SPECIAL JOINT COMMITTEE. [Appointed pursuant to a provision in the naval appropriation act approved June 4, 1920.] CONTENTS. HEARINGS. Tuesday, November 16, 1920, at city hall, San Francisco, Calif.. SITES. Alameda site.. John L. Davie, mayor of Oakland, remarks of. Frank Otis, mayor of Alameda, remarks of, and discussion Joseph H. King, former president of Oakland Chamber of Commerce, Joseph E. Caine, managing director Oakland Chamber of Commerce, remarks of, and discussion. L. H. Newbert, statement of.. George E. Wilhelm, chief engineer, People's Water Co., discussion as to Page. 3 63 91 165 63, 200 63 64, 66 66 66 67, 200 83 85,89 87 84, 89 71, 89 87 73, 83, 89 81 Hunters Point site.. Richard J. Welch, supervisor city of San Francisco, spokesman for Hunters James Rolph, jr., mayor of San Francisco, remarks of.. 81 85,89 72 4, 209 M. M. O'Shaughnessy, chief engineer of San Francisco, remarks of.. 6, 27 21 17 12, 35, 204 John I. Nolan, Representative in Congress, remarks of. John S. Dunnigan, clerk of board of supervisors, San Francisco, remarks of. 11, 13 P. R. Thompson, president Civic League of Improvement Clubs and Asso- Transportation, freight rates, etc., statement as to, filed. John A. O'Connell, secretary San Francisco Labor Council, remarks. 28 30, 35 204 33 36, 201 37 39 57 91, 215 Daniel A. Ryan, attorney, board of State harbor commissioners, remarks of. Civic League of Improvement Clubs and Associations, report of, giving detailed statement of advantages of Hunters Point site Mare Island and Carquinez Straits site.. Charles F. Curry, Representative in Congress, statements of..... 92, 142, 160, 215 Communications submitted by, from Capt. Edw. L. Beach, commandant, Mare Island Navy Yard.... Capt. J. M. Ellicott, United States Navy, retired....... Mare Island and Carquinez Straits site-Continued. Communications submitted by, from-Continued. Brig. Gen. William Mitchell, Air Service, United States Army... Capt. Edw. L. Beach, commandant, Mare Island Navy Yard, statements of. Administration costs: Analyses and comparisons.. Commander L. M. Cox, public works officer, Mare Island Navy Yard, statement of, and discussions.. Page. 156 215 92, 107, 143, 163, 215 163, 164 109, 163 116 116 117 118 125, 128 132 Carquinez Straits site. Estimates of cost, tables of, and comparisons between Alameda, Hunters Point, and Carquinez Straits (or Mare Island).. Extent of deep anchorage available at Carquinez Straits. Commander H. M. Gleason, ex-constructor, Mare Island Navy Yard, statement of, and discussion... Howard C. Holmes, consulting engineer, statement of, and discussion.. Comparisons of foundations for dry docks available at Alameda, Hunters oint, and Carquinez Straits... 133 136 137, 138 Francis Betts Smith, consulting engineer, statement of, and discussion.. 142, 156 157 161 Martinez site.. Warren H. McBryde, speaking for chambers of commerce of Contra Costa Brief submitted, setting forth various advantages of Martinez site. Richmond, or San Pablo, site. H. W. Wernse, secretary, Richmond Industrial Commission, remarks, of.. San Mateo site.. 188 188 189 190 190 195, 198 166 J. E. McCurdy, president, San Mateo Chamber of Commerce, remarks of. Arthur M. Free, Representative-elect, eighth district of California, remarks of.. 181 183 Discussion of tides, currents, and silting in San Francisco Bay, by Capt. Clem 201 Appendix: Communication from Capt. Dudley W. Knox, United States Navy, submitted by Mr. Curry.... The location of the naval base, a general discussion by Admiral Hugh Rodman, commander in chief, Pacific Fleet.. 183 215 SAN FRANCISCO BAY NAVAL BASE SITES. NOVEMBER 16, 1920. SPECIAL JOINT COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS ON PACIFIC COAST NAVAL BASES, San Francisco, Calif. SITE AT HUNTERS POINT. A hearing before the Special Joint Committee of Congress on Pacific Coast Naval Bases was held at the chambers of the board of supervisors of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, in the city hall, San Francisco, Calif., November 16, 1920, commencing at 10 o'clock a. m. There were present the following members of the committee: Senators L. Heisler Ball, Henry W. Keyes, and Thomas J. Walsh; Representatives Fred A. Britten, Frederick C. Hicks, A. E. B. Stephens, L. P. Padgett, and Daniel J. Riordan; together with W. M. Coffin, secretary of the committee, and T. E. Peeney, secretary to Senator Ball. There were also present Senator James D. Phelan and Representative John I. Nolan. There were also present naval officers Rear Admiral C. W. Parks, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks; Admiral R. E. Coontz, Chief of Naval Operations; Rear Admiral W. L. Capps, of the Navy Department; Lieut. Commander H. W. Hill, aid to Admiral Coontz; Rear Admiral Alexander S. Halstead, Lieut. Commander James M. Doyle, Commander L. M. Cox, Capt. W. L. Potts, and Lieut. C. L. Macrea. There were also present, representative of the interests of San Francisco, the mayor, James Rolph, jr.; the city engineer, M. M. O'Shaughnessy; the city attorney, George Lull; supervisors Richard J. Welch, Edward I. Wolfe, Ralph McLeran, Joseph Lehaney, J. Emmet Hayden, James B. McSheehy, Charles A. Nelson, W. S. Scott, Charles A. Powers, together with J. S. Dunnigan, clerk of the board of supervisors, and P. H. McCarthy, president of the San Francisco Building Trades Council; John A. O'Connell, secretary of the San Francisco Labor Council; George C. Boardman, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco; B. M. Rastall, industrial engineer of the chamber of commerce; P. R. Thompson, of the San Francisco Bureau of San Francisco Organizations; Daniel A. Ryan, attorney for the California State Board of Harbor Commissioners; Howard Holmes, constructing engineer, and others. The hearing was presided over by Senator Ball, chairman of the joint committee, Supervisor Welch acting as spokesman for those representative of the interests of San Francisco, and the following proceedings were had: Senator BALL. The meeting will be in order. If those present will present to us their case, so far as Hunters Point is concerned, we shall be pleased to hear what they have to say. Supervisor WELCH. Gentlemen of the Joint Congressional Commission on Naval Base Sites, as chairman of the commercial and industrial committee of the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco, and as well as chairman of the mayor's special committee on Hunters Point as a naval base site, I desire to present to you the formal program which will be followed upon this hearing. The hearing will be opened by Hon. James Rolph, jr., mayor of the city and county of San Francisco, who will outline the claims of San Francisco, Hunters Point, to be made the site of a naval base. He will be followed by Mr. M. M. O'Shaughnessy, chief engineer of San Francisco, and others who will speak of the engineering features of the work; also representatives of the board of State harbor commissioners, Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco, the Civil League of Improvement Clubs, and representatives of San Francisco Building Trades and Labor Council and others. I might state, for the benefit of those who are here from San Mateo County, representing San Mateo County, that this afternoon, weather permitting, of course, the commission and our committee will go to Hunters Point, and go from there to San Mateo. To-morrow and the day following the commission are to inspect points on the east side of the bay and at Vallejo. Friday they have consented to have a hearing in this chamber, where San Mateo and other points about the bay can be heard. Senator BALL. Including Richmond? Supervisor WELCH. Richmond and San Mateo and any other points desiring to be heard. The commission has gone so far as to say that, if San Francisco is unable to present its case for Hunters Point this morning, they will give us further time. Some of the gentlemen go so far as to say that they will give us a hearing some evening. We are in hopes, however, that that will not be necessary Our case will rest largely with our chief engineer, Mr. O'Shaughnessy, and, as I stated before, we will hear from representatives of our civic bodies, together with the State Harbor Commission, including the chamber of Commerce and the Civic League of Improvement Clubs. Before proceeding further with the hearing, gentlemen, I would like to call on the mayor of this city and county, Hon. James Rolph, jr., to say a word in behalf of the city and county of San Francisco to the commission. Mayor Rolph needs no introduction at my hands, I am sure. Mayor JAMES ROLPH, Jr. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the commission, I am sure that it is hardly necessary for me to tell you that we are gratified and very much pleased at your coming out here to San Francisco to see what we have and to observe the beauties of our harbor, its advantages, and to see San Francisco itself, and, of course, I welcome you in the name of the city. On the 11th of December, 1916, in these very rooms, the Helm Naval Commission held a hearing, and we prepared our case in the presentation of our views as to why we felt that Hunters Point was the proper site on San Francisco Bay for this naval base. Yesterday afternoon we went out to Hunters Point and, in the inclemency of the weather, we had a splendid opportunity to see that site, and you have |