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the provisions of section 3 of the act of Congress approved May 11, 1874, entitled "An act providing for the payment of the bonds of the Louisville and Portland Canal Company."

In this I gave a complete résumé of the work since it passed into our hands, at the risk of repeating all that I had said in my two previous reports. As it will undoubtedly be printed and added to this as a part, I will not repeat anything said therein excepting to renew my recom. mendation that the sum of $50,000 be loaned the work by the Government, to be repaid from the tolls when a sufficient surplus has accumulated. This sum is needed to place everything that is necessary in working the canal, such as machinery, gates, dredges, &c., at once in a first-class condition, and thus allow us to operate more expeditiously and economically. I also respectfully renew the recommendation contained in my last report, that barges which paid full toll when going down loaded should only pay 5 cents per ton when empty on the return trip.

In consequence of the continued navigable condition of the river during the year, the canal has been much in use, and receipts have exceeded the expenditures $18,836.16.

There have been few complaints during the year on account of delays in getting through. Some of these delays were unavoidable, and would occur even with two canals, or with the present canal again enlarged. Whenever the river rises at certain times to a certain point, there is a great rush of coal-tows and other craft down stream, and delays are unavoidable. But most of these delays are due to the fact that my employés have not the power which they should have, because the rules and regulations for the government of the canal and those using it which I have repeatedly recommended have not been enacted into a law. My assistants are almost entirely unable to regulate and control matters when there is a rush until this is done. In the mean time they are occasionally blamed for these delays, when they are entirely helpless. I am glad to be able to say that such complaints never come from persons who have any real interest in the matter.

Financial statement for fiscal year ending June 30, 1876.

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Cash on hand July 1, 1876, $28,017.19.

From Captain Mackenzie's report, which is annexed hereto, it will be seen what has been done during the year. The policy of gradually im. proving and renewing the working appliances of the canal as the tolls accumulate has been strictly adhered to and with the finest results.

There has been a very marked change for the better in the whole appearance and condition of the work and a very vast one in the system and regularity of its management.

REPORT OF CAPTAIN A. MACKENZIE, CORPS OF ENGINEERS.

LOUISVILLE AND PORTLAND CANAL OFFICE,
Louisville, Ky., June 30, 1876.

MAJOR: I have the honor to submit the following report on the superintendence, management, and repair of the Louisville and Portland Canal for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876.

During the past two years reports have been rendered semi-annually giving in detail the condition of the canal and recommending certain extensive repairs and improvements, but it was not until near the close of the last calendar year that the surplus fund had sufficiently accumulated to justify any large expenditures.

Since that time much work has been done, and the dredging department as well as other necessary accessories of the canal are being rapidly placed in perfect workingorder.

With the exceptions hereafter mentioned, the present condition of the various portions of the canal is the same as reported December 31, 1875.

The following is a summary of the work of the past year: 3,233 boats have been passed through the locks and 103,602 cubic yards of sediment have been removed by the dredges.

The mechanics have been constantly employed repairing gates, boats, bridges, machinery, &c.; building shops, putting up engines and machines; making chains, straps, and bolts for gates, and generally assisting in the extensive repair of dredging apparatus.

The lock hands have been employed passing and docking boats, cleaning off gates and walls, grading grounds, making concrete for and building foundations, repairing mitre-sills, storing lumber for new gates, planting hedges, putting up line of telegraph, watching and caring for property, and assisting the mechanics in their various works of repair and improvement.

The dredge and steamboat forces have in addition to their regular duties been occasionally employed at the locks and have assisted in repairing steamboat-dredges and mud-scows.

Under the head of permanent repairs and improvements the following work has been accomplished.

The mud-scows have been enlarged and thoroughly repaired. They will now hold 38 cubic yards each, and, though their capacity has been doubled, they are much more easily managed than formerly, on account of their superior form of construction.

A new hull for the tow-boat Walker Morris, built by James Howard & Co., of Jeffersonville, Ind., was completed and launched February 19, but the high stage of the river and constant deposit of sediment prevented the dismantling of the old boat until June 3. Since that time all machinery has been transferred and thoroughly repaired. The new boat is larger and much stronger than the old one. It will be fitted out with force and wrecking pumps, and be ready at any time to render assistance in case of a fire or the sinking of a vessel in the canal.

One dredge has been thoroughly repaired, and machinery added for raising and lowering spuds, thus enabling us to reduce the force previously employed. It is expected that the dredge in its comparatively new condition will do more work, and do it more rapidly, than formerly. Timber has been obtained for rebuilding a second dredge.

A large addition to the carpenter-shop has been built for a machine-shop, and an engine and boiler have been set up. The shop at present contains one circular and one swing saw, a bolt and screw cutting machine, and a drill-press. A 50-foot planer and lathes will soon be added. It is expected that almost the entire cost of this machinery will be saved during the coming year in ordinary repairs and the construction of new gates.

A large fire-cistern, holding 500 barrels, has been built, and a force-pump connected with it. As an additional precaution against the danger of fire, an alarm-box has been placed at the locks, and in case our own means are not sufficient a steam fire-engine can be obtained in about five minutes. A telegraph line, 2 miles in length, has been established between the head and the foot of the canal. A submarine cable is laid across the canal at the locks, and the line in the vicinity of the office is placed in a trough under ground.

An osage-orange hedge has been planted the entire length of the canal. It will in time replace the wooden fence which now protects the earthen slopes.

The ground in the vicinity of the dry-dock has been graded, and permanent ways put up for the building and launching of boats, gates, &c.

Complete maps and abstracts of title of the canal property have been obtained; its metes and bounds are now known, and corners will be marked as soon as possible. During the coming year the following work will be done, provided the surplus on hand, after reserving a sufficient amount for operating expenses during low water season, will justify it.

Dredge No. 2 and mud-scow No. 4 will be rebuilt; new guard-gates for the head of the canal and for the new locks, and new lift and guard gates for the old locks, will be built; the mitre-sill of the lower gate of the old locks will be repaired; a coal elevator, with capacity of 1,000 tons, and an office for the superintendent, will be built. Additional experience is constantly developing necessary changes and improvements, and it is probable much other work will suggest itself during the year.

The surplus funds have been and still will be applied to the permanent repair of working parts of the canal, and to such improvements and additions to machinery as will promote the efficiency of management and eventually reduce the annual operating expenses.

When all the necessary repairs are completed more attention will be given to a radical improvement in the methods of working gates and bridges. Many plans for this work have been already considered, and some definite plan will be recommended as soon as money is available for such improvements.

Attention has also been given to the important question of removing river-deposit. I am still of the opinion that the present method of dredging alone gives promise of certain success, though the accessory plans of sluicing the canal, stirring up sediment in locks by filling through side culverts, and sinking catch-basins in the bottom of the locks above mitre-sills to remove deposit from the front of the gates, will assist in the work.

During the past year the river has been high, and in consequence a great number of boats have used the canal. The receipts have been much larger than was anticipated, amounting in all to $77,976.52. During May the receipts amounted to $14,927.99, being greater than for any single month during the two years of Government management. On May 27, 4 steamboats and 46 barges, with an under-tonnage of 16.979 tons and carrying about 800,000 bushels of coal, passed through the locks. The tolls for this day amounted to $1,384.60.

The continued high water deposited much sediment in the canal and locks. The rise of August, 1875, and January, 1876, left deposits in the lower chamber of the new locks of 11 and 7 feet respectively.

The rates of tolls remained as fixed by the Secretary of War January 25, 1875. A recommendation made in December, 1875, to reduce tolls on empty barges on a returntrip from 8 cents to 5 cents per ton was not acted upon.

During the past few months the number of employés has been slightly reduced, and it is hoped further reductions can soon be made. Some of the busy periods of the past year, especially heavy coal runs, have shown conclusively that a time will come when the capacity of the canal will not be sufficient for the river commerce, or that at least delays will be of so frequent an occurrence as to cause great annoyance and heavy losses. It is more than probable that the canal must in the future receive a second enlargement, and even at the present time extensive basins at the head of the canal, at the head of locks, and below the canal, are much needed.

None of the recommendations made in my report of December, 1875, have yet been acted on, and I therefore renew them, and ask that they be considered a portion of this report.

I append tables giving details of expenditures and receipts, number and tonnage of boats, and other statistical information.

In conclusion, I would state that the officers of the canal have during the past year performed all their duties faithfully and well.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Major G. WEITZEL,

Corps of Engineers.

A. MACKENZIE, Captain of Engineers.

Detailed statement of boats passed through the Louisville and Portland Canal for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876.

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Detailed statement of receipts of the Louisville and Portland Canal for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876.

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Detailed statement of expenditures for superintendence, management, and repair of the Louisville and Portland Canal for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876.

1,758 98

D, 473 82

3, 000 00

50, 266 48

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