Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1902-05-21
TO AVOID CAPE HATrERAS.
System Of Canals and Channels
Planned by the Government for
Protection Of Ships.


point upon the Atlantic seaboard, will
cease to exist as menace to coast
wise navigation if the present plans OF
the United States government are car
ried out, the details of which will be
called to the attention of congress at
the present session, and an appropcia-
ton urged for their execution, states
the Washington Star.
For carnations the name OF Cape
Eatteras has been Synonymous with
storms, shipwrecks and loss of life.
All sorts of schemes have been pro-
posed to minimize it's dangers. Mil
lions of dollars have been spent in at
tempts to properly light the celebrated
Diamond shoals, which surround Cape
Hatteras. 1t was found impossible,
after years of labor to build light
house there. The heaviest and stanch-
est lightship ever constructed was
placed at Diamond shoals only to be
blown away from her giant mushroom
anchors.
During all this time steamers 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 disaster on Cape Hat
teras.
The sailors coming from San Fran
cisco dreaded this one spot more than
any other in 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 injure
coastwise commerce on the Atlantic
than any other agency.
The plan to- avoid the cape contem-
plates an ingenious and thoroughly
practicable system of inland canals
and channels, by which the coastwise
trade will be enabled to pass behind
Cape Hatteras protected from the fury
of the ocean the whole way down the
coast by low lying sand bars.
The Dismal swamp canal, miser.
able ditch Of comparatively small inn
portance, is to be deepened through
it's whole length. Here, bordered by
cypress, gum and magnolia, large
coastwise vessels can sail or tow in
safety.
The extra insurance now put on
ships because of Cape Hatteras and
it's dangers will, it is claimed, more
than pay for the cost of towage in
this nev inside route The saving in
time w il be great, and the safety to
human Wife will be an item of no small
Importance.
The magnificent fleet of yachts kept
in northern waters can then pass up
and down the coast in safety. When
the inside route is finished a great adj
vance in coastwise transportation is
expected to take place.
An inside passage from Boston to
Florida is believed by officials to. be
one of the possibilities of the future.
The present plan is lboked at as the
first and most important step in this
development.
TO a large extent the proposed wa
terway is a natural one and to fit it
for the passage of vessels of the larger
N1dSo, az III uul wy
now being made, is simply matter of
dredging channels through the vari-
our sounds lying back of the narrow
strip of land which forms Care Hat
teras and the dangerous coast on it's
north and south
Hampton Roads, which will be the
northern entrance to the inside pas
sage, is considered one of the safest
and most easy of access of all the har-
bors on the coast. Vessels will pass
into the Elizabeth river at Norfolk
and thence down the Dismal swamp
canal to Pasquotank, into Albemarle
sound, Pamlico sound, Core sound,
Back sound and Beaufort harbor.
When the improvements conte1n-
plated are made it is probable that
the INSIDE route" will be continued be-
low Beaufort inlet. This will give the
United States the greatest stretch of
protected water in the world. 1t will
be valuable in war time, as small war
ships and whole fleets of torpedo boats
can pass from northern waters almost
to the gulf without going outside.