The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-09-23
Against Rebuilding GAVE ston,

TSoiiiS( hOOHt'oHiS Oof~ Slot'l
1.-The Galveston disaster is an i'm
pressiye lesson not only to the cities
of the Gulf, bur to the whole world,
says Professor w. j. MCGEE, head OF the
Bureau Of Ethnology Of the Smithsonian
Institute, who has given considerable
study to the encroachments OF the 5 a.
GALVESTON ought not to ee rebs1it, az
feast upon the former plan, because the
liability of similar occurrences would be
very great All things considered. il is
/ wonder thai the city has survived 50
| long as il has. 1t would De feasible TO
maintain a harbor at Galveston, making
| IL point of storage and shipment, but
I IL ought not TO be the site Of a pepulous
city. If il were maintained simply as
| a depot Of commerce the population on
| the island need not. during the day
time, exceed 800 or 1,0o0a under existing
| conditions, and the night population
ought not TO exceed 50. The city would
be simply a workshop, but not the per-
manent habitation OF a large population
| 1t is inexcusable TO leave families within
reach of the waves as they have been on
Galveston Island; it would be crime II
there were sufficient knowledge on the
part of the public TO realize fully what
! il means.
This plan is one Of the four proposals
! that l think of for treating the problem
presented by the disaster. The first thing
that will occur TO most DeoD'e is the
| complete abandonment Of the city. A
! third way out Of the difficulty would BE-
| the establishment Of a new Galveston at
| the head Of Galveston Bay, ten miles
| away, with the opening and maintenance
/ Of a canal to it. A fourth plan would
| be the cutting of canal directly
| through the land 10 suitable site. I
4 do not consider the suggestion that
! Houston should be made the seaport as
| feasible. What the Texas coast needs
| is a city equally accessible to sea-going
| vessels and to the railroads However
| costly the dredging Of deep channel TO
Houston would be, the expense of get
/ ting W to il would still further operate
! against it. Port Arthur, which is OF
! late making considerable strides. %
somewhat safer than Galveston, because
| the land is not subsidng so rapid Y
there. but this is about all that can be
! said for it. II is not a suitable site for
| a populous city.
There is no feasible plan for the pro-
! lection of Galveston on its present site.
| The trouble comes in the lack OF suita-
| Bile strength to insure protection aga nst
/ any severe storm. 1t might be Pc slble
! to put in an exceedingly broad founda-
/ ton of artificial stone, or wood. so pro-
! tected as TO be non-combustible and
! safe from the attack of insects, but sue
/ a work would have to be not less than
| 600 feet broad and would be enormously
! expensive. L would cost a great deal
more than cutting canal 10 the head
! Of Galveston Bay. This safest plan would
be to cut such a canal right through the
| land of Galveston Island because it
would be easier TO keep open a canal
| there, and, although the first cost of its
construction would be greater than the
deepening of the existing channel, the
cost of its maintenance would be very
much less.
THE sandbank on which Galveston was
! built, with the surrounding natural fea-
| lures, furnishes a record of past wave
work which might well have deferred
| the founders of the city. The chief work
| Of waves and wind-driven sea currents
| everywhere is the building Of bars of
! sand or gravel gathered from neighbour
, ing shore stretches or washed up from
shallow bottoms; only less conspicuous
| is the work of these agents in carving
| sea-cliffs. Both results are characteristic
| of our eastern and southern coasts from
! the st. Johns river TO the Rio Grande
! On some coast stretches, like that of
| southern New Jersey, the bars and sea
| cliffs alternate, the one stretching across
! the mouths of gullies enbouching to-
wards the sea, while the other truncates
| the divides between the valleys Along
| the more prominent shores. like those
| of New England the sea-cliffs predom-
mate. while along the fatter coasts Ike
| those of the Gulf of Mexico. the bars.
| or keys. predominant. and they are COM
monty separated from the mainland by
! sounds; that is to say. the character OF
| the shore is determined primarily by it's
| height above the tide, and secondarily
| by the effect of waves and currents
| in building bars and carving cliffs.
| "The important point IN connection
| with the bar Is the fact that II f.
/ built by waves aided by the currents. so
/ that its height and breadth afford a fair
measure of local wave work This does
not mean the idle ripples Of the calm,
or even the breakers of the lesser
| storms, nor vet the great hurricanes hap
/ pening at intervals of centuries, but
| rather the greater storms of current de-
| cades. The crest OF the key thus marks
! the reach of the great storms. but not
| of the phenomenal tempest. while IT'S
seward slope gives some indication of
! the frequency of such storms the sleeper
| slope attesting to more frequent wave
|
| phoon is rather to destroy than II build
UP symmetric keys. such as those which
! skirt our Gulf coast, and some. stretches
| Of the Atlantic shore north of IT,
THAT the shore Of the Gulf upon
| which Galveston IS situated is gradually
| sinking is a fact which cannot be dis
| regarded city which has an elevation
| of only twelve feet al most cannot last
long even with a subsistence Of one 70
| two feet in a century. Direct evidence
! Of the general sinking Of the Atlantic
coast is given by the confguration or the
land. Even the historical record shows
| that. though imperce2tible in a single
year, the advance Of he sea is consie-
cradle when decades are compared and
! enormous when measured By ceutur es
/ About fortyfour years ago a health and
/ pleasure resort Of New Orleans. known
as Last Island, was swallowed by ,h-
/ storm waves. with most OF its transient
/ population. ard nothing but tide
/ washed bank now remains q mark tie
/ site More than once during later years
! villages and settlements upon the Rglf
/ shores and the delta islands q he Mis-
/ siss!ppi have been made the prey Of the
/ Unsuitable sea
/ 'The cheerful way n which 80 many
/ newspapers assume that ~ coJrpe Gal
weston will Be rebuilt. Just as Chicago
( was rebuilt after the fire 8 hardly war
ranted by the facts Economic forces
( are apt TO follow very closely the Inns
+ Of nature: IN fact. economic law rav
( b said 70 be a reflection Of natural
! forces This Galveston disaster. the
more Il r. looked into. xii be seen 70
( he an occurrence very iikeiy - Re re-
/ peated. Tne great railroad and saIrpsrx
/ companies viii not invest faair capital
( there IN The same free way that thsy III