.G2G4 ^■^°- GALV E STO N MAJ.-GEN. Q. A. GILLMORE U. S. ENGINEERS^ " No IJ^JS 6 Ji % ^'^ ^^'^^- .G^^'^>' NEW YORK; CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1879 Copyright, 1879, by A. & C. BLACK Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Co. 905-213 East \^th St., MBVr YORK. GALVESTON. Galveston, a city and port of entry on the coast of Texas, United States of North America, situated about 340 miles to the westward of the mouth of the South Pass of the Mississippi River, on the south side of the entrance into Galveston Bay, in 29° 18' N. lat. and 94° 47' long, west from Greenwich. It is the principal port and the largest city in the State, is the seat of justice of Galveston County, and is located on the inner shore of Galveston Island, about 2 miles from its most north-easterly point, known as Fort Point. The city therefore faces the main Texas shore, being separated from it by West Bay, lying between the island and the mainland. The principal portion of the county lies on the mainland fronting the two bays above named, its general surface, like that of the is- land, being low and level, and the soil sandy. Galveston Island is a low sandy island, about 4 GALVESTON. 28 miles long and i-J to 3J miles wide, stretch- ing along the coast of Texas in a north-easterly and south-westerly direction, and forming the gulf coast-line throughout its entire length. Its surface, which has an average height of 4 to 5 feet above tide level, is diversified by a number of fresh-water ponds and intersected by several creeks and small bayous. The beach, on the Gulf side, furnishes a smooth and pleasant drive during low-water stage, and excellent surf- bathing at all times. To the northward of the entrance into the harbor, the coast-line is con- tinued in the same general direction to the north- east by Bolivar Peninsula, a low, narrow sand- strip of the mainland, the width of the throat of the harbor between Fort Point and Bolivar Point being about 2 miles. There is a light- liouse on Bolivar Point. Galveston Harbor is the finest in the State ; and the bay of the same name, including cer- tain outlying portions of it known severally as East Bay, West Bay, and Turtle Bay, covers an area of upwards of 450 square miles of tidal water. At the head of the bay, about 35 miles from the city in a northerly direction, it receives Trinity "River, its largest tributary, while San GALVESTON. 5, Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou enter it from the west 18 miles lower down. The mean rise and fall of tide at Galveston is. IyV feet, but spring-tides occasionally rise more than 3 feet above, and fall nearly two feet be- low the plane of mean low water, and fluctua- tions between much wider limits are not un- common under the influence of heavy winds^ During a storm which occurred in October^ 1867, the water rose 6^^^ feet above mean low- water stage, and in September, 1875, it rose in some portions of the bay 7 feet, and in others. 9J feet above the same level. Two years later there was a rise of 5^ feet, produced by an on- shore wind which reached a maximum velocity of 60 miles per hour. The lowest tide of which, we have any record fell 3^^^^ feet below mean low-water level, thus giving a difference of 12^^ feet between the highest and the lowest recorded tides. A sand bar, produced and maintained by the joint action of waves and currents, stretches, across, bow-shaped, in front of the entrance into the bay, restricting the draught of vessels entering the harbor to from 12^ to 13 feet. The United States Government has undertaken the 6 GALVESTON. improvement of this entrance by means of two jetties, one starting from Fort Point and the other from near Bolivar Point, having an aggre- gate length of about 7 miles. It is the in- tention to carry them out to and beyond the crest of the bar on converging lines, so that their sea ends, resting in about 18 feet water on the outer slope of the bar, will be about i mile apart. It is expected that these jetties will cost about $2,000,000, and that they will produce and maintain a practicable channel depth of 18 to 19 feet at mean low-water. Once inside this bar a draught of fully 20 feet can be carried to the wharves of the city. The Bolivar Point Jetty, in August, 1879, had reached a length of 3,000 feet from the shore. That from Fort Point had not been carried out so far. The peculiar mode of construction adopted for these works by the superintending engineer, Major C. W. Howell, United States Corps of Engi- neers, merits some notice here. The jetties are formed with large gabions, or basket-work cyl- inders, plastered inside and out with hydraulic cement, so as to give a thickness of 5 to 6 inches to the cylindrical wall. The gabions are either circular, with a diameter of 6 feet, or of an GALVESTON. 7 oval cross section, with diameters of 6 feet and 12 feet respectively. They are closed at the bottom, and are also provided with a tight- fitting wooden cover. After being sunk to their proper positions in the work, on their ends, arranged in a single or double row, they are filled with sand pumped up from the bot- tom and passed in through a hole left in the gabion cover. At first these gabions were placed directly upon the bottom, but the action of the sea and currents caused so much under- scour and settlement, that a foundation of fas- cines formed into a mattress and weighted with stones was resorted to. On the most exposed portions of the works about one-sixth of the number of gabions put into position have been destroyed by heavy storm-waves, so that this method of construction cannot as yet be re- garded as past the experimental stage. Galveston was first settled in 1837. It is handsomely laid out upon ground elevated from 6^ to 10 feet above ordinary tide level, has wide and straight streets, and has several public squares, parks, and gardens. The streets run- ning parallel to West Bay are known as ave- nues, and are designated by the letters of the S GALVESTON. alphabet, beginning at the bay, while those at right angles to the water are numbered. Special names are assigned to some of the streets. Avenue A, parallej and next to the wharf or channel front, is mostly occupied by wholesale houses. Next comes Avenue B, or " The Strand," and then Avenue C, or Mechanic Street, both devoted largely to the wholesale business. Avenue D, or Market Street, for a distance of seventeen squares, is occupied by retail stores, shops, restaurants, hotels, banks, etc. This is the main shopping street. Ave- nues E and F are of the same character. The post-office and United States court-house are at the intersection of Avenue F and 20th Street, and the custom-house is near by. Avenue J, or Broadway, is regarded as the most desirable locality for residences. It is 150 feet wide, in- cluding an esplanade 36 feet wide through the middle, and a 16-foot sidewalk on either side. Bath Avenue, at right angles to Broadway, is 120 feet wide. Fremont, or 23d Street, is the principal drive in the city, and is maintained as a shell road from "The Strand" to the Gulf beach. With the exceptions named, the streets are 80 feet and the avenues 70 feet wide, in- GALVESTON. 9' eluding 16 feet sidewalks, and the blocks or squares are uniformly 260 wide and 300 feet long, with an alley 20 feet wide running length- wise through the middle, along the rear of the lots. The portion of the city built over extends from about 6th to 40th Streets, and from Ave- nue A south to within two to three blocks of the Gulf beach. The only streets paved are four or five blocks on Avenues B, C, and D. They are paved with blocks of heart cypress. The same avenues are shelled from between lOth to 32d Streets, or thereabouts, with clam shells from 18 to 30 inches deep. Trees are planted very generally on the outer edge of the side- walks, the oleander being the chief growth. It frequently attains a height of 20 to 25 feet, and grows rapidly from slips with great luxuriance, blooming the year round. The fig, orange, the black Hamburg and other kinds of grape, and many varieties of flowers and evergreen shrub- bery, thrive and flourish. Throughout the most thickly-settled portions of the city the sidewalks are paved with either asphaltum, concrete, brick, or German or English tiles. Oleander Park embraces 80 acres, and the city park about 25 acres, and there are three public gardens and to GALVESTON. six public squares. The business portion of the city is built up mostly with brick, and within certain defined fire limits the erection of wooden buildings is prohibited, Among the public buildings, other than churches, are a post-ofiice, custom-house. United States court-house, a county court-house, a county and city prison, a city hall, an opera- house, 7 public halls, 2 Hbraries, 2 theatres, 13 hotels of different grades, and 3 market-houses. There are 30 schools of all kinds, 15 church edi- fices, a Roman Catholic university or college (St. Mary's), a medical school, a convent, a house of refuge, an orphan asylum, and 3 hos- pitals. The St. Mary's university was founded in 1854, and in 1872 had 8 professors and 35 collegiate and 115 preparatory students. The medical school, founded in 1864, had ten years thereafter 6 professors. The convent (Ursuline) has 25 nuns and a female academy connected with it. There are two other female academies in the place. There are published in the town a number of daily, tri-weekly, and weekly pa- pers. Galveston is a bishop's see of the Roman Catholic Church. The city is well connected by railroad with different parts of the State, and GALVESTON. IT by regular steamship lines with Liverpool, New York, Havana, New Orleans, and the ports of Texas. The Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railroad crosses West Bay on a wooden bridge 2 miles long, and by means of the Galveston Wharf Railroad delivers and receives freight at the several wharves of the city. The Gulf, Col- orado, and Santa Fe Railroad, now building from Galveston to Belton, in Bell County, a dis- tance of 220 miles, is finished (September, 1879) as far as Richmond, a distance of 63 miles, and 57 miles more to Brenham will be finished by January I, 1880. The entire road to Belton is to be completed by September, 1 881, This road crosses the Brazos Kiver, below Richmond, on an iron bridge, and has a wooden bridge of its own across West Bay. There are no high- way bridges connecting Galveston Island with the mainland. The cotton business of the place is repre- sented by six cotton presses and many immense brick warehouses, furnishing storage-room for nearly 200,000 bales of cotton, and covering an area of more than 50 acres. There are two national banks, with an authorized capital of $800,000, and a paid-up cash capital of $300,- 12 GALVESTO^. ooo^ — the aggregate paid-up capital of all the banks being upward of $2,000,000. The assessed value of real estate in 1878 was over $20,000,- 000, and the bonded debt $1,200,000. Galveston is a healthy city, possesses a de- lightful climate, and has not been afflicted with an epidemic disease since 1867. The following table, giving the temperature, the barometric pressure, and the rainfall at this place for five years ending June 30, 1878, has been compiled from the reports of the Chief Signal Office, United States Army : — Year ending Temperature Fahr. Mean Annual Barometric Pressure. Annual June 30. Highest. Lowest. Annual Mean. Rainfall 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 98.5° 96.0° 97.0° 24° 40» K 30° 72.8« 69.6° 70.9° 68.7° 70.2° Inches. 30.051 30.063 30.050 30-073 29.997 Inches. 70.59 4299 67.47 There was only one occasion during the five years, and that occurred on the lOth of January, 1875,. when the temperature fell below 30° F. The population of the city was more than trebled during the twenty years ending in 1870, and the local authorities claim that since 1870 GALVESTON. 13 the rate of increase has been more rapid still, and that in 1874 the population had reached between 25,000 and 30,000. A municipal cen- sus taken in 1876 made the population 35,000, which is believed to be too high. The past and estimated present population are given below : — Year. White. Colored. Total. 3.469 6,127 10,810 708 1,180 3,008 4,177 7,307 13,818 31,000 £stinia.ted for 1879 In the business of receiving and shipping cot- ton, the leading production of the Southern States, Galveston ranks third in importance among the ports of the United States, New Orleans and Savannah standing before it, and Charleston, Norfolk, and Mobile after it in the order named. More than one-tenth of the cot- ton crop of the country finds a market through the port of Galveston. The following table shows the yearly receipts of bales of cotton at the six ports above named, for five years ending September i, 1879: — 14 GALVESTON. Ports. 1878-79. 1877-78- 1876-77. 1875-76. I 874-75 • New Orleans Savannah . . . . , 1,175,415 690,901 573,274 442,458 449,888 362,522 1,391,55s 597,449 454,137 425,214 423,128 414,332 1,182,357 477,477 491,980 505,932 442,515 357,879 1,401,563 521,437 465,529 469,997 389,698 371,298 6o5',s66 354,927 382,387 413,101 319,263 Galveston Norfolk Charleston ..^ Mobile The value of imports from foreign countries for the two years ending July 31, 1878, was as follows : — 1877-78. 1876-77. Imports of free commodities .... $952,713 194,615 $1,155,808 Imports of dutiable commodities Total 1,147,328 1.357,488 The leading importations comprise coffee from Brazil and Mexico, and manufactured cotton, woollen, and iron goods. The duties collected during the year ending July 31, 1878, amounted to $62,352.73, as against $95,980.49 during the previous year. The v^lue of domestic commodities, consist- ing largely of cotton, oil-cake, cattle, preserved meats, bone dust, cotton seeds, and lumber, ex- ported to foreign countries during the year end- GALVESTON. 15 ing July 31, 1878, amounted to $11,963,132, as against $15,242,747 for the previous year. The number and tonnage of vessels entered and cleared at the port of Galveston annually, for the six fiscal years ending June 30, 1878, are shown in the following tables : — COASTING TRADE. Entered. Cleared. Years. Number of Vessels. Tonnage. Years. Number of Vessels. Tonnage. 1877-8 1876-7 1875-6 1874-5 1873-4 1872-3 428 460 490 636 192,114 407,382 435.535 428,334 450,830 569.206 1877-8 1876-7 1875-6 1874-5 1873-4 1872-3 291 301 3" 531 315 422 291,264 263,792 290,956 285,970 274,919 424,848 FOREIGN TRADE. 1877-8 130 72,585 1877-8 135 82,300 1876-7 167 99,386 1876-7 165 102,744 1875-6 177 85,598 1875-6 ^9i 107,192 1874-5 167 99,175 1874-5 208 127,527 1873-4 206 124,316 1873-4 241 145,237 1872-3 156 79,170 1872-3 175 92,998 The decrease in the number of coasting vessels entered and cleared is accounted for in part by the fact that the Morgan line of steamers from New Orleans, which formerly entered here, now proceed up the bay to Clinton with original l6 GALVESTON. manifest, and make the entry there, merely touching at Galveston to land freight, passen- gers, and mails. The number of documented vessels owned in the customs district of Galveston during the year ending June 30, 1878, was 197, with an aggregate tonnage of 9,310 tons ; built during the year, 9, with an aggregate tonnage of 239 tons ; and lost at sea, wrecked, or abandoned, 16, with a total tonnage of 387 tons. GALVESTON BY MAJ.-GEN. Q. A. GILLMORE U. S. ENGINEERS NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1879 [ Price 25 Cents. ] The Standard Edition of Gladstone's Essays. 0-lFflnings of JPast "^^nvs. CY The Right Hon. W, E. GLADSTONE. Seven Voltitnes, IGtno, Cloth, per volume, $1.00. The extraordinary scope of Mr. Gladstone's learning — the wonder ol his friends and enemies alike — and his firm grasp of every subject he discusses, make his essays much more than transient literature. Their collection and publication in permanent shape were of course certain to be undertaken sooner or later; and now that they are so published with v the benefit of his own revision, they will need little heralding in England * or America. What Mr. Gladstone has written in the last thirty-six years — the period covered by this collection — has probably had the attention of as large an English-speaking public as any writer on political and social topics ever reached in his own life-time. The papers which he has chosen as of lasting value, and included here under the title of Gleanings of Past Years, will form the standard edition of his miscellanies, both for his E resent multitude of readers, and for those who will study his writings Iter. Vol. I. The Throne, and the Prince Consort; The Cabinet, and Constitution. Vol. II.— Personal and Literary. Vol. III.— Historical and Speculative. Vol. IV.— Foreign. w^l" ,)!' \ Ecclesiastical. Vol. VI. ) Vol. VII.— Miscellaneous. ^ *^*Xhe above books for sale by all booksellers^ or -jvill be sent, frepaid, upon ^ ^eiJ>L,cJ^riee, /jy^ CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. Publishers, 743 AND 745 Broadway, New York. '^^^* ^^ o ^^^^^:^^. V . DOBBSBROS. ^^ ^ ^' A V '^^'-' v^ ^i. ST^GUSTINE A'^ '^ ^- '^'^^ FLA. '\ ^ ''^^W^ T>v . W LIBRARY