The Oregon daily journal., May 20, 1917, Page 10, Image 10

v.-10
COLLIER'S TO LEARN
FACTS ON HARBOR
L
Li.'B. Smith, of Port Develop
) ment Committee, Sends a
J Letter to Editor Sullivan.
GOVERNMENT DATA GIVEN
tatemeat Supplied 4a Aamw to Xe-
qaest rrom Magazine lor the
Facts on Port.
Collier in to learn the facts about
-' Portland's channel and harbor and to
i. be given opportunity to follow the
. Inaccuracies of Wilbur Hall' recent
article, with a true and illuminating
statement. In answer to a tele
graphic request from Mark Sullivan,
editor of Collier's,- a letter is on the
war to the magazine in New York
rrom la. B. Smith, chairman of the
business men's port development com
ttttttesv y Its text Is Mr. Hall's taternent
about the harbor, which, in part, read:
"Portland la reached by way of the
I Columbia river and thence up the Wil
, lametto, a total distance from tlde
.' water of about 15 miles. The Co
.' . lumbla river bar Is a serious obstacle
In the way of unlimited shipping, and
); the two rivers have never fcieen
. dredged to a depth sufficient to make
.them Indubitably safe and Inviting
for deep draft vessels."
Mr. Smith answers:
' Under ordinary circumstances, a
. alight mis-statement such as the one
urnade' by Mr. Hall would be justly en
titled to pass unnoticed. If It were not
for the fact that the whole Columbia
basin has been laboring for years
against the perversities of the sea with
respect to the mouth of the river, and
has been devoting untold energy in
' the effort to have funds provided to
sustain the work of the United States
, engineers by appropriations, so that
navigation could be made safe for deep
draft vessels.
Government Data Supplied.
Then, when success was attained, as
It Was In 1918 after 28 years of con-
; tinuoua effort and the expenditure of
millions on top of millions of dollars,
" -we were confronted with the appar
ently monumental task of convincing
the shipping world that our statements
were true. It was necessary to begin
,. with the army and navy departments of
the government, the work actually hav-
, ing been' performed under the supervi
sion of the former, and from that, to
shipping registers and so on down to
the tub owners.
- Therefore it may not be a 'surprise to
you to learn that in the exercise of
-the utmost vigilance, we have been
compelled to run down and refute every
t mis-statement made where wide circu-
j lation was possible, and this will ex
plain my prompt communication with
! you.
I We ar tr"ly thankful that the work
. done by the government and the Port
of Portland at the mouth of the liver
!l n2w. Permanent, that the Columbia
i bar is a bar no longer, and when
, we have convinced the world at large
of the safety of this crossing we will
be able to relax our vigilance a Uttle,
but not until then, you may be sure.
I dO nOt ARk Villi tf a.AA- a i -
' ?rom m 8,8 'lnal. or even authori-
tative, but am inclosing with this a
uiucpnnt oi cnart showing the last
complete government aurvev. whioh
t took place last September, and same Is
signed by Major Jewett. U. S. K., the
I 1 "Sineer ln cr.arge or the Second dls
i trict, ln whose Jurisdiction the river
entrance and lower channel are located.
Channel Half Idle Wide.
I am also Inclosing printed charts
rrom one or two previous surveys
showing conditions at the mouth of
Jetty construction. The whole flood of
ine Columbia is now confined within
. jetties two miles apart, and as the tre
mendous force of the ebbing waters
was sufficient to move the great mid
ale sands, an area five square miles In
extent, for nine miles bodily out to
,sea, the engineers conclude that the
f courtng process will continue and that
, within a few years, with the aid of
t moderate dredging, we will have from
i 46 to 60 feet of water aj. the entrance
i at mean low water, with the advan-
U,.?f rom 8l eRnt eet of tide.
and the channel will be one-half mile
, or more in width. Sand movements
i that have previously come from the
. f0UVV carried by littoral currents, and
blocking the channel,, have been com
, pletely arrested by th Jetties, and the
, work of the engineers Is being dlscon
. tinued this year as completed.
The crossing at tne Present time Is
i CBIyi feet lonB- frm deep water
outside to deep water inside. ad there
U moderately deep water (36 feet) for
1 a considerable distance on both sides
. oJhe main channel.
' irhiJ! is reA,,y a more advantageous
' situation than exists in the new Am
brose channel ln New York harbor en
trance, and is certainly far superior
- to the Mersey bnr. the Thames en
trance, the Elbe, Weser. Sohelde. Clyde
, and other European rivers, at all of
, which shoaling troubles are encoun
tered. Incessant dredgjng is necessary,
and shipping is compelled to depend on
tides to come and go.
XjOW Mean oa River Thirty Test.
.-Th rlvT f rom sea to Portland
JM a continuous channel depth of 30
j feet above mean low water for a dis
' r?i it u nUe8 Port,&nd harbor
" Ilv 'nEil?' aS,v ls a channel eas
ily maintained. There are ehoaline
river bars, 14 In number, that must he
Jear r abUt th nthHn the
al.'" baT8 channel Is
Ylt ln rt-nfKJ,eaCninHr,fr0m 90 tO 100
ita ?h ln man.y Places, and from
!SL.fi to ,ne-hlf mile wide. This
Vts8eK to Pieced at full speed
between the bars with entire safety
and also to anchor ln Case of foe with
out obstructing, the channel. This ad
Vkniou condition d0ea nt prevail
In any other navigable river In the
world, to mv knowledge, ne
MJMt ' the other American rivers
such as the Delaware and the Pataosco
and nearly all of the European rivers
Th Persona! Writing Machine
So light you
can hold in
one hand,
but heavy
enough for
the hardest
kind of
work.
IT US PROVE IT HERE IN
OUR OFFICE
l W. PEASE CO.
, . 110 SIXTH STREET
Oregon Distributors
DEPfflS N PORTLAND
CoronA
Ob
mentioned previously have ; narrow
shoal water exlsu on both ides of
the main channel. -
T . trill ,o tk. aaIh. a t -
' V .U, .WO AVI CVlUg W A1A UiB"
Ppse of the question of the Columbia
0tAtmut Arm TmMnnt.
fc-v w asu " ytcvi"
ou-. reference imm been made is pe-
mir raouM 10 ott a iitue uncanny,
and Z will encroach upon your time for
a moment further, to say that Mr.
Hall's atrlcle is one of tnose which
may safely be characterised .as "time
ly" In fact It is so timely as to be
providential, and even prophetic.
Is occupied in the. consideration of
Hucauvua aiiruiing lue weuare oi me
port, the present week having been
designated as fPort Week" by the
business people, and much intensive
study Is, being devoted to shipping
problems. The dock commission has
been; sensible, for a long time, of the
ing behind other cities on the coast
c- v Diuyying ttuiM ana KI1UWI IOO
well that our policy has been "penny
wise and pound foolish in respect to
expenditures for port development."
In . other words they realized that im
port and exports of commodities have
been slipping, and that deep sea bust-
count of undoubted advantages of lo-
cuiu rait cvnaecuoDS ii tne in
terests of shipping could properly
served. It is certain., that shipping
cansot be Invited here with the anti
quated, tumble-down, condition of our
port furniture, with which we have
been scrambling along fort-be past 25
VearA. ttTtA a a t h a Main
sections of the Pacific northwest are
ewcuuug a rauia transition to duik
handling of . wheat and other grains,
the commission decided to build a new
freight terminal, including' a g rain ele
vator of 1.000.000 bushels capacity
and will ask the voters ol the city
to approve a bond issue for the Pur
pose at the June 4 election.
Just as the campaign of education
was at its height, and the people of
Portland were being told the un
adorned truth about the business situ
ation produced by complacency, and
rendered acute by long continuance of
the same, ColKers arrives on the
c.ene as though by design, and
clinches the argument by statements
of the most pertinent value, especially
when made by an outside observer.
Article Taken la Oood Part.
It ls easy to explain the sudden rush
for papers, and I am told the news
oealers have been writing all over the
coast for more copies.
While this article met with Instant
approval with regard to Portlands
back sptnsterhood, and her ill advised
commercial policy as wefll as her
pet foibles, so delicately delineated
in humor by Mr. Hall, I am afraid that
most of us will pass rather lightly and
charitably over his comments re
garding our fine old pioneer families,
whom he has drawn in (rather severe
lines. Anyone who really knows any
thing about these old famdlies of ours
must confess at once that they are
the very ones who really have the
welfare of the city at heart. If the
names could be changed around to
quarters evidently unexplored by Mr.
Hall, he would have found just cause
for poking fun. However, It Is all
token in good part, and his article was
dealing with the gentlemen, which
says It all. ;
It Is perfectly true that they have
not been aggressive, ln th way that
aggressiveness must go to count in
sustaining the growth of a bustling
modern seaport The first generations,
who came here from New England and
helped to hew a city out of the for
est and built ships and traded with
the rest of the world, were seafar
ing people, but the second and the
third generations are not, and the gulf
has widened considerably during the
last ten years.
Younger Men to the Front.
-Mr, Hall did not discover, for in
stance, that nobody is more keenly
aware f this situation than these
very familiea themselves iand during
the last six months, which Mr. Hall
could not have discovered, as It has
happened -slnca his departure, decis
ions haVfl npftn PAnhoH Kak. n ,1 . V.
among those whose hearts contain the
best for Portland, that the future of
after the awakening predicted by Mr.
H&ll i In thA fianffa nfl Ka -.r,,
men of this generation. i
xne very group or young men that
in its meritorious endeavor to solve
the troubles of the port and rehabili
tate the shipping, had. Its nucleus in
the very famdlies mentioned so prom
inently, and It has gradually broad
enorl until n waII trsiniwi i t
-- w.w-v, vi v-o-i via-
ioned and powerful group of young
iuouiraa mu, uanKersv oocoors, en
ErineerA lawvnra nr. MmHn. i, -
Idea forward that Portland ls
"neither a spinster nor a village" and
are making no effort to keep the con
trary "dark" at the present minute.
I am in a position to speak of this
with authority, and am writing this
long letter to you because your arti
cle is a potent force to showour pro
vincial city what the great outside
world thinks of her. . This ls the
most salutary sort of a prescription
for a complacent community. The
story of Philadelphia is oeing written
over ns-nl-n nn ti t r1 rmae nr.
even have a glittering example of h
ousuairg nwsnoor, as .f nnaaeipnla had
in New York, in the person of Se
attle, of whom we ar not jealous, but
Ar rhrviftri. snH act Vi a -.-. a K . . I n
enough for both to grow on, and leave
n iujo xur lawiiia as weu, me wnoie
north coast will prosper one of these
fine days.
I am enclosing a few press clip
pings to show you lust how squarely
. i , i i t . .
jvu otruca ruruanu in me miast Or
her labors.
Two Wives Arrange
To Split His . Pay
-
Chicago, May 19. "When Adam
Brosdowskl appeared ln court with his
two wives and their five children;
did the rival mates sit apart and glare
at each other? They did not.
While the husband and father looked
on indulgently they chatted pleasantly
and the children played together.
They were in court to arrange for
support. The Judge directed the hus
band to turn his pay envelope over to
wire imo. 1 each week and Wife No.
to give Wife No. 2 $5 a week. At
the end of a year Brozdowski will cay
Wife No. 2 $660 and she will offi
cially depart from his life.
Rich Farmer Gives
Seed Potatoes Free
Morrlstown Tmn 1nv 14 r
Waters, a Cocke county farmer, is
Patriot Of th tint nMer Ttn ia
prosperous farmer and last fall he
siureu many ousneis or Irish potatoes.
Recently a buyer from the east of
fered Waters 12 SO a.
He declined the offer. Then he noti
fied the neiertharhnnil Iia hod
of Irish potatoes for seed and that If
any of his neighbors did not have the
money ito buy seed this spring h
wouia give mem potatoes to plant
"""""i mojiinjj any charge. Now "po
wo pawnes are to Be found every
where in the community.
Church to Cultivate
A Ten Acre Garden
Chleaago. May 19. Not to be Out
done by golf clubs, the Englewood
t-nnsuan cnurch has decided ; to helD
in the nation-wide food drive. A ten-
.T,4?ler which has been do
nated by the Chicago & Western In
dian railroad, is being put tinder the
vw uuubt tne amotion of a commit
tea aspolatea toj tJtn churls
.THE OREGON
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SUNDAY " JOURNAL,' PORT LAND,' SUNDAY- MORNING,' - MAY 20, 4917.
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