a a - ; af na 4 a fF aa i | { | : 7 ; ia } | i rf i 3 Pa : Ht] i] ; a 506 Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer salt water is brought by pumps worked with wind. Three vats constitute one set, and the sea water under evaporation, after having deposited the druggy and slimy parts, is timely drawn from one reservoir into another, by which process the crystal- lized salt becomes of the purest quality. The grain is of the size called hominy salt, or larger, and the quantity annually pro- duced, within eight to twenty miles of Wilmington, is already more than 30,000 bushels. Main Bar of Cape Fear, high water at 7 o’clock at full and change of the moon, depth 18 feet. New Inlet Bar, high water at 7 o’clock at full and change of the moon, depth 111% feet. Tides on each bar, perpendicular, 5 to 6 feet. Flatts, ten miles below Wilmington, to town, 1114 feet. Course in, over the Main Bar: When in five fathoms water, the lighthouse used to bear north half east, but, unfortunately, a couple of years since the sea encroached on the shore’ and destroyed the lighthouse; and within a few years an angle to the westward has been formed in that part of the channel which was formerly straight, by which circumstance the navigation over the Main Bar has become difficult. Pilots generally attend in time to conduct vessels in safety. Lighterage, between the Flatts and Wilmington, comes on all vessels above 1114 feet. Also, between the Main Bar and the Flatts, at high water, ' are shoals of 1414 feet. Wilmington is situated on the east side of Cape Fear, or Clarendon, River, and lies north 30 miles above the Main Bar, and 20 miles above New Inlet. , Tue Trape or Wiimineton, 1843. By Ropert W. Brown. (A commercial statement which came into the possession of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce through the courtesy of Major M. P. Taylor.) Portable articles of produce are brought from the interior country by land carriage to Fayetteville, at the head of boating navigation; thence they are carried down to Wilmington by well constructed steamboats and their numerous towboats, com- 1Why? Because the river current had been depreciated to such ex- tent in volume and force by the opening at New Inlet as to be over- come by the current and force of waves of the ocean; thus permitting the ocean waves and currents to gradually wear away the shore. H. Nott. Peace Restored 507 prising a flotilla on an extensive scale, qualified to carry large quantities of merchandise up and produce down; and when the river is not too low for steamboats to run all the way, greater dispatch is not given in any part of our country. At those periods of low water which occasionally happen, transportation is facilitated by the smaller flat towboats, aided by steamboats, so far as the latter can proceed. In the course of many years practice of the author in his agency for numerous merchants of the interior, and since the establishment of steamboats, he has had goods delivered at Fay- etteville within a week or ten days from New York, and the merchants and farmers of the back country, hitherto trading extensively with South Carolina, must find their way to the convenient seaport of their own State, and Wilmington can pro- -duce a market, for export and import, with all necessary facili- ties. ‘The larger vessels for foreign trade and the- smaller for coasting have the advantage of two bars—the New Inlet and the Main Bar to pass in and out. Regular packets ply between Wilmington, New York, and Philadelphia. Steamboats of good capacity ply on the river below Wilmington for passengers, freighting, and towing. The healthy summer retreat at Smithville is much resorted to. The summer and fall months, in regard to trade, are dull; rivers generally low; crop season with the country people; a relaxation in town; and consequently business generally is less active, except the ordinary preparations for renewal of the fall trade, and the importation of large quantities of goods for their passage to the interior, which is a steady employment from July to November. This business demands the constant vigilance, care, and presence of the consignees and parties entrusted with it during the most unfavorable period of the season. A new route is now established by the Wilmington and Ra- leigh Railroad through the northeastern counties of the State, leading to Weldon, on the Roanoke, and thence to Norfolk or Petersburg. Splendid steamboats, built for the purpose, and second to none in the United States, ply between Wilmington and Charleston, conveying with great comfort and compara- tively no risk the mail and passengers, which route, as already ascertained, is admitted to be one of the best in the whole coun- try, avoiding the great hazard of Capes Hatteras, Lookout, and Frying Pan, in a short seascope between Cape Fear and Charles- ton Bars, so far as passengers are concerned. ee oe eI tn Ae Seen pe reece Be ia ee RANE Rat N UR aetna as att tt tt te - 7 i gin aca net eee ai i: :