-
tend FAR out into the river. and will, In
che course of few years. mako naylga-
ton impossible Ten years ago ships OF
1900 tons could lie inside the q. r. ana
". dock and would easily float low
water. Today fishing beat will not
float there. The cauae3 There can b.
but one cause.-The building OF wharvea
far out into the river To be brief. the
common counell-Mr. WEIGH excepted
by allowing the construction OF DOCKS
10 the "hnrbor line" N very successfully
taking from Astoria all she has, or rather
had-the fnctt harbor on the coast.
great deal OF nhwdust and siab-wood Is
thrown into the river from the CIatsop
Mills-whsther Intentionally or not Is
unknown-and this. with tho bars nntur-
ally caused by the wharf plling. Is running
Tho channel.
The stand taken by Mr. Welch In the
ccdncil has received commendation on all
sides That gentleman contends that Il
viii not be long before Astoria has no
channel. II people are allowed 90 con-
strdet wharvee far out into the river,
and no has used his voice aud vote
against allowing such pornicious build
Ing. Everyone admits that within ten
years thousands OF dollars must be ex-
pended TO make q new channel-to re-
move the sands commonly known In
front OF the city. In the meantime. pri-
vats individuals will be benefited"
To the casual observer, Il might seem
that the statements made above are cor
rect In every particular. Careful inyes-
tigation shows, however. that they are
only partially true. Il is probably a fact
that where piles are driven along the
river. sands will more or less collect. The
gentleman who has expressed the opin-
Ions reported above perhaps forgot, or
did not Inform himself sufficiently upon
the situation, ana failed Ia mention that
the United States engineers. who have
no favor TO curry with anyone. surveyed
the hhrbor line along the lower Columbia
river. and Il Il the custom OF these en-
glnecrs TO take every circumstance into
consideration, II Is well sscwa tina.
the current OF the river, just In front
OF the city. Is very swift. ana II Is es-
timated by the engineers, that II Is too
swift 10 allow any quantity OF sand to
gather along the piles driven out to the
hRrbor line In any event II mas been
well known for some time that In order
TO make such harbor here as win be
necessary TO accommodate the increase
shipping which will naturally result from
the completion Of the plans for the great
er Astoria, Il win be imperative 10 do
some dredging In the channel and about
the harbor. extending the width OF the
channel towards the north. The recent
discoveries. made by President Curtis,
while driving test piles along the water
front. are OF the most valuable nature
He found that Il was necessary In order
TO reach bottom. and plant the piles for
the railroad firmly. to use sticks seventy
feet long, as the FIRST layer on the river
bed, Il n soft. sandy formation OF many
feet In depth before solid ground Is reach
ed. Mr. Curtis says that an ordinary
Bowers dredger. at comparatively little
expense. can pump out this soft material
and deepen and widen the cham
mel and harbor with the greatest
ease The material could be used In
filling up underneath the present wharves
and streets, being pumped In with no
expense for handling. IL would cost not
very great sum TO build temporary
seawall OF piles TO hold the material back
and In later years regulation seawall
might be constructed, II is apparent to
all that something OF the kind must be
done, There Is not room enough at the
foot OF the hill $, for the business purposes
Of the city and not only are the present
streets built on piles necessity but
the wharves must be extended out to the
harbor line to accommodate the business
that win be offered during the next few
years. To argue to the contrary Is only
to say that the present piles along the
city frontage and two streets should be
torn up and abandoned in order TO let
the channel run It's natural course
The whole proposition Is one to be
considered from purely business stand
point Even admitting that the extern
sion OF the wharves TO the harbor line
established by the United States engln-
eers would result in more or less filling
up the channel In and around the pillng.
II remains an incontrovertible fact that
the wharves are necessary; that the
channel would have to be widened ulti-
mately under any circumstances, ana
that the business of the future city will
more than justify the contemplated i'm
II is thought, however, by
those who are In position to Judge,
ana VINO arc not llnuenCeu ny local con-
that the building of the
wharves out TO the harbor line will not
cause any material additional filling in
of the channel along the city frontage
The current Of the river is too swift 10
make much OF a deposit along the line
by the engineers. Even were
Il so, the experience of all other large
ports goes to show that these difficulties
have been overcome In proper and most
successful manner. A seawall Is the
ultimate solution OF the question here,
as II has been In the history OF other
large ports OF the world. Nature has
mads It easy and comparatively mex
pcnslve for Astoria to build the largest
port in America With the expenditure
of little money, a harbor can be prepared
that will accommodate the navies of the
world II can be taken as an assured
fact, judging by the work already ac-
complished by Astoria's energetic citi-
zens, that they will not be satisfied until
they have achieved the ends desired ana
can write Eureka upon the banners they
have essayed to carry.