A NEW PORT FOR LONDON.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 803, 27 November 1882, Page 2

A NEW PORT FOR LONDON.

A great Jenterprise has been set on foot, which will practically give a new port to London and greatly assist ocean commerce. At the small Kentish village of Hoo, on the north shore of the Medway, there is a deep water along-

side t 6 the extent of twenty-two iftefat low tide, much greater depth further out, and at high tide there is sixty, feet. This fact has induced the directors of the South-Eastern Railway to construct wharves and piers at Hoo, which Will shortly be extended and will constitute a flourishing port. It has been christened Port Victoria, and many advantages are claimed for it It is an hour nearer the sea from London than Gravesend ; ships of the heaviest tonnage, homeward bound, will avoid the intricate and dangerous navigation of the crowded Thames, and can discharge passengers and cargo at all hours without having to lie outside as in ordinary ,tidal .harbors. The port is perfectly protected against all winds. The scheme has been pushed forward with speed,.and is so far completed that the branch railway which connects Hoo with the North Kent line was opened last week, and on the 13th September the Prince and Princess of Wales, travelling from Flushing in the yacht Osborne, landed at Port Victoria. It is expected that the new landing place will be largely utilised for Continental : traffic, but great efforts will Be made to ; attract general commerce to Port Vic- ; toria. A special feature will, be the trade in live stock from America, which will be landed in the neighborhood of Hoo and fattened upon the rich Kentj ish soil before slaughter. Nearly all the great steamship lines appear to ; favor the great enterprise. -r- Home 1 News,