The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-06-28
PEARL HARBOR TO
Be USED At LAST
Congress viii Spend Vast Sum
In Improving Pacific
Nava! Station. =
WILL COST $4,000, 900.
PROPOSED TO ERECT FORTIFiCk-
TIONS AND BUILD DRY-DOCk,
ALSO TO DREDeE SAND BAR
FROM MOUTH OF THE HARBOR.

Washington, June 27.-The white
mans outpost in the Pacific-the
greatest naval station in the world.
It is now settled that this is what
Uncle Sam will establish at Pearl har-
Dor, on Oahu island, seven miles from
Honolulu y, $685..
He will spend from ten to twelve
million dollars to do it. Once it is ac-
complished the Pacific fleet sheltered
there, wifi protect not only Hawaii
but will become the watchdog of the
Pacific, coast, always alert, ever ready
for attack
A bill has been passed by the house
and will be passed without opposition
by the senate, providing for the eX-
penditure ifnne diately of $650000 in
the preliminary work, and. before the
next session of congress, an addition
al amount of approximately $4,000
There are no official figures upon
the probable ultimate cost of the i'm
provement, but the Taft board recon-
mended Notifications to cost $500
600 and there is planned a dry dock
TO cost 81, 600, 600 more. This with the
estimated cost OF dredging the chan
mel and removing the bar at the
mouth of the harbOr, S2,000,000, the
equipment of machine shop at cost
of S1,000,000 and the coal shed. store
house and naval yard construction to
cost another million, brings the
amount approximately 10 S10,000000,
In preparing for this highly inn
portant auxiliary to the Pacific fleet,
congress and the house naval commit
| tee is going it alone, for the naval
board has never made any estimates
or recommended the general project,
| despite the fact that the land sur
rounding the harbor, some 600 acres.
was purchased by the United States
for this purpose before the acquisition
of the islands. for $650,000: Nothing
| has ever been done toward improving
| it to date,
The Importance of Pearl harbor as
a naval strategic point has been urged
| upon the government since 1851. Ma
val engineers have made voluminous
reports upon it. The first step to-
Dewey's victory in Manila bay, when
| Uncle Sam purchased the harbor and
| it's surrounding territory from the
, Hawaiian government.
| The harbor is formed by the mouth
| of the Pearl river on the southern
shore of Oahu island, seven miles
| from Honolulu. With the exception
oF
| harbor for large vessels in all the is
| lands.
| geographically Pearl harbor is an
| ideal naval station site 1t is a beauti-
| full lagoon, three miles long, which
! branches out at the inner end into a
, delta-like harbor with a land frontage
of 80 miles. The water varies from 80
to 50 feet in depth. Coral and sand
| stone banks rise so straight that a
full rugged man-of-war could anchor
alongside without docks. The rise and
| fall Of the tides in the harbor is scar
cely noticeable.
y sand bar now obstructs the mouth
of the river and the plan contemplates
its removal and the dredging of q wide
deep channel out 10 sea. For a mile
| beyond the sand bar the approach 10
| the harbor shows only a depth OF 100
| feet. a condition especially well suit
ed TO marine mining operations. The
| experience of Honolulu. in dredging
away similar bar. was that after its
removal it did not reform.
1t would be utterly impossible for
a hostile fleet to force an entrance to
| the narbor. once it was properly for
titled Two immense cliffs jut upward
at the mouth of the river. and heavy