The herald., 1896-04-02
FACTS FOR MIR. M'LAcHLAN

platform.
FACTS FOR MR.. M'LACHLAN
What was doubtless standing uncon-
tradicted, one Of the most effective. a. it
certainly was one of the most easily dis
proved falsehoods to which The HERALD
has had it's attention called in the address
of Mr.. Huntington's engineer. MIR. Corthell,
before the house committee on rivers and
harbors, appears upon page seven of the
printed report of that address, and 10 as
follows: 1.-The breakwater as planned for
Port Los Angeles would not only be
parallel to the shore line, but would also
be parallel to the westwardly shore cur
rents which move along the entire coast
from San Diego 1T least to San Francisco.
which were proven to exist by varions ref
erences to expert authorities. This cur
rent carries with it more or less sand in
suspension. A dixie at San Pedro, con-
nected with the shore, would arrest and
deposit behind it these moving sands and
would tend to shoAl the entire area behind
the dixie. This was illustrated by the shoal-
ing that had already taken place by the
present government breakwater. or jetty,
at the mouth Of Wilmington harbor." 1t
will be observed that the part of the above
statement which affects San Pedro
harbor is founded upon the asser-
ton, by the Southern Pacific engineer,
that the shore current along the coast at
San Pedro flows up the coast, or westerly.
This same false statemen. was submitted
w this onUsnoov nj tho hao rintr
which was given him before the senate
committee on commerce in 1894, when
the Chamber of Commerce delegates we're
present in Washington. and at that time
the attention of the representatives of CAL
ifornia in Washington was called to an abb
solute contradiction of it afforded by the
following well-known facts, that will,
doubtless, ba remembered by many who
lived in Los Angeles and Southern Califor-
mia at the date of their occurrence. A few
years ago the ship Respigaderia, laden
at Point Fermin, when the captain was at.
tempting to round that point and enter
the anchorage ground without pilot and
in fog. The coal composing her cargo,
of course, fell into the ocean when the
ship parted and was dashed to pieces. Not
very long after she was destroyed, Jumps
of coal from her cargo began to make their
appearance on the beach at Long Beach.
which is almost directly east of the point
where the vessel was destroyed. Consid.
cradle of this coal was washed upon the
Long Beach beach, enough, in fact, to
make it profitable to some of the citizens
of that city to gather it up for their
winter use. This was noted and COM
mented upon at the time by the papers. and
is a matter of general public knowledge to
all the citizens of Long Beach, and many
of those Of the city of Los Angeles who had
their attention called to the fact by arti-
cles in the papers telling how some of the
Long Beach citizens had secured their fuel
from the wreck of q vessel across a portion
of San Pedro bay and washing it up at
Long Beach. This is the most conclusive
possible proof that the statement with ref
erence to the westward trend of the cur
rents along the San Pedro coast made by
Mr.. Huntington's hired engineer, is abso.
lutely false. THE HERALD has occasion to
know that the attention of the present rep
resentatives of our people, now in Wash
ington, was called to this statement form
erly made by Mr.. Corthell before the sem
minded of this incident. whicn furnished a
complete refutation of that statement.
Evidences from hundreds of citizens of
Long Beach supporting this contradiction
of Corthell's statement could be obtained
by our representatives if desired for use in
contradicting this most important and
damaging falsehood against San Pedro, and
THE HERALD hereby profIers it's aid in ob-
tanning such evidence if Mr.. McLachlin shall
desile to use it in the future for the pur-
pose of securing the rights of his constitu-
ents in this harbor matter. As this state
ment. made before the senate committee
in 1894, was new dodge taken by Mr..
Huntington's engineers after the board of
engineers Of 1892 had made their report.
Mr.. Raymond, who was the member of
that board then nearest Washington city,
was, at the suggestion of the representa-.
tives of the chamber of commerce, request
ed to go before the senate committee and
give his opinion upon this point. He did
so. and stated that, from the investiga-
tions of the board upon all matters con-
cerning the location of harbor for this
coast, he was satisfied that there was
nothing in Mr.. Corlhelrs statement.
Why, we would again ask, were not
the present representatives of the
people of Southern California and Los
Angeles, now in Washington, present upon
the occasion when this false statement
was reiterated before the house committee
SO that he could have secured the same
contradiction of it by summoning before
that committee General Craighill, whose
presence in Washington as chief of the
engineering corps of the United States
gave an excellent opportunity for securing
contradiction of this falsehood of Mr..
Huntineton's engineer, from the highest
engineering source known in the United
States. 1t is, 10 doubt. yet within the
power of Mr.. McLachlin to secure written
statement from General Craighill contra
dieting this falsehood of Mr.. Huntington's
engineer. Will Mr.. McLachlin secure
this information for use when the matter
comes up in the house? We trust that THE
HERALD may have the pleasure of report
ing that he has done 90.
ADAMS STREET TOURIST HOTEL
Full Complement of Energetic Committees