The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1907-05-07

board of audit and finance has furnish.
ed the public with a statement show.
ing that the proposed bonds can be
provided for out Of prospective reve-
nues. and that to maintain and retire
these issues will impose no additional
taxation. There is legitimate ground
for difference Of opinion in regard tc
government ownership of public utili-
| ties, but there is no difference of Cpin.
ion i'll respect to the very material ad-
vantages of good streets.
/ HARBoR WORK.
! The storm Of September last wrought
great damage to New Inlet dam. some
parts Of the great wall being literally
washed away. Prompt steps were TAX
en- by the chamber to procure a special
appropriation by congress to repair the
damage. and We are indebted to Mr..
Jas. H. ChadbOurn and Mr.. H. c. Nc
Queen, committee, for their successful
efforts in this behalf. The committee
visited Washington, and along with
their special mission, urged larger reg
ular appropriations, and equal SUCCESS
rewarded their efforts in both respects.
The appropriations now available Tor
lower Cape Fear river and bar aggre-
gate something more than 5000, 900.
and work on the 24-fOot project recon-
mended by Capt. Johnson has begun
and will be pushed to rapid completion.
Since the retirement of Capt. John-
20 conduct OF the work has devolled
whose efficiency and worth comm end
themselves to our appreciation.
FORT CASWELL.
The chamber endorsed the bill before
congress to enlarge the coast artillery
service, and Detitioned our representa-
tives to support the measure. The
bill became law. without serious opLo-
Sition. and the effect is to add to this
arm Of the service some 5000 men, the
allotment to Fort CasWeil being one
company. With this addition, however,
a number of the most powerful guns
at CasWell are still out of commission,
end in view of the fact that it takes
considerable time to train arti!lerists
We should continue to urge the matter
on the attention of congress. Expert
has demonstrated that naval eff
ticienCy is conditioned on adequate
coast d%efenses, because the navy can
be employed in foreign waters I'M
less coast defenses are adequate to pro-
tect home territory.
We desire to make formal acknowl-
edgement of the marked courtesies
shown the members Of this chamber
and lady friends by the officers and
ladies of the fort. Until quite recently
it was against the regulations for civil |
to visit the fort except by special
Of the department., so that |
social intercourse between the fort and
was enjoyed only to : lin |
ted extent. Under the new regulations |
the fort is open to the public al all
and we hope to see Oftener and |
to know better these good people. |
INLAND WATERWAYS.
The annual meeting of the Inland |
Association was held at
Wilmington, under the auspices Of this
chamber, during the past summer. The
meeting was quite largely attended by !
representatives from points rs far i
north as Norfolk and as far south as
Savannah, and great unanimity of pur-
pose was manifested in the discussions. |
The Wilmington delegates made it
lear that our support of the project |
was conditioned on the understanding
hat it was not local and that the
was to be carried out on a
comprehensive plan of inland waterway
development eventually connecting gulf