The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-19

positively and confidently, yes AS one Representative and as memoer Rivers and Harbors Committee; pect to walk into the room "i.h n.s i.s head up and hang up my nat
 accustomed place and say MT. Ca ~, l man. we are here for the purpose supporting the flag and demahuihs oui share of the appropriation. As the party was passing over th. '. bar in the revenue cutter Wenona, Judge H Austill, a member or the com mittee from the Commercial Cluo oi Mobile, which arranged for the con vention, explained just what was heeu ed.
 ChanneY Thirty-Gve Feet Deep. "A channel thirty-five feet deep is .o ba cur through the outer par. channel will be 800 feet In wloth anu it will be as long as the wiotn ol 'n bar which is about three-quarters oi a mile. This will give a straight .hpo from the heavier waters of the uuil ~ the calm and placid waters or the i"'iu locked bay of Mobile.
 There Is at present twenty-seven rec. of water over the bar. The oreoseo channel leading from the bar 10 tne piers and wharves of Mobile has at us lowest place twenty-seven feet or Wa ter. but there are places in 1t which are seventy feet deep.
 In rough weather a vessel drawing twenty or twenty-one feet or "ater can not pass over the bar. The same vessel If It could get into the smooth waters of the bay. could easily make its way to the city of Mobile' tor'y miles up the bay.
 If the bar was cut down as proposeo' the largest vessel in the United States No fh uaCSal that carries any of the commerce of the world upon any sea or ocean of the world. could come into Mobile Bay. It is pointed out that the channei woul be a. ''scouring" channel and not .'filling" channel. A securing chan- mel keeps It's own bottom clean oy the force of it's own current, while nli- ing channel fills its way with sand ana mud.
 One of the strongest reasons for the cutting of the channel is given Dv Judge Austill who declared that the gulf commerce had Increased wonder fully in the past few years and that the opening of the Panama Canal would still more largely augment that com merce.
 Coaling Place Needed.
 The vessels plying the Gulf of Mexi- co would have to have a convenient coaling place. When the channel was deepened. he said. some point near the mouth of Mobile Bay would be an ideal place for the vessels to take on coal, Whether they were big war vessels or whether they were great freight car riers. they would turn from their course for a few miles and enter Mobile Bay to fill their needs for coal. This would mean the erection of great coaling station near the mouth of the bay. Even with the channel deepened, he said 1t was inconvenient and impracticable for vessels to spend two days in going to a port thirty five miles from the gulf, coaling and re- turning and losing two days in the operation.
 No large coaling station in the world, he said, was ever thirty-five or forty miles from the coast. From the very fact that deepening of the chan mel would build up coaling and ship ping station at the mouth of the bay some citizens of Mobile, he said, were opposed to the enterprise. This he declared was short sighted policy.
 A short sighted Policy.
 "The building of that place would help Mobile, not hurt it. He cited the instance of Richmond Va. in which
 
 the large improvements at Newport News. saying that its growth would hurt Richmond. All agree, now, Judge Austill said. that Richmond has grown faster in commerce and prosperity since the building of Newport News than ever before in it's history.
 Judge Austill also pointed out the direct benefits that would come to Mobile from the deepening of the chan nel. The largest freighters. of the world would enter the bay and the com merce of the city, would go forward in leaps and bounds, besides the advan- tages that the city would derive from the building of the coaling point at the end of the railroad. near the mouth 'of the bay. ,H
 Mobile is going to drive home this thought in the minds of the people of the State. The deepening of the chan mel across the outer bar Is the most important internal improvement mat ter which is now before the people of the State Every other internal i'm provcment is subordinate to it."
 That is the basis of the campaign which they are going to carry on be- fore the people of the State and be- fore the Congress of the United States.
 should Open the Gate.
 They are going to argue. what's the use of deepening the Alabama River. the Warrior River. the Coosa River when the commerce of Alabama's only port is limited by shallow water? Whats the use of opening the way to bring freely and cheaply the mineral and agricultural riches of Alabama to the States gateway to the sea when that gateway is partially locked and. partially obstructed?
 They are going to ask cooperation and assistance to have the outer bar so altered that the largest vessels and the entire navy of the United States can come in and take anchorage and shelter In the smooth landlocked bay