Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-29
HARBOR MAY BE
CALL PORT FOR
HAWAIIAN FLEET
BAR IN CHANNEL IS NOW
OBSTACLE
STEAMSHIP OFFICIALS VISIT
LOCAL PORT
Petition to Congress for Transfer of
Funds May Result in Visit of
Island Ships in Ninety
Days

| N HIPS of the American Hawaiian
~ line will be unloading freight in
~ Los Angeles harbor within ninety
days If the plans of the harbor com
missioners are carried out and their
hopes are realized. All that stands IN
the way of the forward movement in
Los Angeles shipping industry Is
small bar at the entrance to the inner
harbor at Dead Mans island. Repre-
sentatives of the steamship company
have agreed to make Los Angeles har-
Dor one of the calling ports of the
liners as soon as the bar is removed.
The bar is but five feet thick.
The harbor commissioners have al
ready taken up the matter of remoV-
ing the bar and have asked Senator
Flint and Representative McLachlan
to ask congress to authorize the work,
using money now in the channel
dredging fund for the purpose.
At present the channel dredging fund
has in 1t $45,0OO The channel has been
dredged two and a half miles in length,
twenty-five feet in depth and 1900 feet
in width. There remains but a small
portion of the channel yet to dredge,
and this work could be done at a flu
ture time without harming in any way
| the development of the harbor as a
whole The plan of the commissioners
| is to have the money now remaining in
the dredging fund transferred to d spe-
cial fund for removing the bar. 1t Will
cost about 10000, possibly less and
the work could be done In from sixty
to seventy-five days with the present
equipment now at San Pedro.
The transfer of the money from one
fund to another is merely a formal
matter and one which will affect no
body but the people of Los Angeles. 1t
was for this reason that the commits
sioners forwarded Senator Flint and
| Representative McLachlan copies of a
| joint resolution for introduction in
| congress. 1t is believed that no objec-
! tion will be made by any of the United
| States senators or representatives to
! the passage of the resolution and
to the transfer of the money. Although
the resolutions were forwarded Decem-
| Der II, nothing has yet been done by
| congress. 1t is believed certain, how
ever, that as soon as the resolution Is
| brought up in congress II will meet
with the unanimous consent of all rep.
resentatives. Unless the dredging funG
money is transferred for the purpose
the bar cannot be removed until a
special appropriation is made by con-
! gress.
Railroad Men Present
The removal of the bar was one OF
the matters brought up yesterday
when representatives of various rail-
| roads and steamship companies made
a special trip of investigation of the
| harbor II. p. Dundan, special repre-
| sentative of the American Hawaiian
| Steamship company; Frederick c. Sal
ter, London representative of the
Grand Trunk railroad; c. H. Nichol-
son, agent of the S. Z p. Steamship
company of Vancouver b. c.; w. Me-
Dowell, superintendent Thomas Gull
len and Fred A. Wann, general traffic
manager of the Salt Lake route; Jesse
b. Alexander, Los Angeles representa-
tive of the Spreckles companies; George
| w. Jepson, Lieutenant Leeds of the
| United States corps of engineers and
A p. Fleming, secretary of the harbor
commission, were in the investigating
party. They were the guests of the
Salt Lake route and rode In Mr..
| Wann's private car.
After investigating the harbor for
several hours Mr.. Dundan volunteered
the information that Los Angeles has
now better harbor than Salina Cruz,
Mexico, which is spending $4,000 900 to
get proper water frontage and port
to take care of Panama canal business.
Mr.. Dundan said all Los Angeles needs
to make her harbor one of the finest in
the world is the removal of the Dead
Mans island bar, a few more docks
and some warehouses. He said these
improvements would mean millions of
tons of freight for Los Angeles. He
1t was who said that the American
Hawaiian liners would call at Los An
geles the moment the bar was removed.
At present 80 per cent of the freight
carried for Los Angeles by ships COM
ing from south of Los Angeles Is de-
posted at San Diego. When the bar
is removed so that big ships will be
able to get into the turning basin, all
the freight will come directly to Los
Angeles. Mr.. Dundan said the rail-
road facilities of Los Angeles for dis
tribution of freight were unsurpassed
and that for this reason his company
desires to get a foothold in this ter
r.tory.
When the bar is taken out it will
make the sailing channel of the harbor
twenty-five feet deep for all it's length.
Yhiss will allow deep draught vessels
Il sail into the inner harbor and to the
turning basin without difficulty.
y copy of the resolutions which Sem
ator Flint and Representative McLach-
Ian have been asked to introduce in
congress follow
Copy of Resolutions
Whereas the project approved by
The river and harbor act of June 13.
lsG2, for the partial Improvement of
Wilmington harbor Cal, is completed
with the exception of a small area,
amounting to about 100000 cubic yards
{ , be dredged in the center of the turn
ing basin; and
Whereas, in accordance with the ap-
pI { we'd project the channel at the en-
trance to said Wilmington harbor has
Leen dredged to a depth of twenty
Zee. at mean lower low water and the
rem inder of the harbor, with the eX-
c"ption of the center of the turning
basin has been dredged to depth of
not less than twenty-four feet, one
slip being dredged to a depth of thirty
feet; and
Whereas, there are at present on
the Pacific coast a number of vessels
whose draught. is too great to permit
their use of the harbor in its present
condition, but which would make Will
mington harbor a port of call if the
entrance channel were deepened; and
Whereas, the immediate needs of
commerce will be better served by
deepening the channel at the entrance