The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-01-17

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| 1t was from Lieutenant Colonel W. II.
Heuer of the Engineer corps of the
United States army that the following
information was obtained on Octo-
Der 25:
Lieutenant Colonel w H. Heuer of
the Engineer corps of the United States
Army, is here for the purpose of making
u survey of the entrance to the harbor
with the view of expending at once the
appropriation of 100000 which was made
| by the Fifty-fourth Congress to cut
| through tne reel. re will make a report
| to Washington at once and if 1t is found
that the bar can be opened for the sum
available the work will be done immedi-
ately.
! Yesterday Colonel Heuer went down to
Pearl Harbor on the Naval launch with
Captain Merry, commander of the Homo
lulu Naval Station, Lieutenant Commanu-
er F. c. Prindell, Lieutenant Commander
Pond, of the Iroquois, Captain Dowdell of
the Zealandia, George C. Beckley and
others. They spent nearly the entire
day looking over the harbor and examin-
ing the extent of the bar and the, entire
entrance to the harbor Within the next
few days Colonel Heuer will make a care
full survey and upon this with the reports
"hAiSh AoNC oCCi flitbCito iiiuuc Ou TIC
harbor he will base his report to the
Secretary Of War regarding the advisa-
bility Of at once expanding the money
which is available for cutting the bar
and opening the harbor to the ships
which plough the blue waters of the
ocean.
This sum of 100000 which was appro-
priated by Congress some years ago has
been lying idle ever since that time. 1t
was appropriated before the Islands were
annexed to the United States and was a
lpart of the general funds for the i'm
provement of the rivers and harbors OF
the United States. All work on the riv-
ers and harbors comes within the juris-
diction of the War Department and has
nothing to do with the Navy Department
and so 1t is that a member Of the Army
Engineer corps is sent to make the esti-
mates for the work of opening the en-
trance. Nor will the cutting through OF
the bar have any particular bearing or
the contemplated construction of Ma
val station at Pearl Harbor, though Con.
gress may DE brought to see the advisa-
bility of at once constructing a Navy
yard there when. the spectacle is seen OF
great ships of war floating at anchor
within fifty feet of shore, and with
ten to twenty fathoms of water under
their keeIs.
If 1t is ascertained that 100000 will be
sufficient to do the work of cutting ca.
nal similar to that which leads to the
harbor of Honolulu, about 200 feet wide
and 30 feet or more deep, contracts vii
be let at once for the work, and this
will mean that the harbor will be
Iopened for deep-sea vessels before the
spring of 1901 is very far advanced. I,
will also mean work for many Honolulu
people and dredging contracts that will
be eagerly taken up by some of the To-
lcal contractors.
From surveys Of the harbor entrance
which have been made in the past 1t is
believed that the sum of 100000 will be
amply sufficient to do the work of cut
ting through the bar For space OF
several hundred feet opposite the en-
trance the water on the bar is about Il
to 20 feet deep. For most of this width
there is little If any coral, and it viii
simply be necessary to dredge out the
sand which the sea and the currents
from the harbor have combined to pile
up across the entrance. Where there is
coral to be found it is stated from these
reports that it is simply in the shape OF
a thin layer lying on the sand and wher
this has been cut through it will be easy
to remove the sand to any required
depth.
4 But while the actual cutting through
Iof the channel for deep-sea ships will no
be matter of great expense it will be
different when it comes to removing the
reefs which stretch al either side Of tns
entrance proper from the Salt Works a
Puuloa and from Waiaho on the othel
side and which make the present course
, into the harhor even for small yacht:
somewhat tortuous and difficult
1.-THE expense of removing these OBJ
structions," said Captain Merry las
evening. will he considerable and 1
: is question whether 1t viii be possfbl,
!, to do It with the money which is nov
available. Unless they are removed |
| VIII he diffcult for the big warships t
enter the harbor. for they win hardly b
able to turn SO as to get around thes
projecting reefs. However, there IS
hill now before Congress to appropriat
: $4,000 for the Improvement of Pea,
P Harbor and to purchase a site fer a Ma
: val station ard If that is passed this win
T ter by Congress It viii prove ample VIII
3 the 100000 to do all the work neces
sary."
The opening of Pearl Harbor has beel
for years one of the plans for the i'm
provement of the Islands which ha
promised much for their develepmen