cient depth. These latter-named channels were contracted into one of good depth by means of long parallel jetties. Generally, wherever works of improvement were constructed by the Government, the lowwater depths were increased from 18 inches to 3 or 4 feet, and the general improvement not only greatly facilitated the passage of steamers and rafts, but also greatly reduced the expense of rafting manufactured lumber. Localities remaining to be improved have a least depth in the channel of about 2 feet. No work, except slight repair, has been done at the Yellow Banks since 1883, when 4,978 linear feet of bank revetment had been completed and the piling for 3,275 feet had been driven ready for the backing of brush and stone. The total expenditures from the commencement of operations in 1877 to June 30, 1892, including outstanding liabilities, were $165,574.78. During the past fiscal year there has been constructed a brush and stone dam at Eau Galle Flats. Slight repairs were made to the Plum Island Flats Dam No. 3. The new work is of too recent a date to indicate its permanent effect on the low-water channel. (Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867 and of sundry civil act of March 3, 1893. (See Appendix A A 3.) $1,713.98 5,000.00 6, 713.98 5,588. 42 1, 125. 56 398.32 727.24 100, 737. 72 60,000.00 4. St. Croix River, Wisconsin and Minnesota.-The original project for improvement, adopted in 1878, was based upon a survey made in 1874, when the river was at a high stage of water and but comparatively few obstructions to be seen. It contemplated removal of snags, bowlders, sand bars, etc., and contraction of low-water channels from Taylor Falls to the confluence of the river with the Mississippi into one of nearly uniform width. Estimated cost, $21,758. At low water, however, the channel had, in many places, but 2 feet depth, and steamers and barges made their way as best they could amongst the obstructions; at times it was impossible for them to get over the shoal places. The present project, adopted in 1880, and modified as to cost in 1882, and again in 1889, is based upon a low-water survey made in 1879, and differs from that originally adopted only in amount of work to be done. Estimated cost, $108,700. The expenditures under present project to June 30, 1892, including outstanding liabilities, were $82,461.02. The total expenditures under original and present projects to June 30, 1892, including outstanding liabilities, were $100,461.02. The effect of the work of improvement has been to secure a least depth of 3 feet on the improved bars above Stillwater and 4 to 5 feet on the bars below that place. Generally, it may be said of this improvement that at many points navigation has been rendered permanent where formerly it was uncertain, and that in other places it has been made practicable where before improvement it was impossible. In the improved parts of the river above Stillwater there is a low-water depth in the channel of 2 feet; below Stillwater there is a good channel with a least depth of 4 feet. The work of improvement during the last year has consisted in removing a small bar at head of Lake St. Croix and in widening the channel over Hudson Bar by dredging. The work at Hudson enabled the raft boats, with their large tows to more easily make the run over the bar. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended............. Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892 June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year..... July 1, 1893, balance unexpended July 1, 1893, balance available Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..... Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867 and of sundry civil act of March 3, 1893. (See Appendix A A 4.) $49.44 8,000.00 8, 049. 44 5,220.49 2,828.95 341. 16 2,487.79 18, 200.00 18, 200.00 5. Minnesota River, Minnesota.-From 1867 to 1873, Congress appropriated $77,500 for improving the Minnesota River. The appropriations were applied to removing snags and bowlders, so as to afford a least depth at low-water stage of 2 to 3 feet. In 1874 a survey was made from the mouth of the river to South Bend, a distance of about 116 miles, to determine the practicability of improving the navigation by means of canals, locks, and dams. Based upon this survey, estimates were made for five locks and dams, and removal of snags, etc., at a cost of $733,868.63, the cost of removing snags, etc., being therein placed at $34,585.10, including contingencies. Following this report, Congress made three appropriations of $10,000 each, by acts approved March 3, 1875, August 14, 1876, and June 18, 1878, which sums were applied to clearing the river of obstructions below South Bend. The expenditures to June 30, 1879, were $117,457. Since 1879, no work for improvement of the river has been undertaken. Under the appropriations above named, the removal of obstructions cleared the way over long stretches of the river between Minnesota Falls and a point about 30 miles below Henderson (16.7 miles above Shakopee). Little or no use was made of the cleared channels, as there was not sufficient water in the channel to permit navigation during the low-water periods. The rapidly caving banks on the upper section of this stream cause snags and leaning trees to form, so that channels that cleared of them twelve years ago are more or less encumbered with them to-day. No expenditures have been made for the improvement of the lower part of the river, which affords much better facilities for river traffic than the upper part. From Shakopee to the Mississippi the river is deep except on two bars. There are few snags on this reach. The river and harbor act of August 11, 1888, appropriated $10,000 for improving the Minnesota River, including protection of the banks opposite the borough of Belle Plaine. It appearing, from an examination made in September, 1888, that the sum was inadequate for the purposes named, its expenditure for work of improvement was deferred until the further wishes of Congress in the matter might be known. The river and harbor act of July 13, 1892, made the sum available for the improvement of the river, omitting the requirement for operations at Belle Plaine. Under the latter act an examination of the mouth of the river was made and work of improvement will be carried on during the ensuing year. The total expenditures on the improvement of the whole river to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, were $117,542.79. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended ... June 30, 1893, amount expended during fiscal year July 1, 1893, balance unexpended July 1, 1893, outstanding liabilities July 1, 1893, balance available..... $9,967.00 93.45 9, 873.55 18.54 9, 855. 01 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project....... 693, 868.63 (See Appendix A A 5.) 6. Red River of the North, Minnesota and North Dakota.-The project for the improvement of this river from Breckenridge to the northern boundary line, adopted in 1877 and amended as to cost in 1883, consists in the removal of snags, leaning trees, and bowlders, and in dredging channels through the bars at an estimated cost of $179,310. A revised estimate made in 1887, placed the cost of completing the improvement at $79,598.37. The engineer in charge submits in his report an estimate of $67,320 for the completion of the project. The last estimate has been necessitated by an increase in the quantity of material to be excavated and by the effect of the eight-hour law in increasing the cost of the work. Before improvement, the ruling depth upon the bars between Moorhead and Goose Rapids at ordinary low water was but 14 feet, and below Grand Forks, 2 feet, while between Moorhead and Abercrombie the navigation was at all times difficult. The work to June 30, 1892, has resulted in opening a channel 3 feet deep at ordinary low water and 60 feet wide from Moorhead to a point 80 miles north, and a channel 4 feet deep at ordinary low water and averaging 60 feet wide from Grand Forks to a point 93 miles north by river; also in the removal of snags and trees between Moorhead and Abercrombie so as to afford safe passage for steamers between those points during high and medium stages of water. The total amount expended, including outstanding liabilities, to June 30, 1892, was $214,180.60. Dredging operations were continued during the past fiscal year and resulted in extending the dredged channels from a point 93 miles north of Grand Forks to the boundary line, and in improving 1 mile of Goose Rapids Flats. The improvement from Grand Forks north to the boundary line has now been completed. $67, 320.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project........ Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895 67,320.00 Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867 and of sundry civil act of March 3, 1893. (See Appendix A A 6.) 7. Gauging Mississippi River at or near St. Paul, Minn.-The Board of Engineers, to whom was referred the project for the application of $37,500, appropriated by the river and harbor act of August 5, 1886, for reservoirs at headwaters of Mississippi River, recommended in their report dated May 24, 1887, "that such gaugings be made at or near St. Paul during the annual operation of the reservoirs as shall determine accurately the discharge at that point at critical periods." (Page 1692, Annual Report, Chief of Engineers, 1887.) The river and harbor act of August 11, 1888, authorized the gaugings and provided for them as follows: And the Secretary of War shall cause such gaugings to be made at or near St. Paul during the annual operation of said reservoirs as shall determine accurately the discharge at that point, the cost of the same to be paid out of the annual appropriation for gauging the waters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. SEC. 6. That for the purpose of securing the uninterrupted gauging of the waters of the Lower Mississippi River and its tributaries, as provided for in joint resolution of the twenty-first of February, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, upon the application of the Chief of Engineers, the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to draw his warrant or requisition from time to time upon the Secretary of the Treasury for such sums as may be necessary to do such work, not to exceed in the aggregate for each year the amount appropriated in this act for such purpose: Provided, however, That an itemized statement of said expenses shall accompany the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers. Gaugings were not made until the fall of 1889, although an allotment of $900 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, had been made. On account of the lateness in the season and the condition of the river, it was not deemed advisable to expend any of the money that year. The allotments of $600, $900, $900, and $500, made for fiscal years 1889-'90, 1890-'91, 1891-92, and 1892-'93, were applied to gauging the Mississippi River at St. Paul, and, when necessary, the Minnesota River at its mouth. During the past fiscal year 87 gaugings have been made. EXAMINATION OF KANSAS RIVER, KANSAS, MADE IN COMPLIANCE WITH RIVER AND HARBOR ACT APPROVED JULY 13, 1892. The preliminary examination of Kansas River, required by act of July 13, 1892, was made by the local engineer, Lieut. Col. Charles R, Suter, Corps of Engineers, and report thereon submitted under date of February 9, 1893. It is his opinion, concurred in by this office, that the river is not at the present time worthy of improvement by the General Government. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 243, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix B B.) IMPROVEMENT OF MISSOURI RIVER ABOVE SIOUX CITY, IOWA, AND OF YELLOWSTONE RIVER, MONTANA AND NORTH DAKOTA. This district was in the charge of Capt. Charles F. Powell, Corps of Engineers, to April 27, 1893, and of Capt. Harry F. Hodges, Corps of Engineers, since that date; Division Engineer, Col. O. M. Poe, Corps of Engineers. 1. Missouri River between the Great Falls, Montana, and Sioux City, Iowa.-Between Fort Benton, Mont., the head of navigation, and the Great Falls, 37 miles above, the river is seriously obstructed by rocks and has a steep slope. No work has been done upon it and none is proposed. Between Fort Benton and Carroll, Mont., the channel was originally obstructed by bowlders, short turns, and steep slopes. On many bars there was insufficient low-water depth for boats drawing 30 inches. This stretch is 168 miles long and is called the "Rocky River." The original project called for the removal of bowlders. It was extended to include dredging and the building of cut-off and wing dams. Up to June 30, 1893, $365,930.61 had been expended on the present project for the Rocky River. The worst bowlders had been removed, dams had been built at various points, and some dredging had been done. The channel had been deepened to 36 inches at the improved places except at extreme low water. Before the adoption of the above-named project, work had been done on the river above and below the Great Falls under an appropriation of $160,000 for improving the Missouri River above the mouth of the Yellowstone. The part done on the Rocky River consisted of dam construction and rock removal. During the year ending June 30, 1892, work on the Rocky River had had been suspended, as there appeared no likelihood of boats running there during the approaching season. The plant has been cared for and kept in repair. Below Carroll, Mont., the river is known as the "Sandy River." From there down it becomes more and more unstable and carries more and more sediment. The banks in the bottoms cave and numerous shoals exist. Floods and ice gorges occasionally cause cut-offs or radical shifting of the channel. Originally the principal difficulties met with by navigation were due to the bars, snags, and instability of the channel. The river was avilable for boats drawing 30 inches, if skillfully piloted. The original project for the general improvement contemplated the removal of snags and other obstructions, and the completion of a detailed survey with publication of charts. The construction of an ice harbor at Rockhaven was subsequently added. In 1878 to 1882 some work of regulation was done near Vermillion, S. Dak. None has since been undertaken. Up to June 30, 1893, there has been expended: In removal of snags, etc In survey and plotting before 1884 In survey and plotting since 1884 In preparatory work on ice harbor In work before adoption of present project.... $149,824.33 63,401. 21 163, 111.82 2,227.97 159, 168. 14 On June 30, 1892, the snagging fleet consisted of one steel-hulled steamer, one wooden-hulled steamer, and one steel-hulled scow, all quite proper appliances for the work. During the year ending June |