East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1920-09-23
ASTORIA F4ARBOR is ONE OF THE FINES1
DEEPWATER HARBORS OF THE WORLD

Z docks to a point around Smiths Point
Y ID 4 connection with the McEachern
! lship Yards Here the line has tenn
lporarily ended. but is scheduled ~
.fnroceed eastward TO the mouth Of thc
z atyvaliuski river about five miles dist
Rant. The county court has Joined IN
this Improvement by paving a bouies
ward around Smiths Point pnralieiinK
! the belt line so as to afford both rnil
: tand motor truck transportation for the
various industries skirting the shore
front
The possibilities or the belt line
railroad are hundred fold s
A Great Harbor.
The Columbia river right now has
1.-THE best entrance OF any bar horror
lin the United States, including roth
1.-The Atlantic and Pacific coasts ana
there are few harDors In the entire
world that carry so good entrance
depths as does the Columbia.
The reason 'for this IA found In the
results attained by the dredge Chinook
4 during the time she was digging on the
course that ii in line with where ma
Iture had been trying for years to cut
"a deep waterway When the Chinook
80 t,,st ~ t-a feet az
IL III, t,.., t;,7.. ana ~ a nar-
..f.....sa s..,S. .,,,,a aa thera had
t . .cro xyrvavs uow ehnw
/ =, sa.. -,t,a,,,,at 17na feaf III width
M VIII =, r,I.tg, m tsDo feet fur
.' e,,e, ,r,,s,, u s,,fstc;eY,, VI carry any
ship thas floats the seas and to insure
\ them safe ingress or egress under AL
.es.t 80 ,gaathar conditions. II
..,,.,.. IL. f,a1,,n,1,ts river from the
,...., ,.,,,o,,ss ,,ort tl,at Il was a few
s''''..aA w -. ..a ,,,a,ss Il II 4 Dosition
81 re III, Iaroast ocean lin
t,inss naval fleets or vhs
..,s
/ Compared with other American bar
| irorts, the Columbia river ID now In q
! class by Itself SO far as a deep en-
Trance X e=Nncerned For instance.
while the Columbia has AZ feet at low
tide. san Francisco has but 33 feet;
New York 40: Baltimore, Boston. New
port News and Norfolk, IS each, while
Galveston ana New Orleans have but
so feet each.
Liverpool. the great English sea-
mort has but SO feet and all the Brit
ist harbors the only one which possess
se4 d better depth Of water az its en-
trance than does the Columbia. Is Fal-
mouth. Germany has not a single
part whose entrance depths compare
with the amount of water in the chan
mel leading into the Astoria harbor,
while Canada has but two that are in
the same class, Halifax and st. Johns.
steps are now being taken to estab-
lish an Astoria harbor Improvement
project, providing a channel one-haif
mile wide and carrying 40 feet of wa
ter from Tongue Point to the mouth OF
the river. 1t also provides for chan
nel 500 feet wide with a depth Of 80
feet extending to the upper reaches
of the Industrial center on Young's
Bav. That protect will be carried out
the Astoria harbor by far the best and
safest of any in the world.
Commerce Is Growing
While Astoria is just beginning to
become a real competitor in the ocean
commerce of the Pacific coast. the ex-
ports from here during the year 1919
totaIled approximately s15,000,00Q-
The great bulk of these exports were
of lumber ana lumber products. but
the shipments of flour and wheat am
ounted 10 approximately SIS 000.0 600.
Statistics complied BIZ Deputy Col
lector Haddix show. that during the
mast liz months ais vessels loaded az
the mills ii. the lower Columbia rivnr
district and their combined cargoes to-
tailed 2T7.266,536 feet of lumber.
These Shipments were segregated as
2Is.s75.sso feet and three log RATS.