The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

New Orleans—Juncture of Navigation Canal and Mississippi—Army Base Built During War at Cost of $15,000,000 New Orleans Is Growing Steadily as Seaport for Vast Territory By V. M. Friede and Charles Lammond MHILE the Mississippi was Al discovered in 1541, the first colony on the Gulf was founded in 1679 on the. Bay: of = Biloxi... In 1718 Bienville founded New Orleans. This city and the territory of Louisi- ana was ceded to America in 1803. The original ports along the Gulf coast have rapidly increased in num- ber, forming an almost continuous chain, starting from Key West in Florida and extending to the Mexican border. New Orleans, which rightly claims to be the second port of the United States, occupies a unique strategical position, being within 107 miles from the Gulf coast on the banks of the Mississippi river. The average width of channel is % of a mile, the depth ranging at low water stage from 30 feet near the banks to 150 and 180 feet. New Orleans from the _ begin- ning of its existence was destined to be an important factor in the de- V. M. Friede, co-author of this article is a consulting naval architect of New Orleans. Charles Lammond is connected with the New Orleans Association of Commerce. 42 velopment of trade and industry of the South. The port of New Orleans has a water frontage of 52 miles, of which 41 miles are on the Mississippi river and 11 miles on the inner har- bor navigation canal. Dock Board Rules’ Port The port is under the jurisdiction of the board of commissioners of the port of New Orleans, an agency of the state. The dock board adminis- trates with few exceptions all the water front within the port limits which includes 6% steel sheds, which are assigned on preference basis to the _ shippers, (first call on berths). The average standard widths of wharves is 200 feet. They are equipped with a con- crete deck and have a 20 to 30 foot water apron, and a concrete roadway on car floor level 20 to 30 feet broad. The entire length of wharves along the river banks is served by the New Orleans public belt railroad, which is a common carrier and has 90 miles of tracks, owned and operated by the city of New Orleans and co-ordinated industries. Fifteen wharves are miles of modern MARINE REVIEW—July, 1929 equipped with double and _ single tracks. In addition to the wharves and sheds, the dock board of New Or- leans possesses the following public facilities: 1. Public cotton warehouse with a capacity of 400,000 bales, which is the largest warehouse of its kind in the United States. It is equipped with electrically driven machinery for loading and unloading ships, possesses an escalator and three cotton com- pressors. Cotton is moved on motor driven trucks and trailers. 2. A public grain elevator which has a mooring berth for ten vessels and a marine leg. Its capacity is equal to all other similar elevators on the Gulf coast. The elevator is built of reinforced concrete, is fire-— proof, and possesses a sacking plant. Its storage capacity is 2,622,000 bushels. | 3. Public coal and bulk handling plant serving the coal and _ bauxite trade chiefly, equipped to transfer the cargo from ship’s hold to river barges directly. Gondola cars are