The Washington herald., 1908-08-16
NAVAL EXPERTS LAYING PLANS TO MAKE
CROSSROADS OF THE PACIFIC A STRONG
OUTPOST FOR AMERICAN NATION

headed b. Rear Admiral Seaton Schroe-
der. commander Of the second division Of
the feet. and accompanying the board is
Rear Admiral W I. Caps. who came
here with the feet as a passenger.
Hence the arrival Of the feet had not
only peculiar significance in that il call
ed national attention TO the need OF de
veloping Pearl Harbor. but it furnished
a cause for rejoicing because this arrival
was instrumental in the actual beginning
Of the work II IS not permissible TO cor
respondents with the feet to make known
any conclusions that the Schroeder board
may reach because Of the ruling laid
down by Rear Admiral Sperry, the COM
ulauder-in-chief. that no detailed infor-
nation which is properly a subject OF spe-
CiaI report 10 superior authority. and
which should be made public II at all by
the superior authority. IS 10 be furnished
10 correspondents or other civilian pas
sengers. nor shall correspondents be per
mitted TO transmit any such information
Hence whatever Improvements the
Schroeder board may suggest viii reach
the public through the Secretary Of the
Navy
Description of the HarbOr-
But exactly where is Pearl Harbor and
what is il like al PRESENT. the reader may
ask Well. IT is the only land locked
harbor in the Hawaiian Islands and. as
has been said. Il lies less than ten miles
west Of Honolulu. and the entrance 70
il is from the same general body Of water
through which a ship enters Honolulu
Harbor- Pearl Harbor resembles in rough
outline a three-leaf clover. The stem IS
nearly three miles long and from one
half TO three-qUarters OF @ mile wide At
the upper end the stem branches into two
forks. one Of which runs into what IS
called West Loch and the other into Mid
ole Loch and East Loeb The water in
this stem and its branches has an aver
age depth OF from eight 20 twenty faith
ous- a large part Of the l1chs IS COW
cred by water six 10 eight fathoTs deep
. and the character Of the bottom OF the
lochs is such that q could be drsdEed
easily 20 any required depth There are
more than ten miles Of deep water in
the stem and branches-rivers. they are
called Once In them 100 battle ships
could float safely Il is estimated that
there are more than 100 acres OF deep
river channel IN the harbor and about
2500 acres OF shallow and comparatively
deep water in the luchs. The fall OF
the tide is Only about three feet There
are no ryph00ns or hurricanes IN Hawaii
Across the entrance 20 the main stem
Of the harbor Is sand bar through
E WE-EL E[aaEaflf4 - L--L Ice ana .-' .-eu
I deep and L551 feet long has been dug
II needs 70 be deepe1ed i've feet more
and 20 be made wider The $4,000 Just
appropriated for that purpose viii prob
ably open Up the harhOr within q year
or eighteen months Entrance then viii
/ pc ready for the ships of the navy. They
won't have 20 go TO a ue'ghbCriug island
TO coal when they arrive here IN large
numbers Along the upper main stem the
I government has purchased a tract Of
( forty-n-Ie acres known as the D0wsett
I IeasehoId- Adjoining that and continuing
along the south side Of the East Loeb IL
{ has purchased q tract Of SO acres. now
Z Company Opposite the far eastern end
Of this tract is an island OF fftv-oue
acres separated By q channel about 80
/ yards wide which has also been purchased
outright Farther out in the East Loch
I IS Ford Island. the southern shores OF
{ which. amounting 20 twenty-five acres.
Z have been purchased
Here IS land sufficient for the estab-
/ IislIe-t Of a great naval base The ap-
/ proaCh 70 Il IS narrow Fo-ti1carions for
: the harbor Of Honolulu can even protect
3 i. The channel itself also is capable OF
{ being fortified. and indeed such f0rtidca-
f tons are already under way There are
no swamp lands about Il is within easy
. reach OF Honolulu
+ one OF the bes- ways 70 see Pearl Har-
. Dor to-day IS 20 80 there by launch from