Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1901-06-07
W'ashin9tua Standard
OILY NPIi. WASH.
FRIDiY EIENlNG. jl'NE /. 1901.
The Visit May Mean Much to Us.

The Visit May Mean Much to Us.
The important hearing OF the visit
OF the River and Harbor Committee
of tie national House oil Representa-
tiye= upon our local prospects cannot
he olerratcd We are in the condition
OF a snppliant, possessing unlimited
natural resources, lying dormant for
the want OF a little force in the shape
81 governmental AID to overcome that
inertia which Is tie static law OF ma
turC.
Eliminating all theoretical or yis-
ionary projects, let us confine our de-
sire to presenting matters Just as they
exist, to this committee. We hold
that We have data to submit that will,
If it reaches the intelligent consdera-
ton OF this august tribunal, be PRO-
ductiye oi splendid results As surely as
a conclusion follows the logical pre-
mise.
On June Sd, 1892, the War Depart
ment approved a map Of the harbor
lines and waterways OF the harbor
OF the city OF Olympia, that had
been located and established by the
Harbor-Line Commission, consisting
of VIM. F. Prosser, H. F. Garretson,
ID. c. Gurnsey, Eugene Semple and
Frank H. Richards. The outer har-
Dor lines and waterways, recommend
ed by the Board of U. S. Engineers,
were embraced, as is certified by G. H.
Mendell, Colonel Corps OF Engineers
Thos. H. Hamburg, Major Corps of
Engineers, and Thomas w. Symonds,
Captain Corps of Engineers. The
findings, locations and recommen-
dations had the approval of T. B. Ell
kins, Secretary OF War, and the whole
seems to be as succinct and en-
phatic declaration of intent to sup
ply an acknowledged public necessity,
upon plan and scale which had, step
by step, gone through all the inter-
mediate stages and encountered all
The precautionary checks OF the Cir
cumlocution Office" to full recogni-
ton of feasibility, propriety and JUS
tice, as can be presented on paper by
the adept hand of man. 1t seemed
strange, under these circumstances,
that an annual appropriation OF few
thousand dollars should have been
deemed sufficient by Congress, for
dredging channel, without the slight
est provision for the piers and bulk.
heads to retain the soil deposited, as
had been provided for in the approved
plans. The result was that the annual
freshets of the Deschuttes river and
Percival creek caused heavy solution
OF silt to be carried in the ebb and flow
OF the tide, four times each day, which
secured the dredge deposits, acting in
conjunction with the force of gravity,
back to their natural resting place.
This work has been done annually
with very small lasting result, or pre-.
paration for the supplemental aid of
the State, as is shown by the fact that,
after eight years of dredging, the West
side Mill company had, last season,
to scoop out q basin contiguous to
the dredged channel to admit "long-
legged" ships to load with lumber
from their wharf.
No effort has been made to afford
relief to the several mills and manu-
factories on the east arm OF the bay,
although it is included in the approved
plan for harbor improvement. The
necessity for adequate anchorage depth
in our harbor is shown by the fact
that from $4,000 to 5000 feet of logs
are dumped into our inlet daily, to be
RATED to mills down the Sound which
may be approached by sea-going ships.
The sawdust and slabs approximate
one-ffth of the loss incurred by in.
ability to bring ships to the head OF
navigation on Puget Sound, an estu.
airy that has been temporarily ruined
by immense mud-1ats resulting from,
accumulation of silt, and which may
be removed by intelligently directed
persistent labor on the lines already 60
plainly portrayed by the scientific men
who have considered every detail and
embraced them all in their report.
1t is safe to say that this important
preliminary paper has reposed in q
pigeon-hole at Washington the past
eight years, and has never been in evil
dence when the matter was up for con.
sideration; that none of the States
delegation have made it the subject oil
intelligent discussion, SO as to secure q
systematic effort to expend each ap.
propropriation 10 subserve the object
OF perfect and permanent triumph
in civil engineering. It is no surprise
that the committee and Congress, I'm.
der such conditions, should work in
the dark. All that was known was
that harbor improvements, requiring
continued expenditures, were in prog.
ress, but it was never urged that fal
larger sum was necessary for basic
work, on which to develop and build
up system OF waterways and harbo,
lines, by aid of the State, that might
in few years result in a permanent
work and be stricken from the list OIL
continued appropriations.
1t is to impress the gentlemen com.
posing the visiting committee with
the extent and scope of the plans that