been improved, and is now in a condition to meet the present demands of commerce. When the channel gets worse, temporary relief can be had by dredging, and the cost of this can only be determined by actual survey, at an estimated cost of $500.

My impression is that a 6-foot-deep channel will satisfy all the demands of commerce. This now exists except at extreme low water. Vessels drawing 8 feet should have no difficulty in reaching Salem, the head of navigation, at half-tide, or 10 feet at ordinary high water. The commercial statistics for Lower Salem Creek are given in Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1879, pages 413 and 414. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Brig. Gen. JOHN NEWTON,

Chief of Engineers, U. S. A.

G 24.

W. H. HEUER,

Major of Engineers.

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF HARBOR OF ATLANTIC CITY, AT ABSECON INLET, NEW JERSEY.

UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE,

Philadelphia, Pa., October 18, 1884. GENERAL: In compliance with instructions from the Chief of Engi neers, United States Army, and in conformity with the river and harbor act of July 5, 1884, I have the honor to submit the following report on the preliminary examination of the "harbor of Atlantic City, at Absecon Inlet, New Jersey":

On September 13, 1884, I visited Atlantic City, meeting there a committee of citizens interested in the improvement of the harbor, to whom I am indebted for much information.

The residents of Atlantic City desire to have the entrance to their harbor improved. It is now obstructed by a bar, distant about 11 miles outside of Absecon Inlet. The inlet itself has a width of about 600 feet and an ample depth of water (in some places about 60 feet), but the bar, which is well out to sea (about 14 miles outside of the inlet), has a depth of only 8 feet of water at mean low tide. The mean rise and fall of tides is about 4 feet. This bar prevents all vessels drawing over 12 feet of water from entering the harbor at high tide. If the bar off Atlantic City could be removed and the channel deepened to 15 feet at mean low tide it is said that a line of steamers would be run from New York to Atlantic City; that vessels trading at Atlantic City, which can now only cross the bar at high tide, could enter and depart at any time, and that during a storm coasters could find a good harbor of refuge in the quiet water inside and behind the inlet.

The commerce of Atlantic City is now considerable and is increasing. The two letters of Mr. James Brady accompanying this mention some of the details. There is no question but that the commerce would greatly increase if the entrance could be improved, and the harbor inside, though small, might prove a refuge for coasters during storms, and thus save valuable property and life.

It is thought to be practicable to improve the depth of water on the bar by means of two jetties, starting from the shore and extending out to sea beyond the bar. The upper or north jetty would have to start well up on Brigantine Beach, follow the shoal in a gradually curving line, and would be a little less than 2 miles in length. The south jetty would start from a point in Atlantic City somewhere below the light

house and run in a southeasterly direction, and would be a little over 1 mile in length, its outer end terminating in about 18 feet depth of water, and the opening between the jetties would be a little less than one-quarter of a mile in width.

These jetties would have to be strong enough to resist the action of the heavy surf during the heaviest storms. They would, therefore, have to be at least 15 feet wide at top and have a slope not greater than 1 on 2. The mean depth of water on the jetty lines, roughly designed, is about 7 feet. This would require the jetties to have a mean height of 11 feet, and make the total cubic contents of the two jetties measure about 240,000 cubic yards. It is believed that jetties, in place, in the surf here cannot be constructed for less than $4 per cubic yard (brush and rock). This would make, on a rough estimate, the two jetties cost $960,000, without any estimate of the cost of shore protection or dredging. The latter may not prove necessary; the former certainly will be required.

Brigantine Beach and Atlantic City, at which the shore ends of the jetties would have to start, are both very flat sand beaches; they are very susceptible to changes, and since 1852 the Atlantic City beach has in some places been cut away or eroded for a distance of 1,400 feet. In other places a little farther south on the Atlantic City beach it has built out nearly 1,200 feet into the sea. There is nearly always a constant surf pounding on these beaches, and during severe and long-continued storms changes to the shore-lines occur. The most severe storms of this locality are from the northeast, and if the jetties were built and the shore ends not well protected (more particularly that of the north jetty on Brigantine Beach), there would be danger of a breach through the beach, in which case the waters of the inlet would rush through the breach, the shortest route to the sea, and the jetties themselves would prove serious obstacles to vessels passing close to the shore.

The sole object of the jetties would be to increase the depth of water on the bar. They would not increase the capacity of the inner harbor, now said to be about 40 acres in area within the 24-foot depths.

If the jetties could be made to stand they would concentrate and direct the flow of water from the inlet over the bar, and thus, if the current was sufficiently strong, scour away the material (sand) forming the bar, and scatter it into deeper water. Whether or not the current would be sufficiently strong to produce the required result is a matter of uncertainty; it would depend on the tidal capacity of the inner basin, and on the condition that the jetties should not in any way obstruct the tidal inflow. The two conditions, to concentrate the outflow and not obstruct the inflow of the tide, are not easily overcome. At present the opening or entrance to Absecon Inlet is funnel-shaped, and particularly suited to a free inflow of the tides. The jetties would reverse the funnel shape, by making the small end of the opening toward the sea. It is also probable that, owing to the shifting sands of which the beaches and bottom are composed, two jetties, if constructed and extending nearly two miles to seaward, would soon cause the shore-lines of both beaches to build out toward the ends of the jetties, and in this event it would not be a very long time before another bar would again form beyond the outer ends of the jetties. It is also probable that the jetties, if built, would destroy, for a considerable time at least, the surf in front of Atlantic City, one of the most attractive features of the place.

It is said that during severe storms on this coast the sea sometimes breaks in 6 or 7 fathoms depth of water. It does not require an extraor

dinarily heavy storm to produce breakers in 3-fathom depths, and as the outer ends of the jetties will not be in water more than 18 to 20 feet deep, it follows that during such storms, when vessels are most desirous of making a harbor, it would be impracticable for them to enter the comparatively narrow and long channel between the jetties.

As the bar is about 11⁄2 miles seaward of the inlet, it follows that the jetties, to produce a scouring effect, must extend across the bar, they must also be continuous from the inlet, and being of such length and sufficiently strong to resist heavy sea action, they must necessarily be expensive. It would be useless to dredge the bar without protecting works. These necessarily would be of the nature of jetties.

Deeper water over the bar outside of Atlantic City would undoubt edly be of great local benefit to the place for reasons which I have stated.

As a site for a harbor of refuge, Atlantic City is well situated, being about 75 miles south of Sandy Hook and 50 miles north of the entrance to Delaware Bay; but unfortunately for Atlantic City, even if there was deep water on her bar, there is no large harbor inside and only the maller classes of vessels could find harbor-room inside.

A survey of the locality, ordered by act of Congress of June 14, 1880, was made by order of Col. J. N. Macomb, Corps of Engineers, in September, 1880, under the direction of Capt. William Ludlow, Corps of Engineers, and a full report thereon, with maps, charts, and current measurements, was forwarded to the Department.

This report is printed on page 831, Part I of the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for the year 1881.

Appended will be found two letters from Mr. James Brady furnishing commercial statistics.*

For the reasons which are stated in this report, and from the fact that a detailed survey has been made, it is thought that no further survey is necessary here; that the improvement, if made, would be of great local commercial benefit to Atlantic City, but might ruin the fine surf bathing there for several years.

I am not prepared to say that the harbor is not worthy of improve ment, but as the cost of making the improvement is far greater than the benefits to be derived therefrom, and as the works if constructed would not necessarily effect a permanent improvement, and as there is no public necessity for the works, the deduction from the facts must be that the harbor is not worthy of improvement.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Brig. Gen. JOHN NEWTON,

Chief of Engineers, U. S. A.

G 25.

W. H. HEUER,
Major of Engineers.

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF WEST BRANCH OF THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BETWEEN SALT LICK AND BUTTERMILK FALLS, PENNSYLVANIA.

UNITED STATES ENGINEER Office, Philadelphia, Pa., October 18, 1884. GENERAL: In accordance with the instructions contained in the letter from the office of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, dated July 31, 1884, and in compliance with so much of the act of Congress

Omitted; printed in House Ex. Doc. No. 71, Forty-eighth Congress, second session.

of July 5, 1884, as requires an examination of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River between Salt Lick and Buttermilk Falls, Pennsyl vania, I have the honor to state that I made a personal examination of the river at the locality referred to on September 16, 1884, and respectfully submit the following report:

The West Branch of the Susquehanna River between Salt Lick and Buttermilk Falls, at its present stage, which is reported lower than ever before known, has not sufficient water in it to float an empty skiff between the two places referred to, which are about 2 miles apart, Salt Lick being the name of the place or settlement farthest up stream. The settlement consists of two or three houses. Buttermilk Falls, about 2 miles below, has only one house, and there are probably from six to ten houses between the two places. Between Salt Lick and Buttermilk Falls the river makes two very sharp bends, the upper one being very acute, considerably sharper than a right angle; the lower one is more gentle, but is almost a right angle.

The bed of the stream in which the water is now flowing has an average width of about 100 feet; the depth of water in portions of this waterway may be several feet. The bed is covered with bowlders, varying from small pebbles to large masses of rock, some of which would weigh from three to four tons.

While I did not attempt to cross the river by stepping from bowlder to bowlder, dry shod, there were several places in the 2 miles examined where it is believed it might have been safely accomplished. In the deepest place which we could find in the river, a short distance above the upper bend, a light skiff with three men could not cross without grounding. From the water-marks on the banks of the stream, and from information obtained at this locality, it is known that during freshets, the high-water stage of the stream, the surface of the water is about 12 feet above its present level, and the stream then becomes almost a

torrent.

The Buttermilk Falls, so called, are nothing but rapids in the river, and the water being thrown into a foam by contact with the rocks in the bed and sides of the stream has given rise to the name. The falls or rapids are about one-half mile in length. The fall or slope of the river between the foot of Buttermilk Falls and Salt Lick, about 2 miles, is not known, but, judging by the eye alone, I should judge the fall to be about 10 or perhaps 12 feet.

During a high-water stage of the stream, judging from the distance between the banks, the average width of the river would be about 400 feet. The right bank of the river is a steep bluff or mountain spur about 500 feet high, covered with timber, the slope of the mountain on the river side in some places being as much as 70 degrees from the horizontal, and averaging probably more than 50 degrees.

The timber which is cut on the slopes and top of this range is shot down the bluff into the river. On the left bank of the river the slope is very much more gentle, and at a height of about 20 feet above the river's bed there is a bench, comparatively level, varying from 50 to 1,000 feet in width, which gradually rises into timber-covered high hills. On this bench there is a railroad, the Clearfield and Susquehanna, extending from Keating to Karthaus, Pa., a distance of 22 miles. On both sides of the river, and from 2 to 10 miles distant, are valuable bituminous coal mines; iron ore and sandstone are also found in abundance. The people who live on and near the river use it for logging and rafting purposes. The timber when cut is conveyed to the river's bank and made up into rafts and floated to a market. In this sense only can this

river be considered navigable. No steam or sail craft has ever been on the river.

The people interested in logging and rafting in this section of the country desire a dam built about half-way between Salt Lick and Buttermilk Falls, at or near the upper sharp bend before referred to, the dam to have a chute at one side for floating rafts through, and gates within the dam to pass logs, and make a pool of dead water above the dam, so that at nearly all seasons of the year, except when the river is closed by ice, logs and rafts can be floated and find a safe harbor close to and above the dam. It is also asserted that there is no good harbor for rafts between Clearfield and Lock Haven, Pa., a distance of about 150 miles; that it takes a raft two days to float this distance; that where they desire this dam is nearly midway between Clearfield and Lock Haven; that slackwater here would enable them to avoid all danger of loss of rafts and possibly of life, and enable all rafts to make a good, safe harbor; that now all rafts down the river as far as the foot of Buttermilk Falls require double crews, on account of the dangerous narigation of this locality, and thereafter only a single crew.

To give an idea of what the rafting interest is in this section of the country, it is said that as many as 3,000 rafts have come down here in one year; they are generally from 28 to 29 feet wide, average about 240 feet in length, and average about 7,000 cubic feet of lumber each This lumber is said to be worth about 20 to 25 cents per cubic foot: this would make the value of the rafts for one good season to be worth money between $4,000,000 and $5,000,000. This does not take into ac count the logs not rafted down the river, which is said to aggregate an amount not very much less than of the rafts themselves.

The rafting generally commences in the spring with the first freslet and lasts perhaps five or six weeks; in May another rise generally occurs. which gives several additional weeks of a rafting stage. In an excep tionally good season rafts can be floated from early in April to Septe ber 1. It is believed that a dam, chute, and gates, such as the rafting interests want, can be erected in the river for about $25,000, but it is not at all certain that one dam will be sufficient. It is probable that only one dam be built near the upper bend below Salt Lick, it will st leave the stream in bad shape below this dam, and as soon as one is constructed the raftsmen will want another below the Buttermilk Falls which will cost equally as much. They want stone dams about 8 fee: high. Stone in abundance (sandstone) can be had for the digging within a few hundred yards of each site.

If the dams should ever be built they would entail an annual expense for gate-keepers and maintenance, and in order to make anything like a close estimate of cost of this slack-water navigation for rafts a survey would be necessary, at an estimated cost of $500.

If the improvement were made as desired by the parties interested it would be entirely a matter of local interest; it would save thousands of dollars annually to the parties owning rafts, and to them as individuals the river is worthy of improvement; but as the river is not a navi gable river in the ordinary acceptation of the term, and as the improvement, in my judgment, is not a public necessity, I cannot recommend any expenditure of funds for the improvement of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River between Salt Lick and Buttermilk Falls, Pennsyl vania.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Brig. Gen. JOHN NEWTON,

W. H. HEUER, Major of Engineers.

Chief of Engineers, U. S. A.