Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1910-04-09
PAGR NINE


Coast Line and placed arnother gar
land of orange blossoms upon the
brow of Columbia.
During the last three or four
years the influx OF population into
the coast country has been enor-
NOUS The nurseries of America
and Japan have been swamped with
orders for orange, lemon, grape
fruit, fig and olive trees. CONNER
cial shipments of the fruit has be-
gun. They are raising cane on the
battlefield of Resaea de la Palma
and elsewhere in the lower Rio
Grande valley, and up and down the
said valley and up and down the
coast, the production of sugar rice,
onions, fruit and vegetables has
grown and is growing enormously.
Millions for Foundations.
These large movements are re-
fected in the towns and cities Of the
region. Galveston, notably has
been busy during the last nine years
in laying the foundations for great
things Many millions of dollars
have been put into improvements
public and private. Two notable
works have been completed, a third
r lis under construction, fourth and
I fifth are projected and assured.
The first of these was a great sea
kwall. II feet high, 20 feet wide at
the base (the same being protected
by 81 feet of granite riprap), and
.I17,592 feet in length, constructed
4 by the people of Galveston, through
their county government, at a cost
of S1,5OO,0OO. This has been ex-
. tended $500 feet by the federal
government to protect its Fort
Crockett military reservation at a
cost Of 100000, the entire wall
4 forming an embankment for the
grade raising, which comes to q level
with the top of the wall, the entire
length, 4.37 miles, and breadth, one
y mile, of the city. The storm of July
21, 1909, was severe test to this
wall, and most satisfactory one to
Galveston people, who had builded
+ 1t, as the protection it afforded was
. thorough there being no erosion OF
the grade, no damage to the city and
not the least damage to the wall IT.
self. In raising the grade 10000
600 cubic yards of material was ALI
ed in at cost Of $3,200,000
The third notable work, now un-
der construction, is great cause
y way to connect Galveston island with
the mainland. It will be two miles
long, will cost $1,500,000 and will
have ways for pedestrians, automo-
} biles, wagons, etc, for the steam
= railways and for the Galveston
Houston (electric) interurban rail-
way, which is now under construc-
tion. It will be the largest structure
of its kind in the United States, ex-
cepting the Florida keys viaducts,
and will be wider than any lengthy
\ viaduct in the world.
Greater Galveston HarbOr.
A fourth project in course of re-
alization is Greater Galveston har-
Dor, as planned by the engineers OF
the United States army, which will
include the port of Galveston and
the supports of Texas City and Port
Bolivar. The plan includes the
deepening of the channels to thirty
five feet and the opening up of the
entire water front of lower Calves
ton bay. The work will cost approx
imately $3O,000,000 and require 10
to is years to execute At present
81 Galveston has thirty-two feet OF
water and Texas City and Port Boil
b, ivar twenty-five feet. Texas City ls
=, u seven miles distant from Galveston
III and Port Bolivar five miles.
= The federal government has thus
IHT 6ApeHu6u 2 9lUtOVVtOVu Oh NV
ol Galveston harbor improvements
Us with the result that the people are
IN saved more than $4,000. 900 per an
re mum in transportation charges, or
e. about the cost of the new project,
&c II is worthy OF note that the saving
it I'm ocean carriage on foreign COM
T. merce within the last twenty years
AZ has been greater than that which
r has been accomplished In rail car
a. riage. For example, the rate on cot
ol ton from Galveston to Liverpool has
fallen from 60 cents per 100 pounds
Y. to 81 cents, whereas the rail rates
y. from Texas common points to Gal
D. weston have been reduced 10 cents.
4. The Pleasure Side.
r Another notable feature Of the
a. new activities along the Texas coast
re is the development of pleasure re-
lr sorts The most ambitious of the
,e projects is that of Galveston. This
IN city has for MANY years had consfd.
lg cradle reputation, especially in the
sr southwest and west, as a resort, but
IN 1t is now proposed to place Il in the
e. front rank. A step I'm this direction
Is is the proposed and assured erection
Ell of a first-class seaside hotel front
l. ing Seawall boulevard and overlook
l. ing the sea. Within two weeks
4 more than half a million dollars in
t. stock was raised by private subscrip-
II tion for this purpose, and 1t Is prob
able that a million dollars will be
n invested in the enterprise.
r. The proposed site of the hotel is
on the gulf front, across the island
! from the scenes OF shipping and
- trade, far from the maddlng
q throng's ignoble strife" Bases for
"a the expectation that a high-elass re-
n sort will be developed are salubrlous
i climate, an incompatible beach
q long and shelving. splendid for surf
i bathing and affording thirty-two
+. miles Of fine driveway; the match
less Seawall boulevard, three miles
p IN length. connecting at one end
!, with the beach and at the other
4 with oleander and palm-llned Broad
. way, and through 1t with the Cause
r way and the shell road to Houston.
fifty miles north, the whole afford
, ing opportunity for the most lordly