ALABAMA. 



11 



ii 1 , and tho time of doing it. At the lost 



11 >f tho Legislature a bill was intn: 

 in tho S.'iiaU' -in furl hor tho improvement of 

 tho navLMtiim of the Coosa Kivor," granting 

 that company several privileges, tho most 

 noticeable of which is that they " shall he so 

 tempted from tho operation of said act 

 nond tho corporation laws of Alabama,' 

 that four years shall bo allowed them from tho 

 of tiling their declaration, in accordance 

 with tho provisions of said act, in which to 

 commence work on said river, and actually in 

 good faith to have expended thereon as much 

 as ton per cent, of the capital stock asked 

 for in tho application aforesaid." Those who 

 wished to see this work executed as soon as 

 practicable censured tho allowance of such a 

 delay, regarding four years to be a long enough 

 time to complete the intended work altogether. 

 They suggested to shorten that period to one 

 year, at the farthest, or the enactment of a law 

 empowering the Governor " to contract with 

 any company which comes forward with avail- 

 able means, and with a fair percentage of stock 

 paid up, and which will commence work within 

 a reasonable time six or twelve months." 

 The committee reported the bill to tho Senate 

 with some amendments on January 12th, when 

 a debate ensued, and the bill passed. On 

 the same day the Governor sent to that body 

 a message, with the report of the commissioner 

 to survey the Coosa River. In the Lower 

 House, also, the bill was favorably reported by 

 its committee on March 3, 1870, when the re- 

 port was adopted, and the bill passed. 



In this connection it may bo noted that, in 

 the judgment of practical men who have paid 

 careful attention to the subject for many years, 

 the advantages accruing to Mobile from the 

 unobstructed navigation of the Coosa River 

 would bo increased a hundred-fold by the 

 opening a canal sufficient to pass light-draught 

 boats across a piece of land intervening be- 

 tween the Connasauga, a tributary of the 

 Oostenaula, in Georgia, and the Hiawassee, a 

 tributary of the Tennessee. Tho said piece 

 of land at the points referred to is eighteen 

 miles broad, and the place so well adapted to 

 the carrying of trade and hauling goods from 

 one of the regions into the other, that thirty-five 

 years ago it was not unfrequently used for that 

 purpose, notwithstanding the expense and loss 

 of time incurred in unloading the boats em- 

 ployed in that trade on one side of tho isthmus, 

 transporting both the boats and their freight 

 on wheels across the land, and then reloading 

 on the other side, to pursue their course to 

 their destination. By opening this short canal, 

 the water connection of Mobile would bo 

 " extended to the head-waters of tho Tennes- 

 see River, near Bristol, on tho Tennessee and 

 Virginia road, connecting the Gulf, by water 

 communication, with 1,000 miles of interior, by 

 a route 800 miles shorter than by the Ten- 

 nessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers route." 

 Of still greater importance to Mobile and 



the whole State, is tho improvement of the 

 bay and harbor of that city. The improve- 

 ment consists in clearing away the OMHW- 



lions which exist between tho bay and tho 

 town, and which are of such a character that 

 largo ships cannot come up to tho wharv, <, 

 hut must remain at anchor some twenty-three 

 miles off in the open sea. 



That city is the commercial emporium of 

 Alabama tho natural outlet of her produce 

 and having transactions, not merely with Eu- 

 rope, but with tho West-India Islands. In tho 

 business season of the year, one sees or could 

 have seen before tho war seventy or eighty 

 ships, giving employment to hundreds of bay- 

 men and seamen. Twenty or thirty small boats 

 are plying between the ships and steamers, and 

 speeding from ship to ship. Some of these ships 

 are taking in cotton from the steamers, others 

 are discharging their cargoes from Liverpool, 

 London, Havre, Now York, Boston, Stockholm, 

 or Bristol. Mobile, owing to the superior depth 

 of water in her bay, has always been the port 

 for heavy cargoes of cotton ; and of these the 

 most valuable since the year of fabulous prices, 

 in 1865, was cleared recently for Liverpool on 

 board the American ship John Brice, of 1,968 

 tons. The cargo consisted of 9,908 bales, 

 weighing 2,749,009 pounds, and valued at 

 $696,409.20, in currency, gold being then at 

 122. 



At the session of 1859-'60 the Legislature of 

 Alabama passed "an act for the improvement of 

 the bay and harbor of Mobile," which was ap- 

 proved on February 21,' 1860. The third sec- 

 tion of that act defines the work intended, as 

 follows : '' Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That 

 said Board of Harbor Commissioners shall 

 have, and are hereby given, power and author- 

 ity to cause a channel, at least three hundred 

 feet wide, to be opened and kept open from 

 the place of anchorage in the bay of Mobile, 

 known as the ' Lower Anchorage,' to the city 

 of Mobile, of such depth, not less than fifteen 

 feet at low water, as said Board shall deem 

 feasible and desirable for promoting the com- 

 merce of the city of Mobile." In order to 

 proceed with greater safety, the matter was 

 referred for examination and judgment to tho 

 advisory council, consisting of General Tot- 

 ten, of the TJ. S. Engineer Corps ; Professor 

 Bache, Superintendent of the U. S. Coast Sur- 

 vey ; and Commander Davis, of tho U. S. Navy. 

 They gave their report in the same year, 1860, 

 saying: "The improvement of the bay and 

 harbor of Mobile, contemplated by tho act 

 above-mentioned, is the excavation and main- 

 tenance of a channel, at least three hundred 

 feet wide, and not less than fifteen feet deep at 

 low water, in length about twenty-three miles, 

 and extending from a little above Choctaw 

 Point to the anchorage of the lower fleet. 

 Our conclusion is, that the proposed plan of 

 dredging the river and bay of Mobile is a fea- 

 sible one ; having arrived at the conclusion 

 that the improvement of tho bay and harbor 



