a DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FOIRIDA CANAL


ments and the prohibitive cost of high-clearance bridges. The time for open-
ing and closing a lift bridge for a canal transit will be about 7 to 10 minutes,
not including time for the passage of the vessel, during which time all land
transport will stop. The future development of the island of Florida will be
rigidly controlled to a development along the land transport lanes first selected
for bridges, with the possibility that many of the present routes of transport
may be abandoned to avoid the cost of maintaining and operating bridges.
The development of the territory lying between the land transport lanes first
selected will be retarded. Transport in Florida is along north and south
lanes.
 13. The assumption has been made by the advocates of the project that
 all shipping from the Gulf ports destined for ports on the Atlantic Ocean north
 of Jacksonville, as well as for ports on the European Atlantic and Mediter-
 ranean will pass through the canal because such will be shorter mileage. The
 assumption has been made that the miles per hour of a ship using the route
 will be 6.9 statute miles per hour in the canal; 11.5 statute miles per hour in
 the open water. The estimated time of transit is 24.6 hours, based on 113
 hours in the canal, 10.3 hours in the inland open water, and 3 hours for lockages
 and bridge delays. The 24.6 hours means moving in the nighttime hours
 as well as in the daylight hours. In the Panama Canal shipping is so dis-
 patched as to avoid extensive nighttime movements. The time required for
 a Gulf-Atlantic transit is such that movements may be required at night
 over a part of the distance at very nearly the full ocean speed of the vessel
 It is probable that the shipowners and shipmasters will be unwilling to under-
 take navigation in the Gulf-Atlantic canal at high rates of speed, especially
 If other vessels may be expected to be overtaken or passed. The estimate is
 that the saving in hours per voyage from New Orleans to Diamond Shoals
 Light for coastwise vessels moving to points north of Diamond Shoals will be
 23.0 hours, or 1 day. In the event of a rule requiring a tie-up at night, these
 savings will be reduced by about 10 hours, average tie-up.
 14. It is submitted that there are grave dangers to shipping incident to
 traversing a narrow and tortuous channel, and that the peninsula of Florida is
 visited by tropical storms of varying magnitude; and that the inland open
 waters proposed to be navigated at very nearly full ocean speed are all subject
 to dense fogs during 4 months each year and that a dense fog will still further
 lengthen the transit time; and that a dense fog and a regulation for nighttime
 tie-up may consume almost the entire time saving estimated to result from the
 use of the canal. It is further submitted that fogs may be expected so dense
 as to paralyze for a time all traffic in the canal. It is further submitted
 that the speeds as set out above are in excess of what will be obtained in
 actual operation, and that the meeting and passing of vessels will further
 retard the actual operating speeds due to the need for greatly reducing speed
 in meeting and passing. The overtaking and passing of moving vessels will
 be exceedingly dangerous.
 15. It is submitted that there is no obligation for any American interest
 to provide a canal for use by foreign shipping and that if a canal be provided
 for use both by American and foreign vessels, the tolls to be collected should
 be at such a rate as will insure some profit to the builder of the canal and
 from its maintenance and operation. The experience at the time the tolls
 were fixed for the Panama Canal against all shipping (and not tolls charged
 to foreign vessels only) is the precedent that must be followed in fixing tolls
 for the Gulf-Atlantic canal. The use of the canal must be on a toll for
 all vessels or free for all vessels.
 NoTe.-On page 4, following paragraph 4, the following interpolations were made.
 Mr. KAY. You make no reference here of the number of bridges to be con-
 structed by the Southern Railway, that is, the G. S. & F. Why the omission?
 Mr. WILLOUOHBY. The Southern Railway's tracks do not now cross the
 route of the canal or the St Johns River.
 Mr. KAY. So the G. S. & F. will not be involved in that construction?
 Mr. WnILOUOHBY. No.
 Mr. KAT. Proceed.
 Mr. Willoughby concluded the reading of the memorandum referred to, and
 stated:
 Mr. WnLOUGOHBY. Relative to the discussion with regard to the flow. The
 geology of Florida is that the interior of the peninsula has been raised, and
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