I take pleasure in returning my thanks to Messrs. Kennedy and Mackall for their intelligent co-operation in the work. I have the honor to be, your most obedient servant, Col. JOHN D. KURTZ, United States Army, Corps of Engineers. F. M. EPPLEY, United States Assistant Engineer. Estimate of the cost of opening an Inlet at the Hommocks, Worcester County, Md. Dredging a cut 2,000 feet by 7 feet deep and 250 feet wide, from the bay to Wing-dam: 260 piles driven, at $3 each Jetty on beach: $75,000 780 Superintendence, advertising, office-work, and contingent expenses 7,000 Add for unforeseen expenses 112,605 8,000 120, 605 NOTE. This estimate is at full quantities and prices, to cover unfavorable circumstances. If these should not occur there will be a reduction in the expenditure. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, Philadelphia, January 29, 1873. U 19. J. D. KURTZ, Lieut.-Col Engineers. SURVEY OF THE DELAWARE RIVER BETWEEN TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, AND EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, Philadelphia, Pa., January 27, 1873. GENERAL: I have the honor to forward herewith the papers relating to the survey of "the Delaware River between Trenton and Easton." They consist of the detailed report of the engineer in charge of the survey, Mr. M. Merriman, and an estimate of the probable cost of the improvements proposed, and of eight sheets of maps of the river. These papers are so full and complete that the subject requires very few words. from me. Mr. Merriman's report presents fully the history, character, and condition of the river between Easton and Trenton; the history and extent of the lumber business upon it; the improvements heretofore made by State appropriations and personal efforts; the legislation of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, through a series of years; the jurisdiction exercised by the States over the river, and the questions arising between the several interests concerned in the waters and along the shores of the river. The map and charts afford abundant information respecting the position and character of the existing difficulties, and the remedies proposed. The information embodied in these papers is more than the funds available for the survey could have afforded, without aid from other sources. This has been largely and courteously supplied by a number of gentlemen living along the river-shores, from Easton to Philadelphia. The United States are indebted in this respect to Mr. A. Mitchell, secretary Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company; Mr. J. A. Anderson, superintendent Belvidere Delaware Railroad; Mr. Ashbel Welch, chief engineer Pennsylvania Railroad, and to others, to whom Mr. Merriman refers in his report. Very little interest was found to exist in the region of the survey in its objects. Some of the raftsmen manifested some interest in the improvement of the navigation. Capt. L. B. La Barre, one of the most experienced river-men, was an exception to the general rule. He visited Philadelphia, when the work was about commencing, gave abundant information, and was the pilot of the survey during the continuance of the field operations. He is regarded on the river as among the most skillful and intelligent persons engaged in rafting. This survey was provided for by "An act making appropriations for the repair, preservation, and completion of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes," (general nature 134,) approved June 10, 1872, and was placed in my charge by your instructions of June 19, 1872. The expenditures on the work have been SIR: Agreeably to your instructions of August 5, 1872, I proceeded at once to Easton, Pennsylvania, and began the survey of the Delaware River between that place and Trenton, N. J. My party consisted of Mr. F. F. Weld, assistant engineer, and Capt. L. B. La Barre, a thoroughly informed steersman, who acted as pilot; a recorder, and two boatmen. We proceeded down the river, making detailed surveys of the falls and rapids, where obstructions to navigation existed, and reconnoissances of the remaining rapids, with the intervening reaches of the river. Our work at times was rendered difficult and unsatisfactory by the high stage of water which prevailed, and accordingly, after finishing the examinations at Trenton, we returned to Easton on October 7, and were enabled, by running over the river again, to collect much information previously neglected. The field-work being thus finished in the space of little more than two months, Mr. Weld and myself returned to Philadelphia on October 16, and began the preparation of the maps and estimates. I now have the honor to present to you my report, giving in detail the information I have been able to collect concerning the regimen and navigation of the river, and posing a scheme for its improvement, with an estimate of its probable cost. Although my survey of the Delaware River was confined to that portion between Easton and Trenton, yet it seems necessary, in order to form a clear idea of the navigation between those places, that I should give here a short sketch of the river as a whole, or at least of that portion of it lying above tide-water at Trenton. pro The Delaware River has its sources in Greene, Schoharie, and Delaware Counties, New York. The main or Mohawk branch has its origin in a small lake near the border of Schoharie County, at an elevation of 1,886 feet above the sea-level.* Following the devious windings of the river, the distance to tide at Trenton is about two hundred and thirty miles, and the average fall per mile 8.2 feet. The main branch ruus, at first, southwest fifty miles to the line of Broome County, within ten miles of the Susquehanna River, then suddenly turning to the southeast meets twelve miles below the * McCullough's Geographical Dictionary, vol. i, p. 739, east branch, or Popacton, which rising fifty miles to the northeast runs nearly parallel to the first. From the junction of the two the river proceeds sixty miles in a winding course, receiving from the right the Lackawaxen, and from the left the Neversink Creek. At its junction with the Neversink at Carpenter's Point, it turns to the southwest along the base of the Kittatinny Mountains about thirty-five miles until it passes by the breach called the Delaware Water-Gap; then southerly thirty miles, receiving at Easton the Lehigh from the right, and a few miles below the Musconetcong from the left, until it there passes the gap in the South Mountains; then pursuing a southeast course for fifty miles, it again, at Bordentown, changes its direction and runs onward through the Delaware Bay to the ocean. The length of the entire river is usually given at three hundred or three hundred and ten miles, and its drainage area at eleven thousand two hundred and fifty square miles.* I have made a computation of the drainage area above Trenton, and find it to be six thousand nine hundred and fifty square miles. Assuming the rain-fall and evaporation over both these areas to be the same, it appears that three-fifths of the entire discharge of the river come from the region lying above tide-water at Trenton. A sketch of the river system of the Delaware, which I present in Appendix A, p. 921, shows at a glance the drainage area above Trenton, and exhibits the relative rise and importance of its numerous tributaries. It will also be of service when I come to treat of the lumber trade and navigation of the river. The general topographical features of the Delaware have been so well described by Professor Rogerst that I cannot do better than give here his own words: "This noble river exhibits along its immediate valley a considerable variety of topographical feature and scenery. From its head-streams in New York to where it emerges from the Pokono or Catskill Mountains, it flows in a tortuous course through a deep trough in that elevated table-land; the mean level of the plateau remaining constant and the valley growing progressively deeper; the river-hills grow higher and higher as it descends. Meandering much more than the valley containing it, the river sweeps sometimes close by the base of the bounding hills, the lower part of which are, in many cases, faced by high, naked cliffs, exposing the red-brownish shales of sandstones of the district. The perspective of jutting and retreating hills, clothed with a combination of coniferous and deciduous forest to their summits, and washed at their base by long, bending reaches of the broad river, is very attractive, notwithstanding a prevailing sameness in general feature. After leaving the plateau in Pike and Wayne Counties the river emerges into a broad, open valley, wholly different in structure and aspect from that which it has left. The waters which carved a way for it seem to have been impelled in their momentum southward with great energy against the strong, stony barrier of the Kittatinny or Shawangunk Mountain, and to have scooped their deepest trench near the base of that high ridge. The river, therefore, turns abruptly near Carpenter's Point from a southeast to a southwest course, and follows that of the mountain, sometimes hugging its base, sometimes sweeping a moderate distance from it into the plain, until it finds a passage through it at the great breach called the Delaware Water-Gap. The scenery along this stretch of the river is eminently beautiful. Low within the valley the river is bordered by cultivated flats, variously carved in one or more terraces; and behind these, particularly on the northwest, rise numerous rolling hills, some under the plow, some covered with timber, all deeply cut by ravines; while still beyond the hills we see ascending the long slopes or bold escarpments of the plateau of the Upper Delaware. All the way along on our left the view is bounded by the forest-covered flank and straight crest of the Kittatinny Mountain. Turning at the Water-Gap, the river, in issuing through the main ridge of the mountain, passes between nearly perpendicular mural cliffs of gray sandstone rising on either side to its crest. Leaving the Water-Gap, the river descends gently southward, obliquely across the entire breadth of the Appalachian plain to where it enters the hills called the 'South Mountains' below Easton. This portion of its course is marked by no striking features, the surface of the country being elevated only 100 to 200 feet above it, and being, from the softness of the slates or limestones, smoothed down into rather inex-` pressive lines. "Below the mouth of the Lehigh, the Delaware is bordered by an alternation of hills and narrow, intervening valleys, the river-hills being but the ends of the intersected ridge of the chain of the Highlands of New Jersey. But from the southern edge of these hills, at Durham, the scenery for many miles southward wears a wholly different character. It is that of a table-land, elevated 300 to 400 feet above the level of the river, cut, on one or both sides of the valley, into long ranges of perpendicular cliffs, or excessively steep slopes. One range of precipice on the Pennsylvania side, known as the Nockamixon Rocks, is an exceedingly striking and picturesque range of beetling cliffs, rising sheer, for 200 feet, from the brink of the river, with only a narrow roadway and canal between them, through a length of nearly three miles. Some *Baldwin's Gazetteer of United States, p. 315. of the views from the base of these cliffs are almost grand, and the pictures they make, with the river below, are beautiful. "Farther down the valley the Delaware passes, near New Hope, some bold sides of trap-rock, which impart a pleasing variety to its banks, elsewhere in this part of its course comparatively tame. Passing Trenton, its borders presently put on a totally changed aspect, ceasing to be a gay, running stream; full of bushy islands, and rocky reefs, and rapids, it becomes a wide, tidal river, rising and ebbing between shores which are, in many places, only low banks of sand and gravel, and in others broad marshes, covered with reeds and grass. Turning, at Bordentown, southwestward, the river maintains these features all the way to its wide estuary, the Delaware Bay." The only navigation at present upon the Delaware River, above Trenton, is that of the rafts which come down during the spring and fall floods. Previous, however, to the construction of canals and railroads, the river, although difficult to navigate, was an important highway of commerce. The boats first used appear to have been narrow, flat-bottomed scows, from 25 to 40 feet in length, which were allowed to float down with the current, and on their return up were propelled by poles. About the year 1750 "Durham" boats were introduced, so-called from having been first built at Durham Village, ten miles below Easton. These were round-bottomed boats, pointed at both stern and bow, about 60 feet long, 10 wide, and 5 deep, with a low cabin for sleeping apartment, and one aft for provisions; the center of the boat was thus left free for the load. The crew consisted of three men, two with long setting-poles, aud one at the rudder, who also used a shorter pole. When fully loaded they drew about 30 inches; the usual load on the down trip being 20 tons, on the up trip 5 to 10 tons. The time usually required for a trip from Easton to Trenton was one day, while the return trip ordinarily occupied three days. About 1810 coal began to be carried down the river in "arks," which were simply rectangular pine boxes, usually hinged in the middle like canal-boats, and being from 50 to 80 feet long and 16 wide, and drawing 2 feet of water. These were furnished with oars for use on the reaches of the river between rapids. On arriving at the market in Philadelphia, after discharging their cargoes, the arks were taken apart, the lumber sold, while the iron-work was carried back across the country to the Lehigh, to be used again in the construction of others. The Delaware division of the Pennsylvania Canal, finished in 1830 from Easton to Bristol, caused both Durham boats and arks to be but little used after that time. It is proper to mention here that the river was navigated by Durham boats as far as Lackawaxen Creek, seventy-five miles above Easton, and probably much farther. The completion of the Belvidere Delaware Railroad, in 1857, rendered any further navigation of the river, except by rafts, unnecessary. Previous to that time, however, it was often customary during the winter season, while the canal was closed, to send canal-boat loads of coal down the river. This could, however, only be done at times of freshet, as several feet of water were required for their safe passage. In the summer of 1851, in order to facilitate communication with Easton, and the railroad only being built as far as Lambertville, a steamboat, the Major William Barnet, drawing, when loaded, only 18 inches, was run from Lambertville to Easton, the time occupied in making the trip of thirty-six miles being about eight hours. The lumber business of the river probably began at an early date. Beginning at the lower part of its course, its inclosing banks have been stripped of their forest growth, the work continually receding up the river, until now the lumber production is confined mostly to the counties of Broome, Delaware, and Sullivan, in New York, and Wayne and Pike, in Pennsylvania. The most valuable woods, pine and oak, were first brought to market. In the year 1824, when these timbers were becoming scarce and hemlock was beginning to be cut, the lumber trade appears to have been about twothirds as large as at present. From 1835 to 1850 it was greater than ever before, and probably exceeded the present production by one-third or one-half. The trade on the Delaware is now declining, and it is estimated that in twenty-five or thirty years will cease altogether. A large item in the marketing of lumber is the hauling of it to the river banks to be formed into rafts. The forests are every year receding from the banks of the river and its tributary creeks, and the time must certainly come when the cost of transportation will be too great to allow it to be brought to market by way of the Delaware. In Appendix B, p. 922, I have shown the sawed-lumber statistics of the five counties mentioned above, in comparison with the States of New York and Pennsylvania and the entire country for 1860. From this it appears that these five counties produced one-eighteenth of all the sawed-lumber of New York and Pennsylvania, and one-eighty-third of the entire production of the United States. How much of this lumber was brought down the Delaware River is not easy to determine. Part of that shown for Broome County probably went down the Susquehanna River, and a small part of the whole was produced for home consumption. But considering that a considerable amount also went down the Delaware from Ulster and Orange Counties, New York, it seems fair to assume that the amount represented by these figures was actually floated to market by way of the river. Assuming, then, $1,115,983 to be the value of the sawed lumber in 1860, and that an equal number of feet of logs was also rafted, their value from this table being $499,215, the entire value of sawed lumber and logs becomes $1,615, 198, which, by the addition of wharf-timber, piling, &c., might be raised to $1,800,000; the average value per thousand feet, board measure, being about $12. The amount of lumber then rafted would appear to be 150,000,000 feet. The information which I have collected concerning the present trade upon the river shows that it is larger than represented above. The average annual number of rafts at present run to points below Trenton, appears to be 3,500, of 60,000 feet board measure. This gives 210,000,000 feet, which, at $12 per thousand, would be $2,520,000. Of this number of rafts, 1,500 are of sawed lumber, 1,200 logs, and 800 of wharf-timber, piling, &c. In Appendix B, page 922, I present an approximate statement of the business of the saw-mills at and below Easton, from which it appears that 113,700,000 feet of lumber are annually produced from logs brought from the upper waters of the Dela The timber is principally hemlock; occasionally a raft is composed of ash, basswood, and hard maple, but they are rare. The timber for piles is also in part white pineIt is cut mostly in the months of May and June, drawn to the river-banks, and rafted |