It
Appears That, Anterior To The Conquest, The French Government Had
Entertained Some Views In Relation To So Great An
Amelioration; but the
subject seems to have never been properly taken up until 1822, when the
project was submitted to
The Governor-in-Chief of the Province by James
George, Esq., a Quebec merchant, conspicuous for his zeal and activity, as
well in promoting this particular object as in forwarding the views of the
St. Lawrence Company, an association formed avowedly for the improvement
of the navigation of the St. Lawrence.
Of the benefits to be derived from thus docking the St. Charles no one can
doubt, whether the undertaking be considered in a local, municipal or
commercial point of view. As a means of extending the boundaries of the
Lower Town, and bringing under more immediate improvement the extensive
branches of the St. Charles, it is of the greatest consequence.
Commercially considered, this pier (which would at first form a tide-
dock, that might eventually be converted into a wet-dock) would
be of incalculable advantage from the great facilities it would offer to
the general trade of the place, and especially the timber trade, which has
frequently involved its members in much perplexity, owing to the
deficiency that exists of some secure dock or other similar reservoir
where that staple article of the colony might be safely kept, and where
ships might take in their cargoes without being exposed to the numerous
difficulties and momentous losses often sustained in loading at moorings
in the coves or in harbour. By building the outward face of the pier in
deep water, or projecting wharves from it, an important advantage would
also be gained, affording increased conveniences in the unloading and
loading of vessels. In fact, it would be impossible, in summarily noticing
the beneficial tendency of this great work, to particularize its manifold
advantages; they are too weighty to be overlooked, either by the
Legislature or the community at large, and will doubtless dictate the
expediency of bringing them into effectual operation. The different modes
suggested of raising the capital required for the undertaking are: 1st.
From the Provincial revenue by the annual rate of a loan; 2nd. By an Act
vesting it in the City of Quebec, by way of loan to the city, to be
refunded by the receipts of rents and dock dues arising from the work;
3rd. By an Act of Incorporation, the Province taking a share in the stock,
and appointing commissioners; 4th. By an Act of Incorporation only."
The Wet-Dock quay wall was to have been completed by the 1st of October,
1880, but delays have taken place, and the much-desired Tide Harbor of 20
acres, entering from the St. Lawrence, with a depth of 24 feet at low
water, together with a Dock of 40 acres, having a permanent depth of 27
feet, will require another year before it is finally completed.
GRAVING DOCK, LEVIS.
An important portion of our Harbour improvements are located on the
opposite shore of the St. Lawrence at Levis, and the sums voted by the
Parliament of Canada (38 Vic., chap. 56), or granted by the Imperial
Government to construct a graving dock in the Harbour of Quebec, were used
in this structure, located by Order-in-Council, dated May, 1877, at St.
Joseph de Levis.
"The dimensions of the dock are:
Length............................. 500 feet
Extreme width...................... 100 "
Depth.............................. 25.5 "
Width of entrance.................. 62 "
"The designs and specifications were prepared by Messrs. Kinnipple &
Morris, Engineers, Westminster and Greenock.
"The Graving Dock of St. Joseph de Levis, Parish of Lauzon, Quebec,
was commenced by the Quebec Harbour Commissioners, under the Resident
Engineer, Woodford Pilkington, M.I., C.E. in November, 1877, and was
carried on previous to tenders being invited for the present contract,
to the month of March, 1878, during which time the sum of $6,298.20
was expended in excavation on the site of the Dock, which work was
afterwards taken over by Messrs. Larkin, Connolly & Co., as an
executed part of their contract, signed August 17th, 1878, and the
above sum deducted from the contract amount of their tender for the
excavations given in the bills of quantities under this head; the
Harbour Commissioners being afterwards re-credited with this amount of
expenditure under the first certificate.
The work of excavating for and building this Graving Dock was taken in
hand under contract with the Quebec Harbour Commissioners, by Messrs.
Larkin, Connolly & Co., on the 17th August, 1878, for the lump sum of
$330,953.89. The works to be delivered over to the Quebec Harbour
Commissioners, finished complete, on the 1st day of June, 1882. [142]
THE GATES OF QUEBEC.
It seems superfluous to furnish a detailed description of the
fortifications and citadel of Quebec. After the lengthy account given in
"Quebec, Past and Present," pages 348-60, the following sketch, which we
borrow, written previous to the erection of the new St. Louis and Kent
Gates, [143] corrected to date, throws additional light on this part of
the subject.
"Of all the historic monuments connecting modern Quebec with its
eventful and heroic past, none have deservedly held a higher place in
the estimation of the antiquarian, the scholar and the curious
stranger than the former gates of the renowned fortress. These relics
of a by-gone age, with their massive proportions and grim, medieval
architecture, no longer exist, however, to carry the mind back to the
days which invest the oldest city in North America with its peculiar
interest and attraction. Nothing now remains to show where they once
raised their formidable barriers to the foe or opened their hospitable
portals to friends, but graceful substitutes of modern construction or
yawning apertures in the line of circumvallation, where until 1871
stood Prescott and Hope Gates which represented the later defences of
the place erected under British rule. Of the three gates - St. Louis,
St. John and Palace - which originally pierced the fortifications of
Quebec under French dominion, the last vestige disappeared many years
ago.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 88 of 231
Words from 89648 to 90661
of 236821
