COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. I am indebted to Mr. William J. Martin, special deputy collector at Newark, for the following statistical information for the fiscal year end The existing project for this improvement provides for the formation of a channel 400 feet wide and 12 feet deep at mean low-water, with an additional depth of 1 foot for a portion of the width, so as to afford a depth of 13 feet over a width of 200 feet adjacent to axial line; the course of the improved channel to follow the general direction of the existing natural channel. The amount available for this improvement on July 1, 1881, was $28,538.84. At this date dredging was in progress, under contract with the Morris & Cumings Dredging Company, in the execution of the above plan. To the east of Shooter's Island the portion of channel having a depth of 13 feet was excavated to the projected width of 200 feet. From Shooter's Island westward the 13-foot channel was advanced to a point 700 yards to the west of the corner-stake light, and to within about 500 yards of the deep water in front of Elizabethport. This section of channel was 100 feet wide to within 200 yards of its westerly limit, beyond which it was only 50 feet wide. The contract for dredging was closed on December 2, 1881. At this date the central part of the proposed channel was completed to its full width, thus affording a navigable channel 13 feet deep and 200 feet wide at low-water from Kill von Kull to Arthur Kill. The amount excavated under this contract from July 1 to December 2, 1881, was 116,931 cubic yards, making a total removal under the contract from its beginning, of 218,299 cubic yards. The character of the material composing the bottom was found to vary greatly at different parts of the channel. In the vicinity of the corner-stake light, compacted sand, gravel, and shingle were found to exist with occasionally imbedded bowlders of various sizes; this formation extends a distance of about 300 yards on either side of the corner stake. Shortly before reaching the channel of Arthur Kill, compacted sand was met. To the east of Shooter's Island, and at all other portions of the channel not mentioned above, the bottom consists principally of soft mud. None of this material was considered to be of a suitable nature for use in the formation of artificial banks along the indicated lines of diking as recommended by the Board of Engineers. The dredgings were consequently all deposited behind bulkheads at Pamrepo, N. J., or at sea. From a careful resurvey made directly after the contractor's plant was withdrawn, it was found that while the ruling depth of the excavated channel was 13 feet and over a few isolated spots existed where this depth was not reached. It was thought that these small shoals would be leveled down by the agitation of the water of the channel incident to steam navigation, and as no complaint has been heard from the masters of the many deep-draught vessels using the channel, this result has probably been effected. Should any of these shoal spots still exist when dredging is resumed they can then easily be removed. As no appropriation was made for the continuance of this improvement for the fiscal year 1881-82, nothing further was done after the close of the Morris & Cumings contract, December 2, 1881. In the original estimate of cost of this improvement, the dredging was rated at 30 and 35 cents per cubic yard, measured in place. The price paid for the dredging actually executed was 194 cents per cubic yard, measured in scows. It is stated by the contractors, however, that the contract was not profitable to them at this figure. It is, therefore, probable that the cost of future dredging will be higher, so that the actual cost of the projected improvement may not differ materially from the cost as estimated by the Board of Engineers, who projected the improvement. The expediency of building the dike on the south side of the improved channel has not yet been fully demonstrated, as sufficient time has not elapsed to ascertain the degree of shoaling occurring in the excavated channel. Examinations to cover this point will be made frequently during the coming year, and if the improvement by dike comstruction is found necessary at any point, a sufficient part of the appropriation for the next fiscal year will be set apart for its construction in connection with an extension of the improvement by dredging. The channel forms an important link between the great highway of the West and the upper part of New York Harbor, connecting further the channel of the Kill von Kull with that of Arthur Kill, and extending thence by the Raritan Bay and River through the Delaware and Raritan Canal, forming an unbroken water communication with the Delaware River. The channel also has an important bearing on the trade and commerce of Elizabethport, which is one of the most important shipping points for coal and iron brought by rail from the rich fields of Pennsylvania to the extensive docks located adjacent to the channel, whence shipments are made direct to foreign as well as to home ports. The appropriation for this improvement should be on the most liberal scale. The channel is essentially a flood channel, and any degradation to which it is subject is due to the opposing forces of two flood currents coming from opposite directions, the one from the east, which is the stronger, occurring one hour approximately before the one from the west. The tendency, therefore, is to accumulate a shoal on the west side near the head of Arthur's Kill. The maximum depth in the improved channel recommended by the Board of Engineers who considered the project of improvement was 13 feet low-water for a width of 100 feet on either side of the axial line. The material on the bottom encountered on the west side of Shooter's Island is of a very compact nature and not easily eroded by the current; it constitutes therefore a dam which shuts off the flow of the flood and directs its main current on the east side of the island, where a depth of 30 feet is maintained for a distance of nearly 3,000 feet in the approach to Newark Bay. It is probable that if the west channel leading to Arthur's Kill were cut to a depth of 15 or 16 feet at low-tide, a sufficient part of the flood would be abstracted from the main current on the east side of Shooter's Island to maintain a channel of that depth up to the wharves at Elizabethport without the necessity of any training dike on the north side. The deposit made there by the opposing currents will be insignificant, and the currents uniting nearer the city will doubtless tend to maintain a deeper channel along the front of the railroad wharves in the city of Elizabethport. The project is worthy of a trial, especially as the construction of a dike in front of so important a shipping point must necessarily be obstructive to vessels approaching the port. The appropriation for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1883, will be applied in accordance with the existing project, but it is recommended that the appropriation of $75,000 asked for the following year be applied in deepening to 16 feet low-water as well as extending the channel westward from Shooter's Island. This work is in the collection district of New York, which is the nearest port of entry; nearest light-house, Bergen Point light. Amount of revenue collected at the port of New York during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1882, $152,774,062.32. Original estimate, $185,705. Balance on hand June 30, 1881, from previous appropriations, $28,538.84. Amount expended to date, $50,171.35. Money statement. July 1, 1881, amount available. July 1, 1882, amount expended during fiscal year, exclusive of outstanding liabilities July 1, 18.... $28,538 84 July 1, 1882, amount available.... Amount appropriated by act passed August 2, 1882. Amount available for fiscal year ending June 30, 1883.... Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project...... COMMERCIAL STATISTICS. OFFICE OF THE RECEIVER, 24, 710 19 3,828 65 40,000 00 43,828 65 93,698 63 75,000 00 CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY OF NEW JERSEY, DEAR SIR: I send you the following memoranda showing the commercial business transacted at Elizabethport during the past year by the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and also the amount of business done by the commercial and manufacturing establishments at that place. The Central Railroad of New Jersey shipped during the year 2,500,000 tons of coal, and the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad 725,000 tons. The miscellaneous freight amounted to 45,000 tons; native ores 40,000 tons. The amount of pig iron received was 40,000 tons, and cast-iron pipes 16,000 tons. Railroad and scrap iron amounted to 18,500 tons, and the shipments of slate to 3,000 tons. The following are the principal manufacturing and commercial establishments, and the number of operatives employed by each: Operatives. 2,500 650 500 20 50 700 550 4,970 Elizabethport is, next to Jersey City. the chief commercial port in the eastern part of New Jersey; access, however, to its wharves and docks is only possible for vessels of light draught; with the impediments in the way of navigation removed, a very great degree of commercial prosperity will result to Elizabethport and its vicinity. Yours truly, H. S. LITTLE, Receiver and President Central Railroad of New Jersey. United States Engineer. Bvt. Lieut. Col. G. L. GILLESPIE, E 4. IMPROVEMENT OF SHREWSBURY RIVER, NEW JERSEY. The project for this improvement was adopted in 1879, and provides for the formation of a channel 6 feet deep at low-water from the entrance to Oceanic Dock, on the North Branch, and to Pleasure Bay on the South Branch. NORTH BRANCH. In 1879-'80, the two training dikes at the junction of the North and South branches of the river were constructed, and a channel about 70 feet in width and 6 feet deep at low-water was dredged around Lower Rocky Point. A cut 30 feet wide and 6 feet deep was also excavated through the "cross-over" at Upper Rocky Point, to afford temporary relief to the vessels plying on the North Branch, until the direct channel projected past Barley Point could be opened. On July 1, 1881, dredging operations under contract with Elijah Brainard, jr., were in progress on the direct channel at Barley Point. At this date the amount available for the improvement of the main stem and the two branches was $97,413.77. The above contract was closed on November 15, 1881, after a total removal of 55,586 cubic yards of sand, 31,569 cubic yards of which were excavated subsequent to July 1, 1881. On the suspension of operations under the contract, a direct channel 100 feet wide and 6 feet deep had been formed, connecting the 6-foot contour below Barley Point with the 6-foot contour above Oceanic Wharf. An examination made in January, 1882, showed that the 6-foot channel around Lower Rocky Point, originally dredged to a width of 70 feet, had widened to over 200 feet; the new channel past Barley Point to Oceanic Dock had also improved in width and depth throughout its length since the suspension of dredging operations; an exception to this general improvement was found abreast or in front of Barley Point, where the excavated channel had shoaled to a depth of 54 feet at low-water. It is believed that the cause of this deterioration is the interference of the flood currents setting directly up the channel, through the opening in the dike at this point. This opening was left in the dike at the request of the riparian owners at Black Point for the passage of their sail-boats, and if kept open dredging will probably become necessary from time to time, in order to maintain the desired depth in the channel at this point. SOUTH BRANCH. During the year 1880-'81 the dike at the entrance to Pleasure Bay was built, and a cut 90 feet wide and 6 feet deep at low-water was dredged through the flat at the entrance to the South Branch. Under the appropriation of March 3, 1881, which allotted $36,000 for the South Branch, a contract, dated September 21, 1881, was entered into with William H. Wood, at 44 cents per cubic yard, for dredging in the South Branch. Operations under this contract were commenced on January 6, 1882, and are still in progress, and have so far been confined to opening the new channel in front of Seabright, from Seabright Bridge to Pleasure Bay. By the close of the present fiscal year the channel with a depth of 6 feet at low-water had been carried from Seabright Bridge to Pleasure Bay. From the deep water in front of Seabright to McPherson's Dock this channel was 150 feet wide, and beyond that point to Pleasure Bay the channel width varied from 50 to 75 feet. In dredging through the shoal directly above Seabright Bridge, a ledge of cemented sand and gravel not known before was developed; this material was of the nature of coarse-grained sandstone, and so hard that blasting operations were found to be necessary for its removal. A special agreement, approved by the department, was entered into with the contractor for the blasting of a cut 50 feet wide, 300 feet long, and 7 feet deep at low water through the ledge, requiring the removal of 1,000 cubic yards of rock and 1,227 of sand; the price paid for the removal of the rock was $1.75 per cubic yard. From the channel between Seabright and Pleasure Bay the amount of material removed was 43,042 cubic yards, making a total of 44,269 cubic yards removed to June 30, exclusive of the rock from the ledge above the bridge. MAIN STEM. In answer to public advertisement, proposals for constructing the projected training dike at the entrance to the river were submitted and opened June 21, 1881, and the contract awarded to William H. Wood, the lowest responsible bidder, at the following prices: $5.46, $7.68, $8.19, and $11.57 per linear foot according to the varying dimensions of the dike. Preparations were at once made, and work on the construction of the dike commenced on September 1, 1881. The work was vigorously prosecuted with an interruption of 23 months caused by the severities of winter, and was completed on the 28th of June. The total length of the completed dike is 4,021 feet. In the original specifications it was provided that the first section of the dike should be 1,200 feet long, and should consist of a light construction of a double row of round and sheet piles. Before work could be commenced the waves of passing steamers had begun to deepen the water near the shore, and also to cut into the bank of the channel so as to move the deep water farther to the eastward. This necessitated, for the security of the work, the construction of 450 feet of the heavier class of dike provided for the outer section, in place of the lighter kind, at the point where the current deflected the channel to the eastward, and the strengthening |