The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-20
WORK WILL GO ON
CUT IN RIVER AND HARBOR APPRO-
PRIATION WONT DELAY I'M
PROVEMENTS.
MAY LESSEN CHANNEL'SWIDTH
HALF 4 MILLION ALREADY AvKIL-
ABLE ron 2s-FOoT PROJECT.

Failure of Congress 10 Pass River and
HarbOr Bill Is the Real Danger 10
he Appreciated, Says Capt. Gill
Iette-The Decrease in the Appro-
printiOn VIII Not Interfere with
the Beginning of Operations and Is
Not Likely 10 Minimize the UIti-
mate Utility of the Improvement.
6avannahians were naturally disappolnt-
ed by the announcement, made in yester-
days Morning News that the Senate
Committee on Commerce had cut the APP
preparation for the Improvement of Sa-
vannah harbor from 100000 to $500 coo.
1t is believed, however, that this will but
slightly interfere with the work
1.-THE real danger to be apprehended,"
said Capt c. +. Gillette, sis the failure
of the river and harbor bill to pass Con-
gress. While the decrease in the appro-
priation may serve to lessen the width of
the twenty e!ght-foot channel, it will not
interfere with the beginning of operations
nor seriously minimize the ultimate util-
ity OF the improvement.
There is already available for the TWEEN
ty-eighr-foot project" continued Capt.
Gillette half a million of dollars, which
is about all that would be expended for
work done during the first year. This
fund can only be used, however, for the
twenty-e, ght-foot project and the failure
of the river anC harbor bill to become a
law would leave us powerless to toucn
it, and restrict our efforts to the MAIN
tenance of the present channel. The
failure of the bill to pass would be Sc
rious matter, therefore, for Savannah"
The modified project to give a channel
of twenty-eight feet from the wharves
to the sea provides for a channel width
of four hundred feet from the city TO
Fort Oglethorpe and a width. of three
hundred and fifty feet in the straight
reaches of the river and from four hundrd
and fifty to five hundred feet in the
bends from Fort Oglethorpe TO the bar.
Across the bar a channel width of five
hundred feet is provided for in the
project. Capt. Gillette estimates that
with the reduced appropriation it will be
possible to give only seVen-ninths of these
widths, making them range from about
two hundred and seventy-five to about
three hundred and ninety feet.
Capt. Gillette said that the appropria-
ton would be paid out under provisions
of the sundry civil bill for the various
years the improvement is in progress. AS
all the money at all needed for the
project to give the channel a depth Of
twenty-eight feet is Immediately avail
able, more might possibly be obtained
from Congress, from time to time, to
carry on the work along the original
lines and TO secure the desired width as
well as depth. Capt. Gillette was asked
as to the feasibility of such plan, but
declined to commit himself on the sub
ject. Whether Congress can be induced
to make additional appropriations is a
matter about which you can guess just
as well as l." he said.
Mayor Myers was asked yesterday if,
in view of the reported reduction of the
Savannah harbor appropriation from ST.
100000 to $666,667, any effort would be
made to get them restored in the bill be-
fore it becomes law. He replied in the
negative saying that the Georgia sena-
tors and representatives have probably
done all they can for the harbor, and
that the city could scarcely accomplish
anything by such an effort. The Mayor
regretted the cut, as he has always
wanted the harbor facilities made even
greater but he saw no way by which the
matter could be remedied at this time.