Los Angeles herald., 1908-10-23
WILL DISCUSS
CONSOLIDATION
JOINT MEETING TO BE HELD
AT OCEAN PARK
CANAL FROM BEACH TO CITY
WILL BE CONSIDERED
Venice Chamber of Commerce Issues
Statement Urging Superior Claims
of Proposed Port BaIiona
Harbor

| City officials, officers of the Munich
pal Waterways association and others
interested in harbor Improvement, will
attend a meeting of the Santa Monica
| Bay chamber of commerce at the Ca
sino auditorium at Ocean Park tomor-
row night, to discuss consolidation with
| Los Angeles and the Port Ballona haf-
Dor project. The meeting has been agi-
| tated widely at the beach towns on
Santa Monica bay, and efforts have
been made to secure large attend
| ance.
/ The feasibility of strip" running
| west to the ocean from Los Angeles
will be discussed, and the Bay cham
ber of commerce has invited a num-
| ber of Los Angeles men to take part
| in a discussion on that line. Eleva-
tion notes and other details of q canal
through the -Ballona lagoon. to point
! within three miles of the present city
limits. will be laid before the meeting.
| 1t is estimated that such canal, with
a channel deep and wide enough to
accommodate the largest ships, can be
constructed for 100000 less than the
| proposed channel two miles up the city
"stripS from the west basin of Will
| mington bay.
! Among those who will attend from
| Los Angeles are Mayor A. G. Harper
and several other city officials, j. III.
| Call, president, and Pitt p. Hand, Sec
retary OF the Municipal Waterways as
sociation; Milton K. Young, Henry T.
| Hazard, Oscar G. Mueller Sidney A.
| Butler and Marshall p. Stimson. Alb
| bot Kinney will head delegation from
Venice and will take part in the har-
| Dor discussion.
The Venice chamber of commerce
A4z...1 81
vantages which they claim for the pro-
posed Port Ballona harbor. They
claim that Santa Monica bay alone, in
| the southern section of the Pacific
coast, offers feasible site for a har-
Dor of value in time of war, and in
support of that claim have issued the
following statement:
Various Harbors Compared
There are three natural commercial harbors
on the Pacific coast The Puget sound district
Is on the northern limit and close to the bor-
der Of the dominion of Canada. Facilities for
repair and supplies exist there for the present
naval strength on the coast. but not for a
fleet adequate to meet possible needs on the
Pacific ocean.
San Francisco bay is about the center of
the coast line. 1t is a great harbor. The
naval establishment that bay is of great
Importance.
San Diego is the third of these harbors and
is located near the Mexican border with Its
land communications very vulnerable by rea-
son Of the existing railroad running for
hundred miles within sight Of the sea, and
the planned railroad to the east, being open
to attack from the gulf of California. From
military point of view San Diego is little less
than death trap for fleet account of
the delay of ingress egress to large fleet
through the channel; the lack OF swinging or
anchorage inside the harbor for large
vessels and the exposed condition of ships in
side the harbor to any attacking fleet from
| the ocean side. long low sand peninsula
divides the bay from the at this point.
Various urgent reasons exist for military
harbor the Southern Pacific. Absolutely
no facilities for naval base exist In this
section Equally urgent reasons exist for
commercial harbor on this part of the coast
with access to the center and east of the ma
tion on minimum grades and free from snow.
The harDor OF San Pedro cannot be con-
sidered as available for naval base. The
inner harbor is reached by a long narrow
channel and Is lacking in depth and room for
large vessels. Even If these conditions could
be corrected the delay for large vessels in
entering and leaving the harbor would be q
Pedro is open to the easterly storms prevail
ing on this coast during the rainy season
San Pedro cannot be considered a naval
base.
Not Naval Base
Magdalena bay, at the southern end of
Baja, Cal, recently leased from Mexico. is
splendid harbor in an arid district. short
any supplies to a feet. 1t Is useful a
port for coaling and drills, but could not be
relied naval base in case of war.
The bay of Santa Monica alone offers the
opportunity for the. construction of such a
harbor at reasonable cost. The advan-
tages that Santa Monica alone has over all
other points may be summed up follows:
Fronting ives. this bay is protected on the
north by the Santa Monica range extending
to Point Dune and on the southeast by the
Palos Verdes hills to Point St Vincent with
Catalina island more remote. The two
strong winds in this mild climate are both
off the land on Santa Monica bay. One of
these Is the southeast rain wind and the
other the Santa Ana. northern clearing
winds.
The protection needed here is against the
waves by outside storms and from the
choppy seas of westerly winds
Santa Monica bay is the nearest coast
point to tho railroad and distributing CEN
ter at the large city of Los Angeles 1t has
a fine supply of good fresh water, and is in
and near rich agricultural productive
center.
Its land connection with Los Angeles and
the entire nation is by four rail routes as
safe from attack or interruption as is possi-
BILE. In close proximity the oil fields of Los
Angeles makes that form of fuel conven-
lent 1t is probable that this oil field will
be traced direct to the bay. One reason for
this opinion is the existence of an oil spring
in the bay.
Fuel oil can be delivered at Venice by
gravity pipe uneSN1rom the present oil wells.
This is valuable resource for all vessels
using oil fuel. Construction and repair
plants would also have cheap fuel.
The fact that this bay is almost perfect
harbor at present is shown by the numerous
wharves on its shores. One of these on the
north is Port Los Angeles, long used for
commercial purposes and a regular port Of
call for coast steamships. Another to the
south is Redondo, also an important COM
mercial point and a port of call for the
coast steamers. This port is near a sub
marine canyon of great DEPTH rendering a
breakwater across this canyon impracti-
cable.
Advantages of Venice
Venice is at the center of the bay. The
nearest point this bay or on the coast
to the city of Los Angeles is the harbor for
small boats and breakwater of the Venice |
of America The distance from Venice to
Los Angeles center is fourteen and one-half
miles and to the city limits nine miles.
The special advantages of Venice for a |
military and commercial harbor are the
water supply, rail connections and un- |
high pressure and the gradual slope of the
sea bottom. This easy slope allows the
maximum of sea room to be enclosed by a |
breakwater at the minimum Of cost. An
other great advantage OF the Venice harbor
is it's capacity for indefinite enlargement by
simply extending the proposed outer break |
water always in the same depth of water
and consequently at low cost.
Granite for the new breakwater can be
brought by gravity from the nearby Santa
Monica range.
is a channel entrance to connect the 1agoons
lo nit, fHa Tha Ia adj