The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-30
LETTERS TO EDITOR
Mobile and Mobile Bay.
.e Editor of The Age-Herald:

the seaport of our state. He is moved to do this mainly that some errors In the minds of the people of the state, who have not been correctly informed. may be corrected. Mobile bay Is the largest bay that indents the United States coast. The flow Of her water inward and out ward with the oscillation of the ocean tide is greater in this bay than in any other bay of the United States In our lower bay there is a greater depth of water than in any other bay of the Gulf of Mexico and perhaps of the whole United States coast. After passing the outer bar there is fifty G0) feet of water which comes up to a point between the two forts Morgan and Gaines. Fort Nor gan is on the eastern side of the chan nel Fort Gaines being on the western side of the channel, and on Danphin island.
 The outer bar of Mobile bay has about twenty-four (2D feet of water thereon. An appropriation by congress has al ready been made for the purpose of deep- ening this outer bar. As the bar is a marrow sand cone the work be quick ly done and when done Mobile bay will
 
 port on the Gulf of Mexico.
 Captain Davis of the battleship Ala bama, who was recently prevented from bringing that ship into the bay of Mobile by reason of the existence of this outer bar, made the following statement in letter, speaking of this bar:
 Certainly the gulf coast of the United States needs ports, and needs them badly. When the Panama canal is opened and thqt-eMfn KUfl1 and is essential to the security of our national interests to maintain a large squadron in the gulf and the Caribbean sea. That squadron must have ports 1t can freely enter at any stage of tide or weather Mobile is so obviously the one port of the whole gulf coast, which would fulfill all demands, in its natural advant- ages for defense room situation and it's artificial advantages for supply, etc, that 1t seems incredible Inat a determined movement is not already on foot to deepen the water on the bar.
 .I have been looking carefully over the chart of Mobile bay again. l find that with the exception of the shoal water on the bar there is no obstacle whatever to the entrance of a fleet of eight bat tleships into the lower bay and to it's finding a commodious anchorage within the protection of the guns of Fort Nor gan. l would like to reiterate some of the advantages which would follow the deepening of the bar. Mobile would then be available to the fleet in any weather an enormous advantage. The anchorage in the lower bay could be made abso- lutely impregnable to the attack of an enemy outside. The fleet would be in touch with a great commercial emporium and with the railway system ol the con tinent, for convenience in purchasing and receiving stores and supplies of all kinds and 1t would be within arms length, so to speak, of the Alabama coal fields and could coal with perfect security. In fact, the advantages multiply as I con slider the questions. while disadvantages do not exist or at least do not appear
 Colonel Mcclure of the Philadelphia Times, in a letter written by him some years ago, made the following statement and prediction as to Mobile:
 Mobile is one of the few important natural gateways to the world of waters of the south. With water transportation rom the immense coal fields of Alabama and Mobile completed for the largest shipping, no state in the union and no nation of the world will be able to com pete with this state in supplying the Gulf or Mexico, the West Indies, Central ana South America with coal and the supre- macy Of Mobile as a cotton centre would be more than restored. Mobile would be literally the gateway to the waters of the world for the southern coal trade, if given the benefits of the gifts nature has bestowed upon her."
 We claim that the geographical nosition of Mobile with the great natural advant- ages which she has, having two thousand miles of navigable river waters coming to her very door, with deeper water in her bay than any other gulf port has should make her the most prosperous city of the Gulf of Mexico. It is true inc channel cut by the government from inc lower bay to the wharves only brings depth of twenty-three feet LID to the citv at present.
 The commercial results of this improve ment show conclusfvely what may he expected when the greater depth in her bay Is utilized for business The shore ihe ln front of the city and of her whole bay Is never affected by rising waters. no levees will ever be necessary to keen odt nood waters Mobile is the nearest gun port to Chicago St. Louis and Mem 9il's. She is on a direct line of com munication between theg, great canters and the Tehuantepec rail route and Pan anna canal Since this channel was cnt bS Inc government and became available Ill l9z me imports at Mobile have ,., creased 200 pei cent and her ex-,orts oon per cent; the duties coll, cted ot the custohl mousse have increased near eO0 n, r cent. Now that the isthmian canal is assured and the l1ngiiss cu,nuany ia nho,,t to open me railway route across the istb. mus at Iehuantepec, the trend If trade III the united States will be north and south up and down the great valley he, tween the Rocky and the Alleganv n1onr tdiHs' Inc roads running notth and eo,th are already taxed to their greatest cana eity py this growing business. Otbor roads will have to be built
 we claim that no point on tbe r1e presents more advantages for railroad terminal than Mobile. os'u
 ne writer has recently heard so ,,,,,,. iins-statements as to Mobile and th uepth or water in the government cban- hel ana the lower hay, that he begs spuce Tn your columns for correcting s,oh h'is-statements All of the gulf n,rts Will prosper in the future and tbo o,.,.a 's el Moolle wish prosperity to all hut uo uo clalm that our position and advantages eh'ltle us to very large share of tha immense business which will soon he cool, ing gulf ports De seeh-
 ol course it will be gratifving to .u eltizens of Alabama to see tbe saa,,en. oi 'he state Increasing in prosperit,. and III t@N-paylhg values. The growth of any port or the state benefits the uhoIa state. For many years Mobile maid oho,,t ohe-h-th of the taxes to run the stat' government She may never raash s.a'e .e position again, but she will run Iof,,s nat county close second ten years hence