The herald., 1896-12-27


storms. No better place can be found on
the western coast of America for the
establishment of such a harbor than at
San Pedro.
The business community Of Los An
| geles, whom he represents, he said, Is
In its opinion entirely in accord with the
conclusions reached by the board Of
engineers of 1892, as to the proper place
| for the establishment of harbor for the
future development of the trade on this
| coast. This community believes that
the Nicaragua canal will be constructed,
and when the canal is constructed the
| larger portion of the commerce which
| this harbor will be called upon to take
care of will come from the eastern coast
and will find it's first distributing point
at the locality which the board shall
| select, providing that 1t is one that will
accommodate that commerce.
Petitions would also be field with the
board, Mr. Patterson added, from the
citizens of Pomona and Redlands, ask
| ing for the location of the harbor at San
| Pedro.
| A statement from Captain Swan of the
bark Kilgore, covering points brought
out by other witnesses, would be filed
without reading.
TERMINAL ENGINEER MOORE.
The last speaker of the morning was
| the Terminal railroad. He read care
| fully prepared statement from an en-
gineers' point Of view. The honorable
| board were charged with two duties the
| location of a deep sea harbor and to
| make plans, specifications and estimates
| for the same. A harbor is to serve two
purposes-that of refuge and commerce.
| A harbor of refuge must be place
where vessels overtaken in storm may
be easily accessible. The protection that
vessels need is not from wind but from
| swells. A harbor Of refuge in the bottom
| Of blight possesses the elements Of dan
| ger and not of safety. Mr.. Moore quot
| ed from Prof. Davidson of the geodetic
survey concerning the safety of Point
Dune, and the same conditions that ex-
| ist at San Pedro (which "has no outlying
| dangers" In view of the natural ad-
vantages of Point Dune, had the South
! ern Pacific not built its pier at Port Los
| Angeles no one would have thought of
| it as harbor of refuge. The records of
| the weather bureau show there is no
! heavy wind at San Pedro:'a wind blow
! ing less than forty miles an hour is not
| considered gale. and there is practical
! ly, no severe winds on this southern
| coast
| Mr. Moore filed a table giving the per-
centage of the direction of winds of this
coast, also one showing the difference In
storms and velocity of wind on the Pa
| cific and Atlantic coasts. Taking the
| records of the weather bureau we have
| at San Pedro a harbor site of exception
al advantages. This bay Is already a
| natural harbor of refuge and has been
| used for that purpose by large number
of shipmasters. Coming to the objec-
| tions urged against it. Mr.. Moore has
admitted that the lDlding ground Is
| good but it has been said that there IS
a western current upshore which would
cause the harbor to fill up, If this were
a fact 1t would have no important bear
ing on the fact. The preponderance Of
evidence shows that the current tends
in the opposite direction.
1t has been said also that the slope
of the sea bottom is sleeper than at
Santa Monica, making it more expensive
to build and maintain harbor. 1t may
be that breakwater that will cost least
may be worth the least. From the tes-
timony given as a matter Of fact this is
not borne out, neither by those who are
most familiar with 1t nor the report of
the government engineers.
What are the requirments Of q harbor
Of commerce and at what points will the
commercial interests of the country be
best subserved 1t should be situated at
point where shippers can come directly
to the ships side, where canneries and
disc can be handled to the best advan-
| tage; otherwise we shall have point of
| call and not Of commerce. At Santa
| Monica the Southern Pacific has pier,
car tracks and coal bunkers and that is
, ALL Every passenger and pound of
| freight must pass over their track and
| pay tribute to the owners. Other piers
may be built but with ever increasing
| difficulties: circumstances would al
ways be essentially the same. That port
| will remain to the end of the story
| what it Is today-a large and expensive
wharf, not harbor.
San Pedro has all the advantages
possessed by Santa Monica and more.
An important point Is the harder sea
bottom, which will reduce the cost Of
building and maintenance The inner
| harbor affords unlimited facilities for
! construction and space for conducting
business. Twenty-Five years ago the
channel was three feet deep; 1t Is now
fourteen, showing that It Is deepening
and filling. There are now two rail-
roads doing business there, and fish
| cannery in operation, and the present
| ship channel can be extended indefln-
| itely into the lagoon, affording the most
| convenient business facilities with least
| cost.
| Port Los Angeles is a bad situation,
! limited to a single phase of business
| that can be transacted only by large
| corporation In San Pedro there is the
| beginning of the development of great
commercial interests
| Mr.. Morrison asked Mr.. Moore what
! he considered the limits of Port Los
/ Angeles and if a break water at Port
! Dune would come within the law; to
| which Mr.. Moore replied in the negative,
| but thought it would at Deadman's
| island.
| Mr. Hood asked If Mr.. Moore as an en-
| gineer thought that building embank-
| maents at San Pedro would be much
| cheaper than making trestle approaches
| at Santa Monica with treated timber.
| Mr. Moore replied that the annual cost
would be less. In reply to questions
! by the board the witness said that the
material brought up in the borings was
soft mud and that his plan contem-
plated both an inner and outer harbor.
The minimum depth, in his opinion.
should be sufficient to accommodate
ships of thirty feet draught. In refuge
a depth of thirty-siX to forty feet is
sufficient for anchorage purposes. He
would establish piers out in the ocean
for the protection of the breakwater,
and arrange the harbor so that all
classes of business could be done inside.
AS swells are so much more important
than winds, he would provide, first,
safety in that direction and would i'm
prove the channel leading to the inner
harbor. He would provide water enough
to take vessels into the repair docks,
and If the largest ships of commerce