USA > California > San Diego County > San Diego county, California; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 39
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This vast region will be brought into direct communication with the port of San Diego by means of the San Diego & Arizona railroad. This road is now being constructed in a manner commensurate with the immense traffic antici- pated. No expense has been spared to secure a perfect road bed. Heavy cuts, heavy fills and numerous tunnels are made to obtain low grades and easy curva- tures. The ruling grade is one and four-tenths per cent, while the average grade ranges from four-tenths to nine-tenths of one per cent, thus permitting of rapid and economical transportation. The road enjoys immunity from snow and dis- astrous washouts, thereby insuring prompt delivery at all seasons of the year.
By an act of the state legislature in May, 1911, the city of San Diego was granted absolute control of its water front, and the tide lands adjacent thereto. This generous gift was granted upon the condition that the city expend within three years from the above date the sum of $1,000,000 in improvements in the bay of San Diego. The city immediately proceeded to comply with this obliga- tion. On November 14, 1911, the citizens voted almost unanimously the $1,000,- 000 required.
The act referred to carries with it certain saving clauses which prevent the city government from ever disposing of any portion of the tide lands, or the leas- ing thereof for abnormal periods, and it further protects the municipality by forbidding excessive areas being leased to any party or aggregation of parties. Saving clauses are also inserted of a like character which prevent the monopoly of the berth or dock space.
The improvements imposed under the terms of the act are now in course of construction, and consists of one pier 130 feet in width and 800 feet in length, 2,675 lineal feet of bulkhead, and the reclamation of between fifty and sixty acres of tide lands. Both the pier and the bulkhead are constructed entirely of concrete and steel in the most substantial and enduring manner known to modern
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engineering, being absolutely proof against fire or the destructive ravages of marine insects.
The pier will be provided with four standard gauge railroad tracks, two on each side, and for the temporary storage of cargo a substantial steel warehouse will be erected upon the pier. This warehouse will be 72 feet clear in width, and 765 feet in length, and will be provided with steel roller doors, skylights and ventilators, all in accordance with the best modern practice. For facilitating the rapid handling of cargo a number of loading platforms and auto-dock trucks will be provided, which it is contemplated will prove very efficacious.
A depth of water of thirty-five feet below low water will be maintained alongside the pier, and a depth of twenty feet below low water in front of the bulkhead. The latter can be depended upon if shipping so demands.
As will be seen, when completed these improvements will provide 1,600 feet of thirty-five foot water for the docking of deep sea ships and 2,545 feet of twenty-foot water for coastwise shipping.
In the work of dredging the necessary channels, about 2,000,000 yards of earth will be removed and deposited behind the bulkhead, thus reclaiming from fifty to sixty acres of tide lands, which a conservative valuation at the present time places at $1,800,000, or $800,000 more than the cost of all the present im- provements. It is estimated that the revenue derived from the leasing of this land will meet the bond interest and sinking fund required for the $1,000,000 expended.
Probably no seaport in the world possesses in so phenomenal degree so many natural advantages and latent resources for the development and maintenance of a great commercial mart as that of the port of San Diego. The floor of the bay is of such a character as to present a firm foundation for harbor improvement at most economical depths, and at the same time it yields readily to dredging at a minimum cost. No fresh water streams flow into this bay, consequently when once dredged the work is practically completed, thus eliminating one of the chief sources of expense in harbor upkeep.
The port enjoys the possession of a tract of tide lands embracing an area of 1,460 acres, all of which is owned and controlled by the port in its entirety. This land lies adjacent to the city and constitutes its water front, being about eleven miles in extent.
This stupendous asset is perhaps possessed by no other port in the world. The possession of it enables the municipality to locate distributing centers at this point. The leasehold rentals derived from these lands would be sufficient to maintain a practically free port.
The filling in of the tide lands will be gradually accomplished by the continual operation of the two dredges now owned by the city. There will be approximately 30,000,000 yards of earth to remove and 1,460 acres of tide lands to reclaim, and the municipal dredgers will consequently be most profitably employed for a num- ber of years.
It is estimated that the average cost per acre for reclamation will not exceed $2,000, and its value after reclamation may be placed at between five and six figures, dependent upon location, population of the city, and the commercial importance of the port.
The tentative plans for the ultimate improvement of the harbor contemplates
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piers 1,000 feet in length; 130 feet in width; and slips 250 feet. With this ar- rangement the ultimate berth room will aggregate approximately thirty miles, or ample accommodation for 27,000,000 tons annually. As a means of comparison San Francisco may be taken, which handles about 9,000,000 at the present time. The future construction of docks will be made as rapidly as the demand is cre- ated which it is confidently believed will warrant the erection of at least one first class dock per annum until the ultimate development of the port is attained.
All railroad traffic upon the reclaimed tide lands as well as on the docks will be done entirely by the port which will operate its own engines, own its own belt line of tracks, spurs, switches and side tracks, thus effectually securing to its patrons an effective service at a minimum cost. All piers, bulkheads and rail- roads will be at the service of every one having business with the port and at the same time schedule of prices, whether he be a large or a small shipper.
In the dredging operations required to reclaim the tide lands a basin of 1,660 acres will be created. This basin will be of great value to the port in providing ample anchorage ground for the merchant marine as well as for the ships of the United States navy, a factor of no small value.
The harbor as a naval base and supply station is probably second to none on the Pacific coast. Its strategtic position, together with its admirable topographi- cal features for military operations, makes of it the logical place for the federal government to construct such a base, and one of the most formidable and desir- able fortresses under its jurisdiction.
The rapid increase in the size of ships, both naval and merchant, will within a very few years, eliminate all but the most capacious ports. Ships of 1,000 feet in length, 100 feet beam and 35 feet draft will be common. There are but three harbors on the Pacific coast capable of accommodating such vessels, namely, San Diego, San Francisco and Puget Sound. These three harbors are located on a coast line of 1,300 miles, and not one of them is within 500 miles of the other. The importance of these ports is therefore very self-evident and particularly because of its many additional advantages that of San Diego.
The present phenomenal growth of the city of San Diego is an evidence of the recognition of the immense possibilities of its future. To the man of enter- prise, alert to grasp an opportunity, it makes appeal, while with the charm of its climate and its beauty it continues to draw to itself those who desire a home under best possible conditions. Ideally located on a series of gently rolling hills, its setting is superb, and its sanitation perfect. Within its confines may be found all the conveniences of the most modern cities, both as to comfort as well as amusement. Its beautiful parks, the architecture of its residences and the well kept lawns bespeak the character of its citizens. Loyalty to this home of their adoption is a characteristic. Alert and generous to a degree they are ready to give liberally of time and money to any enterprise promising to upbuild their city. Combined with the lavish endowments of nature is this sterling citizenship, which assures the development of the coming greatest commercial entrepot of the Pacific.
BY CAPTAIN A. J. FOSTER, HARBOR MASTER
The writer of this article has spent twenty-five years of his life on board ships sailing to nearly all parts of the world, and has visited many of the best
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harbors, but in none has he seen so much that appeals to the imagination, both in an active and business sense, as in the harbor of San Diego.
The harbor has twenty-two square miles of anchorage and a shore line of more than two miles that can and will be lined with docks to accommodate com- merce, besides having abundant room for yachting, boating and fishing, away from the bustle and confusion of business and with a climate in which business can be carried on or pleasure indulged in every day of the year in comfort. There are but few ports in the world which equal it, and none in the United States.
While there is abundant room in the harbor the peculiar shape of the bay of San Diego renders it safe at all times for all purposes. The wind from no direc- tion has rake enough to create a lieavy sea.
While Rio de Janerio, Brazil, and San Francisco have larger habors, they are not as good, for the reason that they are too large and are more in the nature of inland seas. This harbor is commodious, sheltered and safe, and with but little expense, compared with the cost of some harbors, could be made the most perfect harbor in the world.
Sydney, N. S. W., and Havana, Cuba, have harbors with many of the advan- tages of this. One being at an island in the tropics and the other at the anti- podes, therefore cannot in the very nature of things afford to the American peo- ple, as does this, our southwestern gateway.
At the last session of the state legislature, the state ceded the tide lands to the city of San Diego on condition that the city expend $1,000,000 on harbor improvemens on or before May 1, 1914.
The million dollars was voted, contracts have been let, a dredger built and in operation, with another larger one building, thus enabling the city to do the neces- sary dredging at a saving of over $100,000. Plans have been drawn and accepted by the United States government for a bulkhead to be built from the National City line to the United States reservation on Point Loma.
Work has been commenced on a portion of this, one-third of a mile in length, that will have a depth of water at extreme low tide of twenty feet, thus enabling coasting vessels and ships of moderate size and draft to use the bulkhead as a levee or mole until piers can be built. In addition to the above a municipal pier 800 feet in length and 135 feet in width, with a depth of water at extreme low tide of thirty-five feet, is being built.
The plans of bulkhead and harbor improvements was drawn by a very compe- tent engineer, Edwin M. Capps, and the work now under way is under his direct supervision and will, no doubt be completed in time to secure the city's title to the tide lands. The present work will reclaim about sixty acres of tide land, which at the present time will be worth at least $30,000 per acre, and the future value of which no one can compute. Thus the city will have received $1,800,000 in land value for the expenditure of $1,000,000 exclusive of one-third of a mile of bulkhead, the municipal pier, warehouse, office building and the two dredgers - a very good investment.
When all the improvements of the harbor are completed there will be about 1,460 acres of land reclaimed and the anchorage area will be more than doubled, thus enabling the city to build docks 1,000 feet in length without curtailing the
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present width of the channel, which gives abundant room for ships to pass in or out of the harbor, no matter how many there be.
Docks of 1,000 feet in length have become a necessity owing to the increase in size of ships, which has more than doubled in the last few years. Many har- bors that were called first class a few years ago cannot build piers of this size without seriously curtailing the channel room.
The city council has under advisement a plan to abolish the shacks and shan- ties that have for so long been an eyesore on the waterfront of the city. If these are removed and the shore line straightened, the beauty and usefulness of the waterfront will be greatly enhanced.
Until the present work was commenced, the people of the city of San Diego were seemingly indifferent to the greatest asset the city possessed, but now great interest is taken in the progress of the work and visitors by the thousands come to view the work, which has but fairly begun. The work, when completed, will make of this harbor a pattern and example to every place having claim to being a seaport.
One could wish that the reader of this could visit the old lighthouse on Point Loma and there view the magnificent panorama of city, mountain, shore, bay and ocean-a view that can hardly be surpassed in beauty-then imagine a few years hence when this harbor will be crowded with the ships of the occident and orient, exchanging their goods to the profit of each and bringing the peoples of the earth into closer touch and knowledge of one another, making this sunlit harbor by the sunset sea a factor in bringing about the long wished for "federation of the world and the brotherhood of man."
AS A NAVAL BASE
In view of the fact that San Diego is the most southerly station within the limits of Uncle Sam's domain before reaching the Mexican border, the question of military and naval protection at once becomes one of moment and here has been established military and naval bases. The war department has Fort Rose- crans at Point Loma, which is a well equipped military establishment, with buildings for various uses, defensive armament for the protection of the city, cottages for the use of the officers and to all appearances a splendid organiza- tion. The government is secretive and a detailed description of the guns which guard the harbor at Fort Rosecrans would be a difficult matter to obtain but the fact is pretty well established that they are there and that they are formidable ministers of war. The fort is well garrisoned and the range of its guns com- mand a wide stretch of sea. An invader would face a difficult problem.
Both the army and the navy cooperate in San Diego and join hands in the protection of the city against a possible enemy in warding off attacks in time of war. The army is represented by Fort Rosecrans and San Diego to all intents and purposes as the headquarters of the Pacific fleet and its torpedo boat division. There is hardly a time to be mentioned when there are not battleships in the harbor of San Diego, and the torpedo fleet is in almost constant evidence. The government also maintains a coaling station and lighthouse in San Diego. The Point Loma lighthouse is one of the most famous on the Pacific coast. It is presided over by Captain W. A. Beeman, who for more than a quarter of a
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century has been connected with the United States lighthouse service. He entered the navy as an apprentice when he was twelve years old and was attached to the lighthouse department in 1887. He has been master of the Point Loma lighthouse for nearly five years.
As a matter of course the government has to maintain naval and military protection in San Diego in view of its geographical position, just as it does on Puget Sound and on the Columbia river, but the task is made easier, especially as far as the navy is concerned, for the reason of the excellence of San Diego's harbor. The harbor is perfectly land-locked, is deep water and furnishes a haven in which the largest marine fighting machines can ride at entire safety. As a naval base there are few if any harbors in the world the equal of San Diego and the government is rapidly taking recognizance of the fact.
On North Island was established in the winter of 1912-13 an aviation experi- ment ground, under the direction and management of Glenn Curtis. Here the pupil is taught to fly, or to manipulate an aeroplane or hydroplane, and many taking lessons are fitting themselves for military service in the air.
AS A SHIPPING POINT
Steamship representatives of no less than twelve big lines called at the harbor engineer's office early in the year 1913 to inquire into the proposed improvements now under way in San Diego bay. Their questions, frank and to the point, clearly indicated that the steamship companies have already expressed their intention of making San Diego a port of call for their steamers at the opening of the Panama canal, and that they want wharfage of sufficient depth of water alongside to accommodate the largest steamers. It is known that the Pacific Mail Steamship Company is going to make San Diego a port of call for the steamers that are now operating between San Francisco, Panama, Mazatlan, San Blas, Manzanillo, Acapulco, Corinto and other ports along the west coast of Central America.
Numerous reports concerning the possible disposition of the Pacific Mail Company have been current but it is stated on good authority that a plan most favored by the railroad representatives is one that will enable the Southern Pacific Company to retain a good block of stock in the Pacific Mail through the medium of its directors. By such an arrangement as is said to be under con- templation, it would by reason of its stockholders' holdings enjoy the friend- ship of the steamship company, even if it should not succeed in retaining con- trol, and such a friendship it is declared would eventually result in profitable traffic pacts.
Under the law recently enacted by congress, steamship companies controlled or under the direct control of railroad corporations cannot utilize the Panama canal without the payment of prohibitive tolls. It is believed, however, that the Pacific Mail will make a determined bid for the west coast Mexican and Central American trade which shippers say will accrue by leaps and bounds following the canal opening.
The Red Star Line, which has signified its intention of using the steamers Kroonland and Finland for the inauguration of its Pacific coast service is another optimist on the future of San Diego as a great shipping port. Marine
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Superintendent G. Apfeld will detach two other liners for this service when the vessels now building for the company are completed.
Director of Exploitation M. Dechaud, of the Messageries Maritime, a French steamship line with head offices at Paris, has recommended that several of the fifty-one vessels now operated by the company be detached and operated on a new route between Marseilles and Hong Kong, using the Panama canal on the out- bound voyage, touching at Mazatlan, San Diego, San Francisco, thence Hong Kong and back to Marseilles by way of the Suez.
Another French line, the Cie Generale Transatlantique, which operates a fleet of seventy-seven steamers over eighteen different routes has through the company's engineer-in-chief, I. Groulos, tentatively announced that at the open- ing of the Panama canal its service between Havre, New Orleans and New York will be extended to the Pacific coast, naming as probable ports of call San Diego, San Pedro, San Francisco and Seattle.
Advices received from New York say that Herr Ballin, managing director of the Kosmos-Hamburg American Line, has confirmed the report regarding the company's new service to the Pacific coast. Herr Ballin made arrangements during his stay in New York with E. Brockelman, former managing director of La Volace Line, to come to California and watch on the spot the change in economical conditions on the Pacific coast likely to be caused by the opening of the Panama canal.
Mr. Brockelman, a big figure in international mercantile marine affairs, came to this city, made pertinent inquiries regarding depth of water and width of channel, available dockage, probable completion of the San Diego & Arizona Railroad and before departure requested that he be furnished a copy of the map showing the proposed improvement of the harbor.
The Hamburg-American Steamship Company, at present running vessels between Hamburg, Antwerp, London and west coast South American ports will, according to Chief Superintendent Engineer A. Viereck, extend the service to Pacific coast ports as far north as Dominion ports when the canal opens.
Y. Asano, president of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, at the half-yearly meeting held by the company in Tokio recently, following the review of the business for the preceding six months, said that extensions of the company's service would be necessary when the canal is opened.
It is understood that the intention of the Japanese company is to augment the service to Victoria and Seattle and extend it to New York by way of the canal, making San Diego an intermediate port of call between Seattle and Panama. A subsidy probably will be provided by the Japanese government for this service.
S. Sakamota, supervising engineer of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, was in the city recently and after conferring with Harbor Engineer Capps concerning the harbor, left the city en route to Tokio. Sakamota refused to say just what he would recommend in his report to the company, but he intimated that he was pleased with the possibilities offered by San Diego as a port of call for the company's steamers when the Atlantic seaboard service is inaugurated.
That the completion of the railroad to Arizona means commercial greatness for San Diego is the unanimous opinion of shipping men. The view is strength- ened by the decision reached by Captain G. M. Hicks, marine superintendent of the Royal Mail Packet Company, of London, who according to a statement attri-
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BENNINGTON MEMORIAL, ERECTED BY THE GOVERNMENT
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buted to him, said that San Diego would become a port of call for the company's steamers when the Pacific coast service was started, providing the volume of freight would warrant. The completion of the railroad, Captain Hicks is re- ported to have said, would be followed by an immediate announcement of the Royal Mail Company's proposed routing to this coast.
The first steamer to operate on the Pacific equipped with an electric elevator to convey passengers from one deck to another will be the steamer Niagara of the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, now nearly completed. Accord- ing to General Manager C. Holdsworth, the new vessel, which is of 20,000 tons displacement, will be placed in service on the run between British Columbia and the Antipodes. The company, however, proposes to run the liner between San Francisco, San Diego, Australia and New Zealand during the 1915 expositions. The Niagara will have accommodations for three hundred first class passengers, two hundred and fifty second class passengers and two hundred and fifty third class or steerage passengers. It will be the first oil burner to receive a British board of trade passenger certificate.
It is authoritatively stated that the Canadian Pacific will not under any cir- cumstances run steamers through the Panama canal, as it falls under the ban placed by congress on railroad owned steamships. According to general opinion, however, it is expected that J. L. Welsford & Company of Liverpool, who are closely affiliated with the Canadian Pacific, will provide a Pacific service by way of the Panama canal when the latter is ready for navigation. The East Asiatic Steamship Company, which has already opened up its Pacific coast service with the freighter Arabien, will operate a fifty-day service between Copenhagen, Ant- werp, London, South American ports, San Diego, San Pedro, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver, until the opening of the canal to the world's traffic, when the completion of five new 9,000-ton vessels, equipped with Diessel engines will permit the company to augment the service.
With the steamers of the above named lines calling at this port in addition to the regular routed coastwise freight and passenger lines, the American- Hawaiian Company's freighters, whose Pacific coast fleet will be increased con- siderably this year, trans-Pacific tramps and lumber carriers, yankers and char- tered craft, San Diego wharfage facilities will be taxed to the limit and will probably as is now the case, prove inadequate.
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