The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-07
SAVANNAH AND PORT ROYAL.
The Bar of One Port Has Same
Depth OF Water as the other.

To the Editor of the Beaufort Is. c.
Gazette: My Dear Mr.. Editor.-Am sorry
it was not my great pleasure to meet
you on the occasion of my recent visit to
your beautiful island city, which you make
the subject an editorial in your issue Sd
inst. Had we met 1 am sure you would
never have felt it necessary to pen the
editorial that reflects no credit on heart
or head. In this l may err, but from my
youth up l have been taught to measure
Elliotts by the great bishop your section
gave to the Episcopacy of Georgia, man
every inch of him in stature, in intellect
and in heart, the embodiment of virtue,
catholicity and the most generous i'm
pulses.
l was called to your city in the open
and proper discharge of my duties as
president Of the Savannah Board of Trade,
and as the representative of the people of
this city, to personally deliver their invl-
tation to Sir Thomas S. Tancred, and the
representatives of the Black Diamond
Railroad project, to visit Savannah and
be their guests. In extending this invita-
ton through the writer, in propria
persona, no reflection was intended to be
cast upon the unsurpassed water way of
could be drawn from the form of the in
vitation 1 bore or any circumstance or
act of mine incident to the discharge of
my duty in delivering the invitation. And
just at this point 1t may be as well for
you to be informed that the invita- tion was
extended upon, the written request of Col.
Boone in whose masterful brain was con-
ceived a plan for utilizing the idea of Mr..
Calhoun of nearly 20 years ago; and fur
tH4.N H. ~.
Savannah communicated by telegraph, was
at the request of Col. ]. S. Tribble of An
derson, S. c., who also on behalf of Col.
Boone asked the Mayor of Savannah to
send delegates to the convention of Black
Diamond Railway promoters, who assem-
bled i'm Knoxville some weeks prior to the
itinerary to the sea-because Savannah
was to be honored with a branch of the
contemplated great inter-ocean highway.
l claim therefore, that according to the
recognized customs in all civilized COM
munities touching such matters, my re-
cent visit to your city was, in every sense,
a most legitimate and proper one, and I'M
derstood in this way, as / availed of every
opportunity to make 1t appear, should have
shielded me from the seemingly gross pre-
meditated discourtesies INDUCED to keep
the party away from me by long drives
over barren wastes and fishing expeditions
that were calculated to impress upon the
knighted engineer and his mountain en-
tertainers that the waters of the coast
were overrun with crustaceans and fish
less.
My dear, my dear, in super abundant
felicity of speech you have factiously
referred to my humble criticism of the
marveiously constructed dry dock on
Paris Island. Upon this point let me give
you some history that may have escaped
your memory, for Of course you must
have known 1t required a heap of political
all around wire pulling to locate the dry
dock on Paris Island.
A naval commission was sent out to in
spect sites for the location of a dock
or docks on the South Atlantic and Gulf
coasts The original bill did not contem-
plate a cry dock on the South Atlantic
coast, but was amended through the ac-
tive efforts of Gen. Butler, then one of
South Cardinals senators, to include Port
Royal, and possibly Charleston, Savan-
nah, so fer as the law was concerned was
out in the cold, but by gracious dispen-
sation of the Secretary of War, at the
instance of our congressional delegation
Savannah was permitted to be visited and
examined as to its advantages for the To-
cation of a dry dock after the committee
of naval officers had completed their
itinerary and were homeward bound to
submit report.
A committee from Savannah, of which
the writer was one met the naval COM
mittee at Charleston, where they had
STOPPED to examine that harbor and the
Charleston committee having the official
in charge in that spirit of courtesy char
acteristic of Charles tonians afforded the
Savannah committee every facility for
comforting with them in regard to a sub
sequent visit to Savannah.
Upon the recommendation of this or
some subsequent committee a dry dock
was awarded to Port Royal harbor on
Paris Island. Unless 1 greatly err, and
IL 1 do. be so kind as to correct me,
NV dear Mr.. Editor, the successful Lid
der to whom the contract was awarded
for building this marvellous dock, was a
prominent politician, utterly unlearned in
dry dock building, and right here began
the "Iliad" of the woes of your dry docks
construction and most fruitful source Of
reports upon subject to navy department
and the most comprehensive and far
reaching Of these reports was the one
ELECTED from an eminent dry dock build
ing firm in New York, by the Secretary
of the Navy, to be found to-day either in
the public or private archives of that de-
partment. This report pointed out every
fault in construction with the most ex-
IRENE mluuteness and foreshadowed every
! trouble the BONGNHthGHA ildS o4AANG HdO III
maintaining the serviceableness of the
dock room to the inherent weakness de-
veloped in the late storm for mentioning
which on my return home you became so
| intensely Indignant. Such Indignation, my
dear Mr. Editor, may satisfy your subur-
ban constituency but will be of mo avail
i'm crowding down or Sitting the expert
testimony that condemned the plan OF
your docks construction before timber
was laid and time is only verifying the
predictions each succeeding year, in which
! they forecast the stupendous blunder OF
! the government.
Without being a dry dock builder my
self or the son of dry dock builder, since
! Savannah entered the lists as a competI-
| tor for a dry dock location, 1 have given
some thought to the subject and have not
pushed to a judgment in this matter that
so exasperate you 10 where angels basn-
full tread" but l hope when you read
| this you may conclude yourself a good
prophet though an indiscreet critic in and
! that your concluding editorial iudpmeDf