The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-11-19
IT'S PRESENT STATUS

rho Most comprehensive, Timely and
,,,cr4.4ting Article on This Magnif-
cent Project Ever Written-Its Vast
importance to North Carolina, It's
economies of the State, and a Pre-
eminent of the Causes of the Oppo-
ction TO Its Completion.
For more than a century Cape Hat
.eras and Diamond Shoals and the
s+her t~reaCherous points of the North
Carolina coast have stood like strong
barriers against the of the
safe and from time to time wise and
patriotic men have sought to der.se
means for ~affording our ports and in
land waters a safe outlet to the sea.
The outer Diamond Shoals, iutr:ng
about hfteen miles into the ocean, have
constituted a most effective menace to
navigation, n CaDe Lookout a little
further south is scarcely less danger
nnS Goa stWiSe vessels from Beaufort
and Wilmington bound to the North;
ulI~l lace the ddflScIS OIL TDCtn0lng
these CapeS, and likewise vessels from
prlls t. the North must 4
similar danger in seeking Southern
purtS. the gifted Joseph W. H"l1en
p~CriraNeG "a stately verse this grave
1.I! of 1te AtIanti and thousands Of
lives Fave been sacrificed to the insa-
tate greed Of its remorseless waves
and treacherOus sands.
our fathers appreciated fully these
conditions and more than once in the
carly days proposed a remedy. They
wrote, they talked, and they dreamed
Of an inland waterway which should
extend southwark from Chesapeake
Bav through the inland waters of
North Carolina with a possible outlet
at some Southern point; but the task
was too stupendous and the difficulties
insuperable and still remained a
dream. In the early days when the
Constitution was strictly construed on
Iy the States could undertake It's
task, the only other resource being in
diVidual capital. It is only witnin the
past ten years that this projected wa
terway q taken definite shape and
considered alone from the view point Of
Obtaining a national appropriation for
its obstruction.
After persistent struggle, after dill
gent exploitation in Congress and The
press so that this waterway has acouir-
ed almost a national reputation, Con-
gress at its last session in The Rivers
and Harbors act of March, 1907, n2ade
an appropriation of $550.G0U for the
purpose of constructing a section of
this waterway from Beaufort inlet
r~orthwardly to Pamlico Sound. TnCs
at last has the United States entered
Gpon the construction of this most
necessary improvement and the dream
Of d century has assumed the form Of
q definite, tangible and practicable
project.
The reader from the interior who
has made only a cursory examination
Of the map max make inquiry as to
the Importance of this waterway. He
sees the broad Atlantic upon our east
ern shore. the great highway of the ma
tons, and he wonders why the ship
ping from our ports and rivers n
sounds should not seek the ocean and
thus engage in coastwise trade. This
is a perfectly natural enquiry, but it
is susceptible of the clearest expiana-
ton. There runs almost along our
entire coast a narrow ridge of sand
dunes with a slight ana
which separates the ocean from our
inland sounds. An examination of our
our eastern coast between Massachu-
sets and Florida discloses the fact that
the coast of North Carolina extends
far eastwardly. Cape Hatteras, Cape
Lookout and other nenace to navf-
cation on our o have been already
referred to. This with the course of
the Gulf Stream and the prevailing
storm winds combine to make the
navigation of our coast the most dan
gerOuS either on the Atlantic or the
Pacific. This line of sand dunes Is
intersected by several inlets through
which the water flows between the
ocean and the sounds, some OF which
have been navigable in the past, bu,
not one of these inlets has sufficient
depth at the present time To accommo-
date our shipping. Either the water
at the bar is insufficient or tnere are
Instructions on the sound side. Oc-
racoke Inlet, through which vessels
from New Bern and Washington sail
cd for many years has been closed ny
the formation of an obstruction on the
inside and now has only a maximum
depth of about six feet. The above
condition is true Of every inlet north
Of Beaufort and Beaufort inlet IS not
accessible to any of the rivers and
sounds north thereof. L j. true tina
Core Sound connects Pamlico Sound
with Beaufort, but there IS only about
five feet of water in tho former sound
Eor instance, a vessel or steamer from
Washington or New Bern could not
reach Beaufort Inlet ana there IS no
outlet to the ocean.
Thus it is that a large part Of North
Carolina which IS intersecte1 ny nav
igable rivers and sounds IS cut off from
the world 50 far as a natural outlet is
.oncerned. 1t is as completely land
lgcked as if a wall were constructed
around its waters. This is true, for ex-
simple, of Elizabeth City, Edenton,
Washington. and New Bern, and of its
rivers, Pamlico river, Neuse river and
F~asquOtank river and the other towns,
rivers and sounds.
The onIy outlet for navigation from
this section of Eastern North Carolina
are two artificial canals one known as
The Dismal Swamp canal and the the
known as the Albemarle and Chesa-
reake canal, both of which connect Al
hemarIe Sound with Elizabeth river
and Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. These
canals must of necessity levy a tribute
upon every ton of merchandise ard
produce which passes through them to
or from North Carolina. Not only does
ils handicap business, but 1T also
greatly restricts the number of vessels
sNf the volume of traffic.
The above description of existing
conditions will convince the most skeD-
neal that the situation is serious aud
mat relief should be granted. There
Is not in the United State so large an
urea Of territory containing 50 many
saFlgahle rivers and sounds when
tltS NOT rAc-acc n froa an6 Cln4P1OTlS