The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-12-04
SHIP CANAL INSIDE HATTERAs.
a scheme for Avoiding the Worlds
Most Dangerous Cape
From the BOSTON Heraldl.

(From the Boston Herald.)
Cape Hatteras. the most dangerous
point on our Atlantic s~eaboard, will
cease to exist as a menace to coastwise
navigation if the present plans of the
United States government are carried
out. For generations the name of
Cape Hatteras has been synonymous
with storms, shipwreck and loss of life.
AL sorts of schemes have been proposed
to minimize it's dangers.
Millions of dollars have been spent
in attempts to properly light the cele-
GRATED Diamond shoals, which sur
pund Cape Hatteras. 1t was found i'm
Nrssible, after years of labor, to build
light house there. The heaviest and
(aunchest lightship ever constructed
Vas placed at Diamond shoals only TO
be blown away from her giant muSh-
room h
And during all this while
lost their bearings, vessels were driven
ashore and millions of dollars worth
of property and hundreds of lives con-
tinued to be lost. Every winter
brought a long record of disasters on
Cape HatteraS.
The sailor cobing from san FRANCISCO
dreaded this one spot more than any
other i'm the long voyage round the
Horn. The coastwiSe vessels tried to
give it a wide berth. But it has re-
manned as a permanent menace to nav
igation and has done more to in
. lure c~oaStWiSe on the Attain
tic than any other agency.
Md now, by means of an ingenious
Ind thoroughly practicable system OF
finland canals and channels, the coast
wise trade will be enabled to pass be-
hind Cape Hatteras, protected from the
fury of the ocean the whole way down
the coast by lOw-lying sand bars.
The Dismal swamp canal, a miserable
ditch of comparatively small import
-ance. is to be ~deepened through its
whole legnth. Here, bordered by cy-
press, gum and magnolia, large coast
wise vessels can sail or tow in safety.
The extra insurance now put on SHIPS
because of Cape HatteraS and its dan
gers will, it is claimed, more than pay
for the cost IF towage in his new IN
side route. The saving in time Will be
great, and the safety to human life Will
be an item of no small Importance.
The magnificent fleet of yachts kept
i'm northern waters can then pass up
and down the coast in comfort and
safety. When the inside route is nm
ished a great advance in coastWlse
transportation is expected to take place.
In carrying out the terms of a bill
passed at the last session OF congress-,
the engineer corps of the army is now
engaged in making a preliminary sur
yey for an "inside passage" from CheS-
apeake bay to Beaufort inlet. This W
eobViate the necessity for coaStlng YES
sells rounding Cape Hatteras.
An inside passage from Boston to-
Florida is believed by officials to be one
of the possibilities of the future. The
present plan is looked at as the hrSt
and most important step in this deVel-
opment.
$500 o.+o-f tho rrnn0CoG water
way is a natural one, and to tit 1t Tor
the passage of vessels of the larger
class, as contemplated in the survey
now being made, it is simply a matter
of dredging channels through the varl-
Gus sounds lying back of the narrow
strip of land which forms Cape Halter
as and the dangerous coast on its north
Aand south.
There are two corps OF engineers
EWorking on the survey, one under Ma
ior j B. Quinn, surveying south from
Norfolk. along the route of the Dismal
L Swamp canal, which it is proposed to
utilize, and one under Captain E. w
VanC. Lucas, working north from
Beaufort inlet. 1t is expected that the
reports OF these officers will be ready
to present to congress when it next
meets, when an appropriation for be-
ginning the work will be urged.
Hampton Roads, which will be thu
northern entrance to the inside passage
is considered one of the safest ano
most easy of access of any harbor or
the coast. Vessels will pass into the
Elizabeth river at Norfolk, and thence
down the Dismal Swamp canal to Pas.
quotank river, into Albemarle sound
throu.n CrOatan sound, Pamlico sound
Core sound, Back sound and Beaufo
harbOr.
The length of Dismal Swamp cana
is IS miles. This canal will nave tC
hO Ui1hnnI an1 made dn1IhlP IFS nTaS.
ent depth of eight feet. Dredging tt
about the same extent will have to b.
lone in the PasQuotank river for TWEEN
ty-SiN miles.
In Albemarie sound the work to b.
done will not be great, as it has a gooC
navigabIe depth. Croatan sound, which
is the name applied to the body Of Wa
ter lying west of Roanoke Island, ant
connecting Aibemarle and Pamlic'
sounds. has a width of seven miles anC
a depth of but nine feet. Roanok'
sound, on the other side of the island
has a depth OF but four feet.
Pamlico sound, which lies next t
the south. is the largest body of waite
in North Carolina. 1t is separated
from the Atlantic only by a marrow
beach extending from Bodie Islant
lighthouse to Cape Hatteras, a diStanc
of about thirty-five miles, and theme
in a southwesterly direction for anothe
thirty-five miles, the turn forming tn
{ cape. The distance along the cente
length of this sound is about SiXt,
\ miles.
\ Its greatest width is about twenty
four miles, and it a a general dept
of between three and four fathons
Though separated throughout its lengt
from the Atlantic by only d marrow
= beach. which in some places is but
quarter of q mile wide, there are thre
inlets through which vessels can ente
from seward, namely, Oregon, Hat
teraS and OcracOke inlets. The latte
entrance it is proposed to dredge an
keep open. though it is considered tina
this will be one of the most Difficult
tasks in the whole undertaking.
Core sound. which practically com
pletes the southern end OF the routt
is a narrow and shoa body Of waite
extending along and just inside tn
beach from the southwest of PamliC
sound to a point just inside Cape LooE
out. At its western end il joins a sin
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