The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1919-04-03
Government Engineers and
City Officials and Others
Discuss Plans At City
Hall Meeting.
MAY DEVELOP old BAYOU
Engineers Declare That Development
TO the North Is the Logical Solution
For Greater Harbor For Kenosha,-
Might Cost 100000.

A HCCle delegation or henOsha IN
dustrial leaders and city officials tried
to tell the United States Government
engineers this morning just what Ke-
nosha needed in harbor improvements
The hearing was held at the city hall
with Col. E. III. Schulz, U. S. A., in
charge and with Engineer J. A. Tompl-
kins of the Government bureau in
Milwaukee as his aid.
The matter simmered itself just down
to this. Private enterprise is wait
ing for the United States Government
to stimulate the lake traffic in Ke-
nosha by Improvement Of the harbor
and the United States Government is
waiting for the lake traffic here to be
stimulated to such an extent as to show
a demand for the expenditure Of the
government funds.
Reports produced by agents of the
varieos shipping s4cofapa showed a.
continued decrease in the tonnage of
the harbor shipments. These were in
way charged to increased rates for
steam ship transfer but the agents of
the companies interested declared a
willingness to reduce rates to rail rates
if their was any guarantee that money
would be forthcoming from the BUSH
ness to make it possible to handle what
are practically express shipments by
lake without an absolute loss to the
company interested.
Some of the big shippers insisted that
it was impossible to turn big steamer
around in the harbor and insisted that
the harbor must be widened. The pos
sibility Of dredging the Harbor West
Of the bridge to a uniform depth of
Fl feet was suggested as was the pro-
position to close up the harbor west
of the bridge.
Along lines of development the most
interesting thing proposed was the
dredging of the "bayou'', the Muent-
zenbirger creek with view of giving
a great development to the harbor to-
ward the North. 1t was shown that
the carrying out of such a project
would make possible the building of a
basin four hundred feet wide and 1900
feet long with an addition of 5000
feet of dockage and with the assurance
that the basin would be large enough
for the docking of even ocean liners.
Col. Schulz indicated that docking OF
ocean liners was so far in the future
that it was hardly possible to consider
plans for this kind at this time and in
connection with the survey of the har-
Dor which is proposed. The govern
ment engineers declared that they be-
ieved that the government would be
willing to do its full part in the main
tenance of greater harbor and pos
sibly that some Of the first cost of the
work would be paid from government
funds. To develop this great new
basin it was estimated would require
an expenditure in the neighborhood Of
from $4,000 to $250,OoO. The cost
of dredging would be in the neighbor-
hood Of 100000. Much Of the cost Of
dock improvement would be born by
individual property owners but as the
city owns one whole side of the pro-
posed basin this cost would fall half
on the city. Both of the government
engineers declared that they believed
this plan to be the most interesting
development for the Kenosha Harbor.
Questions of rates were considered at
length and representatives of manu-
facturers were asked to submit state
ments giving their opinions of the
possibilities of the harbor and the in
creased tonnage of the future.
The government engineers had no
plans to suggest and they let it be I'M
derstood that they were seeking sug-
gestions rather than giving them. They
wanted to know what Kenosha had in
mind.
The meeting was representative.
Among those present and taking part
in the discussions were Member of
Congress G. E. Randall; I. Jutton, Di-
~. Al