Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-21
RARE TREAT IS
GIVEN ADMIRALS
THOMAS MAKES REPLY TO
HEARTY WELCOME
ALEXANDRIA is TURNED INTO
DREAMLkND
Thousands of Dollars Are Expended
in Lavish Display of Flowers
for Benefit of Naval
Men
CONTINUED from Page Six

than Sam Pedro. True, Seattle is d lU'iO
nearer Japan by water but as moving
freight lon water costs but fraction OIL
what it costs by rail, San Pedfo mas mas
every natural advantage loI carr iiio
or this cotton trade ,.
Japan. profiting by the example Oh her
allv. England, is bending all neI % %eHeI
oies TO Increasing her manufacturing
She realizes that the agricultural oeNel-
onment Of her islands has. reacneo us
Iirnit and that the only way she can
Sc her wealth is to buy raw mate
riaIe from other countries change theIli
in factories; to finished products, ana
sell them back to the original plo-
Everv cent made by the exchange is
clear gain, and we, the oIlsi maj Pi0
ducers are the losers. 80
we are the losers, because we are
ir,noverishing our soil to raise raw
nroducts which Japan faprlcates aliu ~
seIls hack to us. Japan's net result Ie
nure gain, for she is using up holie u
her resources. t,o,,1d do o1lr
o,,-n ,oanufacturing. Then we get Iot
~, the wealth extracted from tHe
soil hut the final value OF the Aiii9iieO
product. c,.,.sor,,io with her
even climate, making o~utuoot ~ ,.oor
ipo,. chean fuel in the form OF cruue
letroleun1. her harbors and her ran
oeds ought to become one OF tile
greatest manufacturing cehters VI 'No
world. ,5no &c an ar
tificial harbor. You near Inns sou a.
tones that are both Apologize ana ue-
rogatory. But, why? Every hdrpol'
60 far as its ability to carry on coH-
rnerce under modern conditions 10 coIi
cerned. is artificial, and the more com,
nletely artificial it is, the peter oui'oe 80
Il is 10 modern business, prOVlulhS; u
nourse that it is in good locdllly
80 the cost of making it is not too
rea+ Recause it is artificial the inner
Sarhor of San Pedro will have enough,
and no more than enough Wdteh -
wharfage purposes and Tor basins III
which boats may turn. 100 sreaC on
ovnanse of water is real detrlhenl
% borhor for it allows storms to
,oiea a considerable sea in the harpor
itse1f resulting often in serious loss
1Enfor+unately most harbors require d
large area of water IN oruer ma 1iN
scoI1r of the tides will keep the en-
trance clear. If the tidal area Is no. no.
large enough TO MAINTAIN 4 -" oI,,a,,d -
denths the government must eApeIu
large sums annually to dredge chaI
ooIs across the bar. Or 1t may pullu
costly ietties, though in most caaes
these are only partially ettectlVe anu anu
must be augmented by eAten9lN'
dredging. Dredging or the lS9t.o,-, collatl ~,
+ion of ietties or both, is necessary
st the entrance to almost every mar
Chor in the country except san Pedro
and two or three others san FeuIo
will never have this trouble pecause
tbe breakwater completely protectS IL
from sand piled up by the waves @ anu
there are no rivers to carry sllt lIlto
a. True. the Los Angeles river flows
in+o If or rather flows through the
inner or Long Beach end of the mar
nor when there is water enough 10
flow to the sea.
In fact, for ten or twelve moilIns Vi
the wear, depending upon the amount
of rsinfau. the Los Angeles river does
not carry enough water to hoat
mallard duck.
Natural Hotels
snaaking of things artificial, our bat
tleshins are artificial, our cities are
ARTIFICIAL; this hotel itself is artl1clal
in fact the only natural hotels that
have ever heard of are the caves oc-
cupied by prehistoric man, ana the
bones found alongside mans IN NOSE
caves would not indicate tnal tiloSe
hotels were such as would De CONSUL
cred first-class today.
So much for San Pedro as harbor
for commerce. , oe
Let us see what it is as harbor of
refuge, and as harbor of refuge not
only for merchant vessels, but tor our
own navy as we'll. AS stated at the
beginning. the outer end of the break
water is in eight fathoms of water, in
fact. lust at present the outer end IS
in eight and three-quarters fathoms-
fifty-two feet The distance from the
outer end of the breakWater shoreWaru
IN the thirty-foot depth is 1000 feet
nearly twice the tactical diameter OF
.Our latest armored cruisers. And INTO
this entrance vessels may steam at
full speed, and no matter what the
sea is outside, the moment they pass
the end of the breakWater everything
is calm. Once inside the breakWater,
If the vessel desires to go to a berth
in the inner harbor it can do so. The
great depth near the outer end of the
breakwater furnishes an advantage
not generally reaiZed-that is a Grip
pled vessel in sinking condition may
he drawing five, ten, or even twenty
feet more than its natural draft and
vet pass in safety. in most harbors
these vessels would have to ground
at the entrance outside, where they
would be exposed to the full fury of
the waves AT San Pedro, If a vessel
can be steered at all or is being
towed, It can easily reach still water
inside the brealSWater, and if sinking,
be run aground on a soft bottom where
it will be safe from any storm, and
where operations for its raising and
repair can be carried on in still water
in every kind of weather In that way
it is readily seen how merchant or
naval vessels could be saved if Grip
pied off San Pedro harbor. while if
crippled off any other harbor of the
Pacific coast of the United States, eX-
cept Puget sound, they would very
likely prove a total loss.
Of Value to Navy
Considering more particularly for a
moment its value to the navy, It is,
first, an excellent place for a coaling
station, for a repair station, ana for
dry docks. This is because Of its wide,
deep entrance. that can be used at all
times no matter what the weather,
and because it is reached by three
transcontinental railroads at present,
and will in the future be reached by
every additional transcontinental rail-
road coming to Southern California
Moreover, the city of Los Angeles,
with it's present population of 300 600,
and it's future population of how many
no one dare guess, with it's factories
and it's storehouses can furnish on an
hours notice scores of skilled mechan-
les in any trade, and thousands of
ions Of supplies Thus in time of