From Millville, a freight steamer of about 150 tons burthen runs to Philadelphia twice regularly every week. Besides that, a steam-tug is kept at this place for service on the river.

The oyster fleet, owned on the river, consists of more than 400 sail, varying in size from 5 to 50 tons.

The ship-building interest at Millville, Mauricetown, Dorchester, and Leesburg is important, schooners up to a size of 800 tons being built on the river.

In a subjoined table will be found, in a condensed form, carefully collected figures and data concerning these matters.

The upper course of the river from Millville to Mauricetown runs approximately in a southeasterly direction. The river as a rule here winds its way between farm land and sand hills on one side, and low, mostly embanked meadows on the other side, receiving on its way the waters of three tributaries, the Buckshutem, the Manantico, and the Elizabeth Creek.

From Mauricetown to the mouth the general direction is about a southwesterly one. The surrounding scene now has changed; the highlands on the banks have disappeared almost entirely, and the shores show hardly anything but meadow, partly embanked, partly overflowed, and partly a little above high-water level. No tributaries of any account are received on the lower course.

In the upper course, as far as Ferguson's Dock, about 4 miles below Millville, low and high water widths are very irregular, and changes in the areas of cross-sections great and sudden; the water during the first 2 miles is generally shallow, and during the next two individual channel obstructions are quite numerous.

These conditions undergo a gradual change for the better as we move further down from Ferguson's Dock, until, from Bricksborough down to the mouth, we find great uniformity in widths as well as in cross-sectional areas, and an excellent channel from 10 feet to 40 feet depth throughout.

This channel, however, disappears as the river enters the cove, and before reaching the deep waters of Delaware Bay a broad expanse of mud flats has to be passed, with a minimum channel depth of about 5 feet.

Inquiring first into the causes of the general shallowness of the river near Millville, our attention is naturally attracted by the unfavorable conditions of the shore lines. From Millville down to Silver Run the high-water widths are excessively large; at the latter place, where the river makes a sharp horseshoe bend, they are suddenly cramped down to less than one-half, only, however, shortly after to widen again as before, and then to retain their width as far down as John Coombs'.

The peninsula formed by the horseshoe bend at Silver Run must act towards barring and retarding the flow in the excessively wide portions of the river below and above, and therefore it is here, where the most unfavorable conditions prevail, that we find the worst navigation in the river.

Former dredging operations, undertaken by private parties, and the injudicious manner of dumping exercised, may have contributed not a little towards the destruction of the channel. Finally, the effects of great freshets doubtless annually do their share towards the same end.

Dredging alone could hardly effect a permanent improvement under these circumstances. To do this a removal of the first two of the above-named causes appears indispensable. The improvement should cut sufficiently wide through the objectionable peninsula at Silver Run, and the widths below and above this place should be properly regulated by means of dikes, the lines of which are suggested on the chart by a heavy broken black line.

Turning now to the mouth of the river, it appears that the formation of the broad mud flats obstructing the entrance is mainly due to two causes: In the first place, to the matter deposited by the ebb water as it leaves the river, and with slackened currents passes through the wide expanse of the cove; in the second place, to the fact of the shores of the cove being continually attacked and reduced by the wash of the sea, and as their destruction proceeds furnishing fresh material for the formation of the flats.

To render an improvement permanent here, the construction of lines of dikes, stretching about 2 miles from the shore, would doubtless become necessary. Without these any dredging channel might be filled and rendered useless by the next heavy gale from the southwest. If the idea of a work of this magnitude is abandoned on account of the heavy expense involved, yet some good might be done in another way with a comparatively small outlay of money.

One of the most troublesome features of the entrance is the difficulty in finding the channel at night, and many a vessel coming in and not wishing to lose the high-tide to cross the flats, has grounded, and been compelled to lie many hours before getting off again. Two small lights put up in the vicinity of the blacksmith's shop, on the north bank, and giving the channel range as indicated on the map, would be of great benefit to skippers.

It should also be mentioned here that about July, 1881, a schooner of 350 tous

burthen was wrecked on the flats, and being near the channel, is considered quite a dangerous obstruction.

To excavate a channel of 4 feet depth above Millville Bridge, and of 6 feet thence down until the 6 foot curve is reached at "John Coombs'," and of a uniform bottom width of 100 feet, with side slopes of 1 on 5, would require the removal of 320,000 cubic yards of sand and mud, which, putting the price of dredging, including engineering and contingencies, at 35 cents per cubic yard, would cost $112,000.

The removal of the schooner wreck might probably be done for $2,500 or less, the wreck lying in only about 5 or 6 feet of water.

Submitting the above, I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
E. A. GIESELER,
Assistant Engineer.

Col. WILLIAM LUDLOW,

Captain of Engineers, U. S. A.

*

ANNUAL MAURICE RIVER COMMERCE.

Sum total: Quantity, 122,900 tons; value, $3,351,000.

The tonnage of vessels owned on the river aggregates 13,200 tons.

The nearest port of entry is Bridgeton, N. J. The collection district is Camden, N. J.

F 28.

EXAMINATION OF SALEM RIVER, NEW JERSEY.

UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE,

Philadelphia, Pa., February 8, 1882.

SIR: The following report on the examination of Salem Creek, N. J.. is submitted, in compliance with the requirements of river and harbor act of March 3, 1881.

Salem Creek drains the greater part of the country of that name, and has a total navigable length of about 23 miles.

Heading back of Sharptown, it formerly flowed westward about 10 miles to within 2 miles of the Delaware River near Deep-Water Point, and then southward about 13 miles to Salem. Thence it again turned westward, and in a distance of 3 miles discharged into the Delaware River, through Salem Cove, in a channel having a length of about 2 miles.

At a bend in this channel, near the entrance to the creek, a bar of gravel and bowlders caused frequent delay and injury to the tugs and steamboats plying to Salem. This obstruction was reported in 1870, and an estimate of $10,000 submitted for its removal, which was finally completed in October, 1880, by dredging a channel 8 feet deep and 100 feet wide through the bar.

The commerce of Salem is given in the accompanying table from the Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1879.

The river and harbor act of 1878 directed further examination of the stream between Sharptown and the Delaware Canal, the report of which is printed in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1879, pages 474 et seq.

At the point where the creek most nearly approached the Delaware River, in the vicinity of Deep-Water Point, a canal was opened in 1872 for the better drainage of the meadows bordering the upper part of the creek and to secure a more direct water outlet for the products of that

region. In furtherance of this design a dam was also built across the creek below the canal, thus separating the stream into two independent watercourses, one having its head at the dam and discharging past Salem into the cove, the other with its head of navigation at Course's Landing, 3 miles below Sharptown and 9 miles from the Delaware, into which it discharges via the canal, which forms the lower 2 miles of its length.

The mouths of the two streams are now, therefore, about 10 miles apart, and the drainage of each is entirely distinct.

The canal has to a great extent failed to accomplish its purpose, principally by reason of its originally insufficient capacity and the loose character of its banks, which were left without artificial protection. From the flow of the creek and the tidal currents the banks have been abraded and widened, with a corresponding filling of the bed and formation of a shoal at the entrance, until the obstructions suffice to induce the tidal rise, which averages 6 feet in the Delaware, to less than 3 feet at a point 1 mile up the canal, and at the confluence of the canal and creek to about 1 foot.

Above the canal are several shoals where the depth and width are insufficient.

The actual depth needed to relieve the navigation of this stream, which, for the sake of distinction, should have a separate name, and might be called "Upper Salem" or "Sharptown" Creek, is from 5 to 6 feet at low-water.

The obstructions in detail are as follows:

1st. Sand-bars at the entrance.-The extent of these is considerable, and, although the depth varies somewhat from time to time, there is usually about 4 feet at low-water, which is increased by the 6-foot tidal rise of the Delaware to 10 feet at high-water. Dredging would afford but temporary relief, unless supplemented by the construction of a dike extending across the shoals into the Delaware River.

2d. The shoals in the canal.-The moderate deepening and widening of these would probably effect a semi-permanent improvement, and advantageously increase the tidal rise for all points above.

3d. Sand-bars at Biddle's Landing, extending from the head of the canal to nearly half a mile above.-These shoals are due mainly to the deposits brought in by the flood-tides through the canal. They constitute the most serious obstruction in the creek, and the $3,000 appropriated in the act of March 3, 1881, were applied to their removal during the past season. On beginning work, however, it was found that the accumulations had considerably increased since the examination of 1878, largely by reason of the wrecks of two canal-barges. In consequence, the appropriation was not sufficient to complete the channel through the shoals, and further expenditures will be required.

4th. Minor shoals, near Hoxie's Bridge and Webber's Landing, where both deepening and widening are required.

With the removal of these obstructions the navigation will be free to Course's Landing, the head of navigation, 9 miles from the Delaware. Above this point the channel rapidly shoals, and the creek begins to assume the character of a non-tidal meadow brook.

The estimated cost of the several works of improvement above indicated is as follows:

The construction of the dike at the entrance, including the necessary dredging, would cost about $10,000, but the expenditure of this amount should probably be deferred until the increased commerce of the stream

shall render the improvement of the entrance a more urgent matter than at present.

For the deepening of the navigation in the canal and the removal of the obstructions at Biddle's Landing and the minor points above the expenditure would vary from $4,000 to $6,000, depending upon the prices of dredging. It is impossible to forecast these for the smaller works under the contract system, as the proposals received in response to advertisement are regulated not by the cost of the work, but by the greater or less amount of other work and the presence or absence of competition. The commercial statistics for "Sharptown" or "Upper Salem" Creek are given in the accompanying schedule.

Respectfully submitted.

The CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U. S. A.

WILLIAM LUDLOW,
Captain of Engineers,
Bvt. Lieut. Col., U. S. A.

COMMERCIAL STATISTICS OF SALEM, N. J.

There are fifty vessels of all classes that belong to Salem and trade in and out of Salem Creek, the tonnage aggregating about 4,000. The larger part of merchandise received and shipped at Salem is in vessels belonging to other ports.

Two large side-wheel steamers ply between Salem and Philadelphia, carrying annually 50,000 passengers, and their freight receipts each year amount to $25,000. There is also a propeller of 250 tons, carrying freight exclusively, which makes two trips a week between Salem and Philadelphia.

The receipts at Salem during the past year were as follows:

COMMERCIAL STATISTICS OF SHARPTOWN, N. J., AND VICINITY. The population of Sharptown is 600; that of Woodstown, 14 miles further up the creek, 3,000. The annual amounts received and shipped by the creek are about as follows:

Lumber.

...feet.. 2, 000, 000 .tons.. 300

1,000

500

500

1,000

...do... 1,500

...do...

200

Much produce is also taken from the lower landings by open boats.

F 29.

EXAMINATION OF MURDERKILL CREEK, DELAWARE.

UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE,

Philadelphia, Pa., March 18, 1882. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report on the examination of Murderkill Creek, Delaware, required by river and harbor act of March 3, 1881.

The accompanying report of Mr. Gieseler, assistant engineer, fully explains the methods of the examination and the existing physical conditions of the stream.

The actual present head of navigation is at Frederica, 73 miles from Delaware Bay, the distance having been reduced from 11 miles by the successive construction of canals across the greater bends.

The lowest mile of the creek is rather wide and shallow, with lowwater channel depths of less than 4 feet, but from Webb's Landing upward the 6-foot low-water curve is nearly continuous, and the interrupting shoals aggregate about 2,000 cubic yards only in volume.

The main obstruction to the present navigation of the creek proper is the inadequate dimensions of the "canals" or "cut-offs," which were originally designed to have a width of 30 feet and a depth of 6 feet. This cross-section is about one-third only of the normal area of the creek, and not only is the width too narrow for convenient navigation, but, as Mr. Gieseler suggests, the tidal prism, which is the main source of power of maintenance, is gradually diminishing in proportion as the bends in the old creek bed become filled and obliterated.

The obvious remedy is that the improvement company, which, under charter granted by the State, has made the canals, should widen and deepen them to such extent as may be necessary to facilitate navigation and conserve the tidal volume of the stream.

The obstructions at the mouth of the Murderkill are different in character, and require for their amelioration much larger expenditures and less simple methods of treatment.

As in the case of nearly all the streams entering Delaware Bay from the west, the entrance is across mud and sand shoals of considerable width, with low-water least depths of from 1 to 14 feet, the rise of tide varying from 4 to 5 feet. The ebb current from the creek spreads across the shoal without any defined channel, which its unconfined volume, in conflict with the tides of the bay and the disturbing effect of wind and waves, is unable to maintain.

The conditions are entirely similar to those of Saint Jones Creek, which enters the bay only one-half mile to the northward, and the remedies to be applied, if the two be considered independently, are the same. The examination of the Saint Jones was made in 1880, and the report thereon is printed in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1881, pages 799 to 804, from which the following extracts are made:

Delaware Bay is an arm of the sea, varying in width from 12 to 30 miles, with the ship-channel traversing its axis. Its entire western border is shallow, and the entrance to nearly every stream is obstructed by broad flats of sand, mud, and clay.

The proper improvement of these entrances is the most important and costly feature of any valuable increase to commercial facilities, while, at the same time, needed harbors of refuge for the numerous small craft plying in the bay would be provided.

There is no probability of maintaining a dredged channel through the flats without the aid of a jetty. The daily tide movements, aided by the action of the waves in the shallow waters, would speedily fill it up. A channel suited for navigation, with the tides flowing across it, would need to be 200 or 250 feet wide, while the protection afforded by the jetty would justify a reduction in the width by one-half and effect a corresponding reduction in the dredging estimates.