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BYJOSIAIIDOAR.THECANALA NEW EKA OPENING UP FOR GEORGETOWN.The Rich Produce of FertileSantee Will be OursThe beautiful tug Congdon, under her i.vei courteous Capt. A. A. Springs, and with her numerous flags, fanned by the balmy South winds, floating gracefully oer her, leftthecityJO a. m. fast Thursday morning, with a large delegation of our Board of Trade, togethe r with a number of invited guests, to make the initial trip from Win-yah Bay to Santee River via the Minim Creek Canal, the firstcut of which was completed onthe 1st inst.'Pin' party had a most delightful trip down the bay, and weremet. at the mouth of the canal by Government officials Wm H. Johnstone, W. Alden Jamesand Dr. J. Wm. Folk, aboard of the Sharpie, and J 0. Tamplet, in the bohts'of the U. S. E. D. After partaking of alight lunch, the party boarded the Govern, input boats and the steamer •Willie, and were soon going up the canal at full speed, A ride of a mile found us at Estherville bridge, a draw bridge of the latest and best design, perfectly constructed; we don’t thick its equal can be found-in 8outh Carolina. The plans were drawn by Lieut.Reid Whitford. Next,Smithville was reached, a station on the canal, where all alighted to vie v this future city. It was here that that modest official Lieut Reid Whitford, U.S Asst. Engiheer in cnarge of the work, welcomed our party. We were shown hv our several guides the numerous attractions of the place, among them being the steamer Waccamaw, in course of construction by ship carpenttj* S. R. Easterby; next, the immense cistern, the larg est we ever saw; the warehouse,neatly kept and systematically arranged in a»l its details,where anything from a bolt to a boiler of the latest design, were to be found; the large blacksmith shop and boiler department was a place of beauty, presided over Dv Capt. Ben Daggett, who took a delight in imparting a knowledge of its various mechanisms to all his guests. Then the saw mill, of latest improvements, and planing machine, were visited. Vernon Avenue attractedattention. From thence we proceeded up the canal to Santee road, passing Uie pile driver “Indiana,” Capt. Herman Bryan, which was at work preparing to build a new d aw bridgeat Santee road. What a great pity a steel bridge was not built at a central point oetween these two wooden bridges! On we glide; “Daisey Bank” was pass ed, and the fifth mite traveled brought us into Minim Creek.Just here let us add that we found the flood tide running the entire length into Winyah Bay from Santee, and we are told the same of the ebb tide; in other words, Santee’s entire flow of water empties into Winyah Bay.While in Minim Creek, Capt. S. M. Ward gave our party aninvitation to visit his mammoth pump at Richfield plantation, which was accepted. Soon we passed into Santee and finally to our point of destination. Our mind could scarcely taJve in theextraordinarily wonderful 100:horse power pump and its volume of water. It would run a good size mill. One million and six hundred thousand gallons of water per hour is our recollec1. tion of its capacity. The rice' fields planted by those wide* awake planters, S. M. Ward Co.. attracted the attention ofpredate the importance of thiR Government improvement to Georgetown, and we hope that our business men will make the most of it. Be up and doing; no fifteen cent steamers are needed on this line. Live men to the Dont!we board-No. 1, iiia' Mayo, and time, 'thisour entire party.» On our return trip, ed the dredge Santee nipulated by J. D. watched, for a short monstrous machine at work, ex' cavating a ton of mud per min*ute. |Sp|||gp ' ' C. C;Our journey to Winyah com' pleted, we boarded the'Congdon, where another luncheon wastheserved, and we listened to witticisms of the jovial Dr. J. W. Folk, who entertained us during the entire return trip.This will set many of our bus-inest men to thinking as to what next is to be done by Georgetown and her citizens to bring us in touch with those who represent the commercial and farming interests of the entire section now tributary to Winyah Bay via Minim Creek Canal. A great future is surely before us, and only those who ore fully ac quainted with the great resourc' es of the Santee rivqr.notonly inconsequence of its wealth of virgin forests, but also in the thousands of acres of magnifl* cent farming lands, extending as hfirh un as Columbia, can aD-The canal is now forty feet wide and six feet deep at low water; when completed as per plans of government engineers, it will be eighty feet wide and eight feet deep at low water.The government has appropriated, up to date, 4118,000 for this work, of which a considerableamount is still on hand, and inasmuch as the government owns and operates its own plant, and is doing the work at a cost not to exceed five cents per cubic yard, this amount will go far towards its further improve*ment. _Lieut. Whitford, who has been in charge of this project from its inception, deserves much credit for tjie speedy manner in which same has been completed, and has also placed the entire ^delegation under many obligations for the ar rangements made for our com* fort able and pleasant trip.The party consisted of the fob lowing gentlefnen:Mr. L. S. Ebrich,Hon. W. D. Morgan,Senator L. O. Walker, ..Lieut. Reid Whitford,Dr. J. Wm. Polk.Judge J. Jenkins llucks,Repreaenatlve M. W. Pyatt,Capt. VV. A. Black,Dr. T. P. Bailey,Mr. II. Kaminski,Maj. B. A. Munnerlyn,Capt. S. M Ward,Alderman Marks Moses,Mr. B. I. Hazard,Sheriff J. B. Skinner,Dr. D. Schuler Black,Lieut. M. L. Read,Suiajmsor S. W. Rouquie,Col. J.R Sparkman,Mr. It. R. Congdon,Capt. S. W. Fulton,Mr. Dozier,Maj. W. A. Janies,Mr John Bourne,Capt. Quillian,Mr. H. D. Lubs.Mr E. O. Burned.Mr. F. W. Lachicotte,Mr C. L. Ford,Mr. Josiah Doar,Capt. A. A. Springs,Mr. Geo. D. Anderson,A bit of history in connection with this work would not be a miss atthis time. This project was adopted by the U. S. gineers in 1889. The original project contemplated connect ing Winyah Bay with Santee River, by widening and deepening Mosquito creek. Considerable work was done, and money spent, on the Mosquito Creek project, and it is now open to the passage of timber and small steamers; but owing to its exposed condition to the ocean, and for other reasons, it was decided to abandon work on the canal, and make a new cut, known as the Estherville and Minim Creek Canal. Work was commenced on the latter canal on Nov. 21, 1893, and on March 31, 1897, the first cut of 50 feet wide, G feet deep, and 5 miles long, was completed, and, on April 1st, the steamer“Willie,” carrying Capt. S. M.Ward, Capt. A. A. Springs, and Capt. St. J. M. Lachicotte, passed through from the SanteeRiver to Winyah Bay; and on last Thursday, April 8, the Georgetown Board of Trade celebrated the opening in the manner above stated.It will probably be three years before the canal is completed— to 90 feet wide and G feet of water at low tide.The U. S. Government has already appropriated $118,000 for this work—about one fourth of which is still unexpended. The canal, when completed, will probably cost over $200,000.Two large draw bridges, with a span of about 70 feet each, cross the canal, connecting two county roads. iSmithville, the government village about half way up the canal, is a thriving place, and has its machine shops saw mills, telephone and other necessary adjuncts.Too much praise cannot be accorded Capt. F. V. Abbott, U. S. A., Engineer in charge, and his able and courteous assistant, Reid Whitford, Esq., for the interest they have always taken in the improvement of our water ways, ami especially in the cutting of this canal which means a great deal not only for Georgetown, but for Columbia on the Congareo and Camden on the Western River; and all other communities along both of these rivers and their tributariesWe understand that somt time next month the Board ol Trade contemplate having further (or joint) celebration of the opening of the canal, and will write representatives from Columbia, Camden, and pther places to join us in oelebrating, in a more fitting manner, the opening of this very important water way.
Newspaper Details
Georgetown Semi Weekly Times
Georgetown, South Carolina, US
Sat, Apr 10, 1897
Page 1
Full Page
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USA 02 Mar 2023
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