APPENDIX W W.
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ANNUAL Report of THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER COMMISSION FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1892.

NEW YORK, June 22, 1892.

SIR: The Mississippi River Commission has the honor to submit this, its annual report, for the current fiscal year. Owing to the departure in June of its president, upon temporary duty in a foreign country, the history of its operations is brought down to May 31, instead of June 30, as usual.

Since the last annual report there have been no additional appropritions or legislation affecting the Commission. The distribution of the appropriations of last year, as given in that report, has been modified by the transfer of various sums from one object to another from time to time during the year, as the demand for funds in the various branches of the work became more or less pressing. To the previous allotments for levees was added the sum of $135,000, of which $75,000 was taken from Lake Providence Reach, $40,000 from general service, and $20,000 from the harbor at Helena, these latter allotments of $60,000 being made in the exigencies of the recent flood for the purpose of protecting the levees. To the previous allotments for harbors was added $48,000 for Greenville and $11,000 for Memphis, all taken from works of channel improvement, and $8,000 for New Orleans, taken from the Red and Atchafalaya rivers. Among the works of channel improvement the principal changes were the transfer of $247,000 from the previous allotment for Lake Providence Reach, of which $75,000 was given to levees, $50,000 to Plum Point Reach-diminished by $11,000 subsequently transferred to Memphis-$48,000 to Greenville, $48,000 to Ashbrook Neck-diminished by $6,000 subsequently transferred to Lake Bolivar Front-and $26,000 to plant, Third district. The sum of $1,000 was transferred from Helena to surveys, gauges, and observations, Fourth district, and $6,000 from Ashbrook Neck to Lake Bolivar Front. In the early portion of the year there had been a balance of $18,670 remaining unexpended of an allotment to Lake Bolivar from the appropriation of August 11, 1888. This was applied to levees, in addition to the sums already mentioned. Detailed financial statements accompany the report of the secretary of the Commission hereto attached.

Between July 1 and May 31 there were three meetings of the Commission-one in New York City, July 15-17, 1891, one on board its inspection steamer between St. Louis and New Orleans, November 5-18, 1891, and one on the same steamer between the same places May 4-10,

1892.

SURVEYS, GAUGES, AND OBSERVATIONS.

Engaged in the general survey of the river, there were in the field at the date of the last report one triangulation and two leveling parties. The first party had reached a point 4 miles above Burlington, Iowa, working northward. It continued its work until July 28, 1891, when fieldwork was suspended at Port Louisa, Iowa, the additional distance covered being about 35 miles of river. This party was also charged with the establishment of lines of permanent bench marks across the valley. Triangulation work was resumed at Port Louisa, April 26, 1892, the party working northward. By the 31st of May it had reached Fairport, Iowa, a distance of about 22 miles from Port Louisa, making the total distance covered by new triangulation during the year about 57 miles. The triangulation is now completed from Donaldsonville, La., to Fairport, Iowa. Of the two leveling parties one had started from St. Paul, Minn., and working southward had reached Alma, Wis., and the other had started at Duluth, Minn., and working toward St. Paul had reached Sturgeon Lake. The former party continued its work until October 20, 1891, when fieldwork was suspended at Savanna, Ill., the additional distance covered being about 206 miles. The latter party continued its work until September 28, 1891, when fieldwork was sus pended at St. Paul, the additional distance covered being about 102 miles. The line of precise levels had in previous years been made continuous from Biloxi, Miss., to Savanna, Ill., and thence to Chicago, Ill., connecting with Lake Michigan. The new work makes the line continuous to Duluth, and connects the whole with Lake Superior.

A party for topography and hydrography took the field early in August, beginning work near Alton, Ill., where the work of 1889 had terminated. They worked northward as far as Hannibal, Mo., a distance of about 118 miles by river. A considerable number of years having elapsed since the survey was made of the portion of the river below Cairo, it had become desirable to investigate the condition of the permanent marks. A party was sent out for that purpose in November, 1891, and between that time and March, 1892, went over the ground between Cairo, Ill., and Donaldsonville, La. Advantage was taken of this opportunity to make a reconnoissance and approximate location of the present shore lines, with a view to showing the amount of caving which has occurred since the general survey. A comparison of the two surveys gives the following interesting facts, viz: The total length of caving banks between Cairo and Donaldsonville, a distance by channel of 885 miles, is 921 miles. The rate of caving bears no relation to the degree of curvature of the bends, the maximum rate being found in comparatively straight reaches; nor is it influenced by the character of the vegetation on the banks, the shore line in a caving bend which is partly cultivated and partly timbered being smooth and regular, showing that the bend is eroded under both circumstances with equal facility. The quantity of soil thrown into the river by caving annually averages 9 acres by 66 feet depth for each mile of river, or a total for the river between Cairo and Donaldsonville of 10 square miles by 86 feet in depth annually. Erosion does not necessarily mean a widening of the bed. The eroded bank is generally followed by an equivalent till on the opposite bank, and in some localities of excessive erosion the bed has actually grown narrower. Further details of the comparison will be found in the report of Mr. J. A. Ockerson, assistant engineer, hereto appended. (See Appendix 4 F.)

In the office good progress was made in the preparation of the detail charts, scale 1:10,000, and of the topographical maps from Cairo north

ward, scale 1 inch to 1 mile. A plat of the triangulation of 1891 was made. Additional sheets, 11 in number, of the 1:20,000 charts were published, making 81 sheets in all which have now been published, covering the river from Donaldsonville, La., to just below St. Louis, Mo. Recomputation of discharge measurements made in 1891 was completed. The daily records of the gauges kept by the commission, and of certain others kept under Majs. Mackenzie and Miller, Capts. Willard and Taber, of the Corps of Engineers, and under the Weather Bureau and the Cincinnati waterworks, were received, tabulated, and printed. The record includes 32 gauges at various points upon the Mississippi, from Hastings, Minn., to Fort Jackson, La., and 23 gauges upon tributaries and 3 upon the Atchafalaya. For further details, see report of Capt Carl F. Palfrey, secretary of the commission. (Appendix 4.)

GENERAL SERVICE.

The "general service" was originally established with headquarters at St. Louis for the purpose of furnishing to the various districts such supplies as could not be procured within the limits of the districts and could not be conveniently obtained by the officers in charge of the districts by direct purchase. As the work advanced and markets were developed the duties of this branch of the organization were gradually restricted, until of late years they have been limited almost exclusively to supplying stone from the upper part of the valley to the first, second, and third districts. For several years past the office has been in the same building with that of surveys, gauges, and observations, and has been managed by the same officer, the secretary of the commission. At the end of the year the "general service" was discontinued.

There were shipped to the first and third districts 40,208 cubic yards of stone. Loaded at the quarry ready for shipment on May 31 were about 3,500 cubic yards more.

Necessary repairs were made to the fleet. All of the vessels are in serviceable condition except the steamer Etheridge, which is deficient in boiler power. A large number of the stone barges will probably require very extensive repairs before the end of another year.

COMMERCIAL STATISTICS.

An attempt to collect commercial statistics for the calendar year 1891 resulted in procuring some incomplete information upon the subject, which will be found in the reports of the secretary and the officer in charge of the first district.

FIRST DISTRICT.

(Cairo to foot of Island No 40, 220 miles.)

(a) Columbus, Ky., 21 miles below Cairo.-The work of improvement at this locality consists of five spur dikes, built in 1889-290, under specific appropriations in the acts of 1886 and 1888 amounting together to $43,750, the object being to protect about 2,200 linear feet of bank which was threatening to cave. The work was completed last year. No injury to the spurs has been noted and no further work is at present required.

(b) Hickman, Ky., 36 miles below Cairo.-The acts of 1886 and 1888 contained specific appropriations for this locality, amounting together to $88,750. The evil to be remedied was the caving of the bank in front

of the town. Owing to the existence of a projecting point of tough clay a short distance above the landing it was possible to accomplish the desired result with an unusually small development of work. A continuous revetment about 1,000 feet long, extending down stream from the clay point, was placed in October, 1890. Except for some slight damages by an eddy at the downstream end it remains in good condi tion, but requires additional stone ballast. The stone for this purpose has been stored near at hand and will be distributed over the revetment during the next low-water period. Above the clay point the caving continues, but there appears to be no public interest which is suffering sufficiently to justify the large expenditure, estimated at about $160,000, which would be required to protect that portion of the bank. Should the clay point finally yield, then additional expenditures will be required to maintain the work now in place.

(e) New Madrid, Missouri, 71 miles below Cairo.-To comply with the requirements of the act of September 19, 1890, as interpreted by the War Department, an allotment of $1,000 was made to this locality from the appropriation contained in that act, as reported last year, to be used in making a survey. The survey was made in September and October, 1891. There has been some caving of the bank in front of the town, which the inhabitants desire to have stopped. The cost of protecting the bank is estimated to be about $70,000. The commission is unable to recommend the diversion of any of the funds appropriated for the general improvement of the river to this purpose at this time.

(d) Plum Point Reach, 147-186 miles below Cairo.-The works thus far undertaken in this reach, arranged geographically, beginning at the upstream end, are: (1) Daniels Point revetment; (2) Ashport Bend revetment; (3) Gold Dust dikes; (4) Fletcher Bend revetment; (5) Dikes in chutes of Elmot Island and Island 30; (6) Plumb Point revetment; (7) Plum Point dikes; (8) Osceola Bar revetment; (9) Bullerton revetment; (10) Osceola and Bullerton dikes. They are distributed over a length of about 20 miles, some on one side and some on the other side of the river. They constitute one connected whole, each one being essential to the effectiveness of the others. The continued efficiency of all is dependent upon the maintenance of the conditions as to approach of the river from above which obtained when they were planned.

The order in which they were begun is different from the one just given, the object being first to obtain the desired results in the shape of a deepened channel and improved navigation, and then to maintain those results by repairs and extensions of the works themselves, and by the addition of such new works, higher upstream, as might become necessary. Thus the latest addition to the works is the one mentioned first on the above list.

As

(d 1) Daniels Point revetment.-Rapid caving having developed in the long bend known as Canadian Reach, of which Daniels Point is the foot, and there not being sufficient funds to undertake the protection of the entire bend when the appropriation of 1888 became available, it was determined to protect about a mile of the downstream end. heretofore reported, a continuous revetment 5,300 feet long was placed. As a whole it has stood well, but the bend above it has continued to cave, giving to the upstream end of the revetment a salient position. It has suffered some damage at this point. An extension upstream 500 or 600 feet was required, and was contemplated this year. There was also a small break about 400 feet below the upstream end, and additional stone ballast was required over a considerable portion of the old work. Owing to the difficulty of procuring stone, it was found impos

sible to do all the work required this year. The break was repaired and additional ballast was placed, but the upstream extension had to be deferred.

(d 2) Ashport Bend revetment.-The protection of Ashport Bend was one of the first works projected in this reach. A short piece of revetment was placed in 1882, but more pressing demands for funds at other places prevented a continuation of the work until the present year. The bank had by this time receded so far that its protection had become imperative to avoid an injurious change in the action of all the works in Plum Point Reach. Operations were begun October 1 and continued until the middle of January, when they were suspended, having been greatly impeded by want of a sufficient supply of stone. Beginning at a point about 3,500 feet below Ashport, a continuous revetment was placed for a distance of 3,250 feet. It is proposed to continue the work during the coming year and to carry it to completion as soon as circumstances will permit.

(d 3) Gold Dust dikes.-No work done here and none contemplated. (See Annual Report for 1891.)

(d 4) Fletchers Bend revetment.-The protection of this bend was begun in 1884 and suspended in January, 1885, in an unfinished condition. Owing to restrictions contained in the act of 1886, by which expenditure of the funds appropriated in that act was prohibited for works of bank protection, this work could not be resumed until the autumn of 1888. It had then suffered some damage, but the most serious result of the suspension was the change in the form of the bend. Unprotected parts had caved back, leaving protected parts in a salient, and making the shape of the bend so awkward that it was deemed expedient to sacrifice the work protecting one of these salients. At the beginning of the present year the protection consisted of one piece of continuous revetment 7,800 feet long, beginning at the upstream end of the bend, then an interval about 4,000 feet, long of unprotected bank, and of four detached blocks of revetment, each about 1,100 feet long, near the downstream end of the bend. The latter were separated from each other by intervals of 300, 400, and 500 feet, having been constructed in that manner as an experiment. The work this year consisted in extending the continuous revetment downstream to connect with the first of the detached blocks. Operations were begun in August and continued until February, when the project for the season was completed, except that the necessary quantity of stone could not be procured, and further ballasting remains to be done. Repairs also were made in the old work where needed. The indications now are that the interval between the two detached blocks of experimental revetment which are farthest downstream must be protected in order to save both pieces from destruction.

(d 5) Dikes in chutes of Elmot Island and Island 30.-Nothing was done to the original pile dikes and nothing is contemplated. (See Annual Report for 1891.) To complete the closure of the chute behind Elmot Island a submergeable dam of brush and stone has been projected and will be constructed as soon as circumstances permit. Some heavy masses of drift which accumulated against the remains of these dikes were sunk to aid in obstructing the flow through the chute. Compact mattresses of brush were placed over the drift and were then heavily ballasted with stone.

(d 6) Plum Point revetment.-Nothing done here during the year and nothing contemplated during the coming year. (See Annual Report for 1891.)