borne by the General Government would be confined to the cost of dredging and transporting the material to the place of deposit.

The excavation necessary to open a channel 10 feet deep at mean low water and 100 feet wide at bottom, allowing a slope of 2 base to 1 perpendicular on the sides, amounts to 40,000 cubic yards.

The excavation necessary to deepen the harbor, within the lines proposed, amounts to 50,000 cubic yards.

The cost of dredging and depositing material will be about 40 cents per cubic yard, and the total expense would therefore amount to $36,000.

It must be stated that the proposition for building wharves on the places indicated were voluntarily made by the respective owners of the land, and that there exists no doubt that they would stand by their propositions in their own interests.

I am, major, very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

Major W. CRAIGHILL,

Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.

WILLIAM POPP,
Assistant Engineer.

The war now raging between Germany and France has served to open the eyes of the world to the great changes that have taken place in the manner of carrying on war. Apart from the peculiar system by which Prussia has made soldiers of all her citizens, the great changes in the material of war, the entire revolution in the transport system, together with the changes due to the use of the telegraph, make it necessary for all nations to study these new conditions carefully, and see how far their own status is threatened, or how it is prepared to meet and to resist such novel and formidable combinations. The far-reaching arms, muskets, and field artillery, the enormous siegetrains, with their ponderous projectiles, the field-telegraph, signal corps, the railroad system of transportation, all affect the older war systems; but if we add to these the discovery of the enormous military power of a nation when duly and systematically developed, as has been done by Prussia, we need not be so much surprised, as some critics are, at the ability of Von Moltke to collect always, at every important point, overwhelming masses of troops, and at the unvarying success of these heavy Germans in all their encounters with the hitherto military nation of France.

This country, in its failure to fortify its large cities, and its general neglect of a comprehensive and co-operating system of defensive works of all kinds, has settled down deliberately to reliance upon other means of defense, or is culpably blind to the first great duty of a nation-its own protection against assaults from without or within. We assume for the present that the Government is satisfied of its own powers, and intends to rely for its own salvation upon the people, upon their self-reliance, selfsacrifice, their loyalty, and patriotism. In other words, that in any great emergency the Government will appeal to the people, confident of favorable and sufficient

response.

Now, would it not be wise, in view of the possible contingency occurring, to make all necessary preparations for the utilizing of this great force of the nation short of calling out large bodies of men for instruction? Should not the greatest care be taken to open the ways of travel in every direction, encouraging, as much as possible, private enterprise in the development of the country, but the Government always alive to the strengthening its military position and resources, and by this very vigilance and foresight anticipating all surprises.

Prominent among these secondary means is the provision for the rapid transportation of troops and material of war. Many splendid exhibitions of this latent power in the nation were given during the late war, but they were given at an expense and trouble and risk frightful to contemplate. Attention to such matters beforehand, even a suggestion by military men of the bare possibility of such efforts beforehand, would have made these immense transfers more simple and manageable, and certainly cheaper and far more prompt and effective.

If, then, we expect to rely upon the concentration of large masses of men in our future conflicts, it is a most interesting point to discover the sufficiency of our means for the defense of the Capital at all times, as well against domestic as against foreign foes.

The condition of Washington during the two weeks following the 19th of April, 1861, should excite a desire in the minds of all to have other and far different means of relieving Washington than the single road from Philadelphia, crossing such streams as the Susquehanna, Gunpowder, Bush, and Black Rivers. Interruptions at any of these points-so easy, too, with the poor bridges-would at once stop transport until repairs were made. Troops from the West and South would have less risk to run, but a concerted movement might take away all chance of speedy relief by the ordinary means.

At such a crisis a way by the bay is the most natural, and in 1861 was perceived and adopted.

By the bay no way from the North, for heavy transport, is so direct, and expeditious, and economical, as by Lewes, Delaware, to the Choptank River, across the Eastern Shore Peninsula. From New York and Philadelphia troops landed at Lewes could be transported to Cambridge in two hours, and to Annapolis in two more, and to Washington in one hour and a half.

The value of this route would be acknowledged in case of a blockade of the mouth of the bay, or even of the mouth of the Potomac River. While troops could be sent by rail from Philadelphia, the necessary transportation of supplies, &c., would demand other routes, and none could compare for this purpose with this same line, via Lewes, Delaware, and the Choptank River.

A safe harbor of sufficient depth at Cambridge, where the river is two miles wide, is all that is necessary to develop and secure this short but important military line. Should the noble oak timber of this region ever be required for vessels of war, this same harbor, as the outlet of a canal of only 10 miles in length, connecting the waters of five rivers, reaching to the Fishing Bay, would be absolutely necessary, and would thus become of immense value to the naval defenses of the country.

To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America : The petition of the undersigned respectfully represents that at a meeting of the citizens of Cambridge, Maryland, held on the 19th of May, 1870, convened to take into consideration the subject of the improvement of the harbor of Cambridge, they were appointed a committee to memorialize your honorable bodies for an appropriation of $50,000 to aid in carrying out this purpose. They further represent that, by an act of assembly of Maryland, passed at the January session, 1868, chapter 143, the Cambridge Harbor, Internal Navigation, and Wharf Company was incorporated, with the power, among others, "to open, enlarge, and deepen a channel or canal across the bar or obstructions in the Choptank River in front of the town of Cambridge and the present wharf, and into the Cambridge Creek, to the head thereof; to clear out the said creek and channel to any width and breadth that may be deemed necessary or expedient for a safe and convenient harbor for steamers or any other vessels, and to erect wharves at the end of any of the streets in the town of Cambridge running down to said creek where no wharves are now constructed, and make proper channels leading thereto." But your petitioners are advised that it would be for the advantage of said company to receive a charter of incorporation from Congress, and have their powers confirmed thereby. The undersigned would, therefore, respectfully pray that the provisions of said act of assembly be confirmed by your bodies, together with the powers thereby conferred upon the said company. The company chartered by the legislature of Maryland has already expended, in carrying out the purposes of its incorporation, the amount of capital stock hitherto subscribed, but the sum has been found greatly inadequate to a thorough completion of the work. And having so expended the amount of their stock and failed to complete the work, the whole object-which is one of vast importance to our people-may be permanently defeated without the aid of Congress.

In asking for this charter and the above-named appropriation of $50,000, your petitioners would suggest that the beautiful town of Cambridge is susceptible of being made a port of considerable importance, in a commercial point of view, owing to its railroad connection with all parts of the peninsula, composed of Delaware and the Eastern Shores of Maryland and Virginia, and also its proximity, in point of time, to Baltimore and all points on the Chesapeake Bay. They would suggest, too, that it is a place where ship-yards could be located by the Government with great profit. Our woodlands abound in timber which can be used in the construction of ships of every grade and character, and by locating yards here the Government would save the immense cost of transportation to distant ship-yards. Hundreds of thousands of feet of timber from our county have been worked up in the ship-yards of the North, and it has been uniformly pronounced among the best ship-timber of the country. For the construction of marine railways, the location of docks for repairing, and as a place of rendezvous for cutters and ships off duty, we think it presents decided advantages. The location is an extremely healthy one, and would afford every convenience and pleasure to the operatives, while its proximity to the Chesapeake Bay (and also to the capital of the country) would afford every facility for co-operation with bases of naval operations on the Atlantic coast.

The only difficulty in the way of these things is the shallowness of the water just in front of the town of Cambridge, which it is now proposed to deepen and render available for navigation by any vessels. The Cambridge Creek would afford ample room and a secure harbor for a considerable amount of shipping.

The advantages of the proposed work to the people of our section (as well as to the

Government, should it avail itself of them) must be apparent; and we are the more encouraged to ask this appropriation from the fact that, with one exception, there has never been an appropriation by the General Government toward the advancement of the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Very respectfully,

Annual report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1871, for examinations and surveys for improvements of rivers and harbors on the Atlantic coast.

SURVEY OF THE WICOMICO RIVER, NEAR SALISBURY, MARYLAND.

A resolution of the House of Representatives, dated February 3, 1871, directed a survey of this river, which was undertaken and completed as soon as possible by Mr. William Popp, assistant engineer. My report, transmitting Mr. Popp's report and map, was submitted on the 15th of April, 1871.

EXAMINATION AND SURVEY OF THE JAMES RIVER AND KANAWHA CANAL.

This survey was directed in the appropriation bill approved July 11, 1870. The field-work was begun as soon as practicable thereafter, two parties being organized and continued as late as the weather and funds permitted. To Mr. William R. Hutton was assigned the duty of ascertaining the best manner, if any existed, of continuing the communica tion by water, from the end of the old canal to the waters of the Ohio River.

Mr. Walter Gwynn Turpin was placed in charge of the examination of the line of the canal from Richmond to Buchanan, with a view to a determination of the cost of its enlargement to a size which would adapt it to the extended use it would receive when it became a link in the great central water-line between the Atlantic slope and the valley of the Mississippi. A report with estimates was submitted under date of January 27, 1871, which was printed in Ex. Doc. No. 110, H. of R., Forty-first Congress, third session.

SURVEYS OF ACCOTINK, NEABSCO, QUANTICO, AND CHOPPAWAMASIC BAYS AND OF AQUIA CREEK.

Directed in the appropriation bill of March 3, 1871.

The field-work has been under the immediate supervision of Captain C. B. Phillips, Corps of Engineers, and will be completed in July, 1871. The preparation of the reports, maps, &c., will be at once begun, and they will be submitted at an early day.

EXAMINATION AND SURVEY OF THE ROANOKE RIVER, IN NORTH CAROLINA.

This survey was directed in the appropriation bill approved July 11,

1870.

The lateness of the season, and its unhealthiness, caused a postponement of field-work until frost. A preliminary report was made, dated January 17, 1861, which is printed in Ex. Doc. No. 60, part 2, H. of R., Forty-first Congress, third session. An appropriation of $20,000 for the improvement of the river was made by the act approved March 3, 1871, the disposition of which is treated of elsewhere, under the head of the improvement of the Roanoke River. A report and map of his survey were submitted to me by Mr. George H. Elliot, the assistant engineer, under date of April 28, 1871. This report and map will be shortly forwarded.

SURVEY OF THE NEUSE RIVER BELOW GOLDSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA.

This survey was directed in the appropriation bill approved March 3, 1871.

Field-work was begun by a party under Mr. William Popp, assistant engineer, on the 18th of April, 1871, and completed in June. The preparation of the report and map is progressing. They will be soon completed and submitted.

SURVEY OF CAPE FEAR AND DEEP RIVERS, AS FAR UP AS LA GRANGE, NORTH CAROLINA.

Directed in the appropriation bill of March 3, 1871.

The survey was begun at La Grange, in June, 1871, by Mr. George H. Elliot, assistant engineer, and will be completed by the end of September, 1871, when the preparation of the report and map will be begun. They will be submitted by the end of the current calendar year, 1871.

Q 12.

UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE,

Baltimore, Maryland, April 15, 1871. GENERAL: The resolution of February 3, 1871, of the House of Repre sentatives, of which a copy was inclosed with your letter of February 8, 1871, requiring a survey of the Wicomico River near Salisbury, Maryland, was in the following words:

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.

FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS, THIRD SESSION.

Ou motion of Mr. Hambleton,

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
February 3, 1871.

Resolved, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, requested and directed, as soon as practicable, to cause to be made a survey of Wicomico River at and near the town of Salisbury, Maryland, with a view to determine the practicability and expense of clearing out and removing the bar in said river at said town.

Attest:

. EDW'D MCPHERSON, Clerk.

The survey was energetically undertaken as soon as practicable after the receipt of the order, and has been satisfactorily completed by Mr. William Popp, whose report, forwarded herewith, has my approval. Attention is invited to this report, its appendices, and accompanying map.

It does not seem necessary to say anything further in connection with the Wicomico at this time, except to give such of the information called for by the circular of June 10, 1868, from headquarters of the Corps of Engineers, as is not supplied by the report of Mr. Popp and its appendices.

The sum of $17,000 can be profitably expended upon the improvement during the next fiscal year.

The work is situated in the collection district of Baltimore, which is also the nearest port of entry. The amount of revenue collected at Baltimore for the last fiscal year is stated to be $9,113,718 58.

It is believed that an expenditure of about $3,000 every fifth or sixth year will suffice to maintain a channel of the capacity recommended. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Brigadier General A. A. HUMPHREYS,

WM. P. CRAIGHILL,

Major of Engineers.

Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., Washington, D. C.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, April 10, 1871. MAJOR: I have the honor to submit the following report on the survey of the Wicomico River, at and below Salisbury, Maryland, made by me, under your direction, from March 2 to March 9, inclusive.

Salisbury is situated on the Wicomico River. about twenty miles from its mouth. It is the county seat of Wicomico County, and apparently a very thriving place. The lamber trade, which during my presence in town seemed to be the only trade of importance carried on, is very extensive. The facilities for mills driven by water-power are fine; the land in the vicinity, as far as I had an opportunity of seeing it, is heavily timbered.

The town is a station of the Wilmington and Pennsylvania road, and the terminns of the Wicomico and Pocomoke, which latter is chiefly engaged in freighting timber and lumber to Salisbury. The export lumber trade is carried on almost exclusively on the Wicomico, but great difficulty is at present experienced in shipping it, because the head of navigation is about one and a half miles below town. It is this portion of the river, extending from town to head of navigation, which the inhabitants of the place desire to improve.

The survey of the river was conducted with as much care and exactitude as circumstances would permit.

Tidal observations were made during seven days at the bridge, and mean low water determined from them. The results of the survey are plotted in the accompanying

map.

The Wicomico is a small river, flowing through a flat country; its banks are, to a great extent, marshy; its bed muddy. Its width is exceedingly great in comparison to the other elements of its regimen. In this latter circumstance may be found one of the most fruitful sources of deterioration of the portion immediately below town. The bottom of the river consists of loose sand, mud, and saw-dust, in about equal proportions. This composition of the bottom points to another cause of deterioration. The saw-mills situated farther up stream have contributed largely, though involuntarily, to injure the river below town; a great portion of their saw-dust got overboard, and was carried down stream by the rapid current of the mill races. Arriving at the posi tion of the river where the undue expansion of its bed reduced its velocity to a mini mum, and after having much of the air contained in the woody fiber expelled, the particles could not be carried any further in suspension, but were deposited on the bottom.

With a view to arrive at an intelligent estimate of how great the width of the river should be in order to maintain a depth of 7 feet at mean low water, I ganged the river on a line AB, marked on the map, at about three-quarters ebb, on a day when there was rather a strong ebb tidal current. The result was: Cross sectional area, 239.5 square feet; mean velocity, .73 feet per second; volume of discharge, 174.8 cubic feet per second. These figures are not exact, being based only on one current observation, but they may be considered as a near enough approximation. Taking them as a basis of calculation, we find that the river is able to fill a channel of 50 by 7 feet with a velocity of .5 feet per second, or a channel of 75 by 7 feet with a velocity of .33 feet. Starting from the opinion that any improvement of the river, in order to be somewhat