The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-04-25
PENSACOLA FLORIDA sATuR DAY MORNING April, 25

appointed, and an Cne machinery VI
the great movement put in operation.
r The last public communication on
any subject ever written by the late
Senator Mallory, of this city. was an
article for the Christmas edition of
The Journal, on the subject of this
inland waterway along the Gulf coast.
Senator Mallory had been brought up
from his youth in this section, knew
it's geography intimately, and was an
earnest advocate of the proposed route
from New Orleans to Apalachicola by
way of Pensacola, and thence to the
Atlantic ocean. He knew such a
route to be entirely practicable, and
that it would be an enormous factor
in the development of Pensacola and
all the surrounding country. We can
not do better than reproduce here
what he said in The Journal last
Christmas in describing this proposed
route from New Orleans to Apalachi-
cola, which is all We need to consider
for the present From his article We
take the following:
A glance at a map of the Gulf coast
of the United States will show that
the only engineering problems OF
more than very minor significance,
which the undertaking presents, are
the connection at New Orleans be
tween the Mississippi riVer and
Lake Pontchartrain, and the digging
of a canal from some point on tne
Gulf coast of Florida to the 81
~ i've
From New Orleans TO the eastern
side of Mobile bay no work would
| be necessary. A canal fifty feet
wide at the bottom with a water
depth of eight feet and length OF
not more than eight miles would
connect the waters of Mobile ana
Perdido BAYS at comparatively trlf-
ling cost. and afford easy navigation
for barges of very large carrying ca
pacity. Dor
dido bay into the Lagoon, whlcn Is
] the extreme western branch OF rem
sacola bay. a cut one mile IN length
wound suffice. Some dredging would
have to be done at both ends OF the
lagoon TO secure a depth of eight
feet and at It's eastern end Jetty
or breakwater would be necessary to
nrotect the entrance from the heavy
seas that in time OF storms roll IN
through the entrance to Pensacola
| bay.
From the eastern end of the La
coon the waterway already exists
/ through Pensacola bay and santa
Rosa sound to the eastern end OF
| Choctawhatchee bay. To secure a
depth of eight feet in this stretch
some dredging would have to be done
| at several points in Santa Rosa
| so,Ind and at the western end OF
| Choctawhatchee bay, where there Is
| now at full tide only about five feet
of water. But the amount of such
dredge work would be very small
| and as the bottom is all sand, the eX-
| pense would be comparatively Slight
From the eastern end OF ChoctaW-
| batchee bay. somewhere near Font
| Washington, to the western end of the
west arm of ST. Andrews bay, a
| canal of from 90 to % miles in length
would have to be excavated. The soil
| through which this would be cut is
| sand and the country is low and
| level From the mouth of Wetapo
creek. at the eastern end of the east
arm of st. Andrews bay, a canal OF
| a dozen miles IN length would open
| connection with St Joseph's bay, al
| a point well inside the mouth of that
| sheet of water, and a cut from the
| eastern shore of st. Joseph's bay to
| ST Vincent's sound, the western arm
! of Apalachicola bay, of not exceeding
! Ave miles, through a level country
| and sandy soil would open unob
| structed communication with Apala
chicola bay and Dog Island sound