The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-10-19
PRICE FIVE CENTS.

reef, that is about eight miles from
the shore of the harbor. in it's inland
stretch, on a direct line. The bay di-
vides into three bodies of water as it
reaches inland. all nearly of equal size
and depth. The peninsulas that thus
divide the waters approach the en-
trance through the outer bar-the
coral reef-within a distance of three
miles. and command it absolutely. In
land, the shores of the harbor. with
their meanderings, are included in q
space about six miles wide, as will be
seen by consulting a chart of the har-
Dor. The outer bar is of soft corals. and
easily removed by pumping, and the
space to be dredged is less than a half
mile.
All these questions are put at rest
by the dredging of the same kind of q
bar at Honolulu, not six miles further
up the coast. and are no longer debata-
bic. The work is of the lightest char
acter of sea dredging. Both outside
and inside this narrow reef the water
is over SO feet deep. and Pearl Harbor,
from the bar to its extreme limits In
land, is without any obstruction and
is of sufficient depth for the largest
ships. Five hundred sail could easily
be moored to the shores in positions Of
perfect safety.
Deep water is found all along the
shores of the bay, all Of which are
perpendicular walls of stone. They
could scarcely be more regular or use
full if they had been built by skilled
workmen. On the side Of the bay next
to Honolulu hills from the sea coast
are from 100 to 500 feet high. Guns
on these elevations would easily COM
mand the entrance to both harbors,
while within Pearl Harbor and back Of
Honolulu the points available for har-
Dor defense could scarcely be more ad-
vantageous.
The cost of land for these works will
be what the United States chooses to
give 1t should be what a court and
jury would award on a full hearing.
The courts here are very high models
of wisdom and justice. The channels
of Pearl HarbOr are all deep, with
rock-bound shores that are perpendic-
ular. A vessel can be mOOred at almost
any place along miles of shore line and
will be out of sight from sea, except
the top riggings. The largest ship can
easily turn around in the narrowest
parts, while a dry-dock can be con-
structed at low cost at many place in
Pearl Harbor with walls excavated In
the rock
Commander H. E. Nichols, COM
manding the Bennington, is now COM
pleting the survey commenced by Ad-
miral Walker. When his report is
made the technical facts will appear,
which present the outward summing
as they appear to the eye of the ordi-
nary observer.
Enough is obvious to the most un-
skilled person to create the firm con-
viction that Pearl Harbor cannot be
excelled as a location for naval sta
ton, or great seaport, or fortress
in the sea, or as the site Of great cit
les, or in furnishing beautiful homes
| for the industrial classes or for
| wealthy people, in a soft and temper
ate climate, where nature revels in the
beauty of flowers and the richness of
fruits and in the life-sustaining pro-
ductions for the support of dense popu-
lations. How the United States can do
without this harbor-to say nothing of
the other islands-is the question that
this generation must answer at its
peril JOHN I. MORGAN.