The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-08-02
val reservation because of Its proxim

merce aud labor to the secretary of
the interior. who invited The comment
OF the director of the geological sur.
vey. That officer replied that the
htrbOr was a poor one and that il
would not he as good for u naval rrs
ervatioD as one already selected. bur
that he thought that private capital
ought To be encouraged To construct n
railway from the channel over the
mud fats To the shore aud thence To
he coal ticldS.
Captain Piilsbury of the army rn
gineers In n report I'm the record made
In 1907 mentions three possible objpc
uons To- Controller bay first. that the
surrounding islands may prove to bp so
low rs not fully To protect the channel; (;
second. that the flats extend two ur
three miles from the shore. and. third
that Ice formed In the rivers entering
the bay und. affected by tidal currents.
may destroy structures put upon the
flats and especially long trpstle built
over them.
Ryan Asks For Land.
In December. 1909. Richard y. Ryan.
representing the Controller Railway
and Navigation company. applied to
MIR. PinchOt, the then forester. tor nm
elimination from the Chugach forest
reservation Of a tract Of land to enabie
his company To secure railroad ter
minals. bunkers. railroad shol,s. etc.
on the northwest shore of Controller
bay. This application was referred
by the associate forester to IN. q Strir'
forester az Portland. Ore. am(. d, n.m
to the forester In Alaska. The result
OF these references and the applicn ION
was that early In 1910 Mr. Graves
who had In the meantime become tor
ester. reported that there was NO oh
lection from the standpoint of forestry
interests tn the elimination OF the tract
Indicated or. indeed. of lS.OOO acres on
the northwest shore of Controller bay.
The attention Of the navy depart
ment was invited by the forestry bu
reau to the proposal to open the shore
or Controller bay to eutry and occupa
ton. and Inquiry was made whether
the navy department desired to use
Controller bay ns reservation and
whether IL objected to its being opened
up. The answer was In the negative
The matter was considered by the
forestry bureau. by the secretary of
agriculture. by the secretary of the In
terror md by the general land Office
and the result was a recommendation
to me In May. 1910. that an elimina
ton be made of 32O acres with a from.
age OF ITO rods on the northwest shore
Of Controller bay.
l considered the whole case I'm Au
gust. 1910. and directed that the 32n
acres. recommended by both depart.
ments. be eliminated as recommended
The question finally came before the
cabinet late In October. After q full
discussion OF the matter and after a
consideration Of the law I expressed
dissatisfaction with the order because
elimination for the benefit of rail.
road company OF tract of land which
the company could not secure under
the statute. for IL was a tract 32O
acres I'm one body when only 100 acres
could be- thus acquired. In the second
place. preferred to make much
larger elimination OF tract facing
the entire channel and with sufficient
roof Vfor terminal railway town
was willing To do this because
found the restrictions In the law sufi
cient To prevent the possibility of any
monopoly of either the upland or the
harbof or channel by the Controller
Railway aud Navigation company or
any other parsons or company
IL had been originally suggested 10y
the forestry bureau that 1900 acres
might safely ne eliminated so far as
forestry purposes were concerned. but
fear had been expressed by one OF the
district foresters that such large
elimination would offer an opportunity
TO the company To- use land scrip and
acquire title to extensive town sites.
and the result of the joint considera-
ton of both departments had been the
reduction 20 800 acres
Assumes All Responsibility.
! wish to nc as specific as possible
upon this point and to say that I alone
am responsible for the enlargement
OF the proposed elimination from 800
acres TO 1880 acres and that 1 pro
posed the change and stated my rea.
sons therefor. and. while both secre-
taries cordially concurred In 1t. the
suggestion was mine
The statement of Mr.. Ryan. who had
been property vouched TO the forester
by two gentlemen whom I know, Mr.
Chester Lyman and Mr.. Fred .Jen
nings. and who had produced letter
from reputable financial firm. Probst.
Wetzler X CO.. was that the railway
company which he represented had ex.
pended more than $4,000 In making
preparations for the construction of n
railway from Controller bay to the
coal feds. twenty-five miles away. but
that they were obstructed I'm so dojpy