Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-01
Galveston and Its Shipments of Cotton to Our ALLIES


not until some years later that II was
taken up and the jetties made.
Since then the channel has been deep,
ened and the jetties improved, untll
now two great arms OF g ranl.e oIot .hs
reach in from the gulf. protecting the
harbor and forming a pipe.- as II were
through which the 100000 acres OF wa
ter in Galveston bay move in ana OUT
from the Gulf of Mexico at the times OF
the tides. The water goes with sucn
force that 1t scours clean the channel
and keeps it Of an even depth. one
arm of these jetties is seven miles long
and the other is five miles. The width
of the channel at the mouth is apou.
one mile and a half and the walls OF
granite thoroughly protect the en-
trance.
AS l rode along these jetties I was
surprised at their massive construction
They are not like the jetties at New
Orleans. which consist Of mats or ra5ts
Of woven poles so sunken at the sloes
of the channel that they have causnt
the earth and have been built up INTO
walls. The jetties of Galveston are
walls made of great chunks or BLOCKS
of granite dumped down one on TOP
of the other until they hav" formed
huge rock embankments. which hold
weigh ten or twelve tons each. There
are thousands of these rocks. for the
jetties are twenty or thirty rect Wlde
at the top. Nevertheless, at the time
mighty blocks were lifted up by the
sea and moved for some distance.
Sailing in through the jetties. you
enter the channel that leads to Cal
weston harbor. 1t Is just about an hour
from the deep water of the Gulf OF
Mexico to the wharves. You leave the
Jetties and pass the quarantine sta
ton. which is on a littlo island at the
side Of the channel, and then go on 10
the port, which is formed by Calves
ton. on the one side. and Pelican Island.
just opposite. Pelican Island belongs
to the city, and it will eventually be
developed as part of the port. 1t
has a water front almost equal to that
the Galveston docks there is a chan
mel 1,400 feet wide, where the water
is as quiet as a mill pond.
On the Galveston side of tine channel
is continuous line of concrete ware
houses. elevators and wharves several
miles long, with slips or great arms
of water running back into the land
The warehouses face the slips. and
:hey enable three large steamers To
anchor on each side. and. in addition, is
the space at the front. AS 1t is, ninety
large vessels can be handled at the
wharves of Galveston at the same time
The whole water front, including the
slips, has a length of more than five
miles.
ers the entire frontage Of the city
facing the gulf Is to be extended out
to the jetties. 1t will go as far as
Fort Jacinto and will then be five or
six miles in length. The work will be
begun within few months and pushed
to speedy completion.
During my stay here I have been
stopping at the Hotel Galvez. facing
and forth over it and have motored
along the wide brick boulevard which
has been built just behind it. 1 have
also taken an automobile and speeded
for miles along the beach at low tide
Galveston is the chief bathing resort
Of the southwest and the beach is one
of the finest in the United States It is
frequently the scene of automobile
races. When the tide is out you have
a stretch of thirty miles of solid white
sand and the machines go flying along
, in full sight of the ocean. The slope OF
. the beach is so gradual that you can
wade far out from the shore The
bathing season begins early and lasts
until late in the fall.
, Just back of this beach, protecting
Galveston from the sea, is the sea wall
!, pie 1t is somewhat like the Boardwalk
at Atlantic City. The walk here, how.
! ever. is upon the concrete top of the
,, wall or the wide road paved with
which runs just behind 1t. The place
is ideal as a summer resort and hun.
, dreds of thousands come here during
, the season to enjoy the air and the
bathing.
The sea wall is one of the wonders
of municipal creation. Mechanically il
is a mass of solid concrete reinforced
with steel rods embedded in u founda
ton of cypress piles. which. have beer
driven down fifty feet into the clay un.
1 der the ocean. The wall rises from
} this foundation to a height of seven
teen feet above the waves at low tide
and it curves inward. so that it throw,
back the waves in a great curtainlik,
9 spray as they dash against 1t in time.
Y of storm. In front of this wall is al
n apron of huge granite blocks which
h break the waves as they come in. rob
; FRANK G. CARPENTER.