room for the body of the casemate to rest entirely on natural ground. This work was completed about the end of February. The concrete for the casemate proper was then begun and carried on with some little delay, owing to rain and other causes, and was completed in May. The outside of the structure was covered with a coating of asphalt and coal tar boiled. Before commencing the final filling, 3-inch open drain tiles were put in around the structure and covered with gravel. The filling was then begun from the bank above and carried to completion. Over this fill a foot of loam was placed and all covered with manure and sown with grass seed. The inside was plastered and a coat of hard paint put on. A surface drain was cut on the hillside above to prevent wash. A permanent supply of water was procured by damming up a spring about 1,500 feet distant and laying a pipe therefrom to the casemate.

The cost of the work was as follows:

Plaster and hard finishing, 1,673 square feet, at 12 cents.

206.34

With the balance it is intended to put in the doors and steps, and after the ground is thoroughly settled to put in a surface drain on top of the work.

The cost of excavation was increased somewhat by reason of this work having to be repeated several times owing to slides in the steep bank caused by heavy rains.

Money statement.

Torpedoes for harbor defense, act of February 24, 1891.

Amount allotted by Department letter of November 30, 1893.

Amount expended during the fiscal year..

Balance unexpended at the end of the year..

$7,590.00 7, 284.82

305. 18

APPENDIX No. 4.

PROTECTION OF SITE OF FORT NIAGARA, N. Y.

REPORT OF CAPT. DAN C. KINGMAN, CORPS OF ENGINEERS, OFFICER IN CHARGE, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1893.

UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE,

Oswego, N. Y., July 10, 1893.

GENERAL: I have the honor to transmit herewith annual report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, for the following work in my charge:

Protection of the site of Fort Niagara, N. Y.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Brig. Gen. THOMAS L. CASEY,

Chief of Engineers, U. S. A.

DAN C. KINGMAN,

Captain, Corps of Engineers.

PROTECTION OF THE SITE OF FORT NIAGARA, N. Y.

Operations have been in progress for the protection of the site of of Fort Niagara, N. Y., under an allotment from the appropriations for "sea walls and embankments" and "preservation and repair of fortifications." The project for this work was approved November, 1888, and is briefly as follows:

First. To build a dike of stakes and fascines, paved on the top with stone, and held at a reference 2.0 feet, Lake Ontario gauge, from the northwest bastion of Fort Niagara to the northerly angle of the wharf, and to demolish the wall that makes the western front of the fort and use its material as a riprap and filling behind the dike.

Second. To build a similar dike from the southern end of the lighthouse reservation towards the southern end of the military reservation of Fort Niagara, as far as the means available will permit, and to fill in behind the dike, a bank of low slope to a reference 6.0, Lake Ontario gauge; to grade the bank above to a slope of 1 on 2 down from the general level of the parade, leaving between the two slopes such a roadway as may be desirable for the use of the post; to plant the lower slope with willows and the upper one with grass. Subsequently, this

ENG 93- -40

625

project was modified by substituting iron pipes for the wooden stakes used to secure the fascines. This change increased the durability of the work, but it also increased its cost nearly 50 per cent. The project was extended to include the repair of the retaining wall at the northwest angle of the fort, and all other necessary repairs to the same along the lake front.

The amount expended under this project to June 30, 1893, is $29,717.13, and has resulted in the rebuilding of a portion of the retaining wall 40 feet long and 394 feet high, bonded into the old work, and in the repair of numerous breaks in the face of the wall along the lake front (over 50 cubic yards of dimension stone being used for the latter purpose), in a pretty general pointing of this wall, and in the construction of a concrete breakwater 70 feet long to protect the exposed northwest angle. It has also resulted in the construction of 770 feet of dike work along the lake front and 941 feet along the river front-1,711 feet in all—and in the filling in and grading behind 941 feet along the river front according to the project, and in planting the graded slope with sod.

OPERATIONS.

No allotment has been made for this work since that of October 11, 1890, and the balance available at the beginning of the year was too small to permit any new.work to be undertaken. All that could be done, therefore, was to endeavor to protect the work already accomplished. With this object in view the graded slope was redressed, and the gullies that had formed were filled up, and an effort was made to cover it with grass by planting tufts of sod upon it, as is done on the levees in the South. Thick pieces of good live sod about 6 inches square were planted about 3 feet apart all over the slope. The sod has all taken, but it has not yet spread enough to cover all the surface of the ground. The slope was washed and gullied somewhat during the past spring. This was due to the surface water from the plain above running down over it after heavy rains. To prevent this in the future a trench will be formed along the crest of the bank, in which a line of porous tile will be laid, and the trench then filled with broken stone. This tile will be connected at proper points with lines of glazed tile buried in the slope, which will conduct the water down to the river. This work will be done this summer with the funds now on hand.

The bank along the river above the protected portion is still caving. It would be a valuable improvement if protection could be continued without delay according to the project.

To enable repairs to be made to the base of the wall along the lake front in the fall of 1891, a movable crib in the form of a very strong scow was built, to be sunk as required and used as a platform. This crib was found to be still sound and in good condition, and capable, with some slight alterations, of being made into a small barge suitable for general use. It has been taken to Charlotte, where a good many barges are needed in connection with the work now in progress, and will be repaired from the appropriation for that work, and used as long as it may be required. It will be taken up and accounted for as a barge on the property return for Fort Niagara.

REMARKS.

No other work than that of protecting the slope can be undertaken with the funds now available. The sea wall is now in good condition

for work of this kind. It was never anything more than coursed rubble of rather soft stone. The bank protection might be extended up the river to good advantage.

In pursuance of the project of November, 1888, some 154 linear feet of the detached wall that forms the western front of the work was torn down and the stone used to fill in behind the dike. This was done during the first season's work.

It makes a very conspicuous and unsightly breach and leaves the work entirely open and easy of entrance on this side.

There is plenty of other stone available for filling behind the dike, and I would recommend that this wall be restored. The cost would not exceed $3,000; $10,000 in addition, if that sum were available, could be advantageously applied to the continuation of the work of protecting the site during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895.

26, 105.30

Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895 13,000.00

Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project........