E. AN ACT to authorize the construction of certain bridges, and to establish them as post roads. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for any person or persons, company, or corporation having authority from the States of Illinois and Missouri for such purpose, to build a bridge across the Mississippi River at Quincy, Illinois, and to lay on and over said bridge railway tracks for the more perfect connection of any railroads that are or shall be constructed to the said river at or opposite said point, and that when constructed, all trains of all roads terminating at said river at or opposite said point shall be allowed to cross said bridge for reasonable compensation, to be made to the owners of said bridge, under the limitations and conditions hereinafter provided. And in case of any litigation arising from any obstruction or alleged obstruction to the free navigation of said river, the cause may be tried before the district court of the United States of any State in which any portion of said obstruction or bridge touches. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That any bridge built under the provisions of this act may, at the option of the company building the same, be built as a drawbridge with a pivot or other form, or with unbroken and continuous spans: Provided, That if the said bridge shall be made with unbroken and continuous spans, it shall not be of less elevation in any case than fifty feet above extreme high-water mark as understood at the point of location to the bottom chord of the bridge, nor shall the spans of said bridge be less than 250 feet in length, and the piers of said bridge shall be parallel with the current of the river, and the main span shall be over the main channel of the river, and not less than three hundred feet in length: And provided also, That if any bridge built under this act shall be constructed as a draw-bridge, the same shall be constructed as a pivot draw-bridge with a draw over the main channel of the river at an accessible and navigable point, and with spans of not less than 160 feet in length in the clear on each side of the central or pivot pier of the draw, and the next adjoining spans to the draw shall not be less than 250 feet, and said spans shall not be less than thirty feet above low-water mark, and not less than ten above extreme high-water mark, measuring to the bottom chord of the bridge, and the piers of said bridge shall be parallel with the current of the river: And provided also, That said draw shall be opened promptly, upon reasonable signal, for the passage of boats whose construction shall not be such as to admit of their passage under the permanent spans of said bridge, except when trains are passing over the same, but in no case shall unnecessary delay occur in opening the said draw during or after the passage of trains. * * SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That any company authorized by the legislature of Missouri may construct a bridge across the Missouri River at the city of Kansas, upon the same terms and conditions provided for in this act. * * * * * SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the right to alter or amend this act so as to prevent or remove all material obstructions to the navigation of said river by the construction of bridges, is hereby expressly reserved. JULY 25, 1866. 1 M 2. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, February 7, 1869. SIR: I have the honor of calling your attention to a new method for channeling through sand-bars which obstruct the navigation of western rivers. The method appears feasible and worthy of trial. If successful it may be made the means of relieving the government from further expenditure for dredging, by making it to the advantage of the steamboat owners to adopt it and thus enable each steamer to force a channel for herself over the worst bars. The method was suggested by observing the effect produced on sandbars by slightly increasing the velocity of the current over them, and at the same time loosening the sand to make it wash easier-objects now attained by river men, when working over a bar, in a very clumsy and not always effective manner, viz, by the use of spars, forcing the bow of a boat on a bar, thus loosening the sand and giving the current sufficient strength to carry the loosened material away. I propose to loosen and wash away the material of bars by forcing directly upon it several streams of water, discharged from the hull of a boat. The water to be drawn from near the stem of the boat, through a suction pipe, and by a forcing pump driven out forward through pipes or hose, discharging at the lower line of the hull directly on the bar. Any required volume and velocity can be given these streams that experiment may show necessary. The machinery can be of the simplest kind. That which I have designed will consist of a centrifugal suction and forcing pump driven by an auxiliary engine, and of the necessary supply and discharge pipes with their connection. The whole will occupy but a small space in the forward hold of the boat (a space seldom economized) and will be entirely out of the way. The cost will range from $2,000 to $5,000, dependent on the size of pump and engine used. To use this proposed method, the pilot of the boat, after selecting his point of crossing, will run her head on to the bar and keep her in position; the washer will then be set at work and the boat continually forced ahead by her wheels, until a crossing is effected. By turning the nozzles of the discharge pipes slightly backward, I make the escaping water aid the boat forward; the streams discharged dig up the sand and wash it back far enough to bring it within range of the wheels, which latter then wash it past the stern of the boat. Should this method prove successful, I believe that it will be of great advantage to river commerce. It cannot be expected that the government will every year spend thousands of dollars to remove sand-bars which re-form at every flood. Those interested in river navigation ought to make themselves independent of such obstructions, and of government aid, but they will not entertain the idea until forced to do so. By this method, or by one similar, steamboat men might be placed in position to help themselves as they ought to do, and the moneys appropriated by Congress for dredging, &c., would be disposable for more important, permanent improvements. If this meets with your approval, I would respectfully suggest that a trial be made on the boat to be employed on the Upper Missouri, next season. If valuable for the purpose intended, it will be the means of lengthening the working season. I am engaged in perfecting the plan of machinery to be used, and if you desire will forward drawings. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Captain of Engineers and Brevet Major U. S. A. Bvt. Maj. Gen. A. A. HUMPHREYS, Washington, D C. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, OFFICE CHIEF ENGINEER, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, March 3, 1869. SIR: I have the honor of forwarding herewith, description and drawings of the machine I propose for use in removing sand-bars. The principal parts are, the engine-pump and distributor, with the supply and discharge pipes. The engine will be supplied direct from the main boilers on the boat, and directly connects with the pump to avoid loss of power; by making the stroke short, the required velocity can be gained. I have selected a centrifugal pump, for the reason that it gives volume and a constant flow without the use of valves and packing, liable to frequent derangement when used with very muddy water. From the best information I have been able to gain, the pump known as "Gwynne's patent," will, I think, be the proper one to use. I am corresponding with the agents, Messrs. Eads and Nelson, St. Louis, and in a few days expect full information. In case no pump can be found to answer the purpose, I have designed one which I think will. I send plan and description. It would cost much more than Gwynne's, because of the expense of pattern. The distributor is simply an arrangement for attaching the several discharge pipes to the pump. It is shown in Fig. I. The supply pipe I propose to make the same as the cistern pipes used with steam fire-engines. It runs the whole length of the boat along the center truss of the hull, and rests on the ribs. A hand valve at the outer end shuts off the supply of water. Its connection with the pump is shown in Fig. II. The discharge pipes may be strong leather hose or iron pipe, and will be connected with the distributor and with the nozzles by the ordinary method in use for hose connections. The nozzle is shown in Fig. I. It is arranged to discharge forward when the boat is headed down stream, and backward when going up. It is turned by an iron bar represented in the figure. It discharges at the lower line of the hull and directly on the sand to be moved. The pump which I have designed consists of an outer cylinder L, clamped by connecting bolts between the two iron plates, (-) forming the top and bottom of the pump, making a water-tight cylindrical box. Within this and concentric with the outer cylinder is the inner casing c, which revolves about a vertical axis A, and carries with it six vanes, (XXI.) These vanes are arranged to slide alternately from and to the center, the motion being directed by two eccentric guides a b. The water-way, which is between c and d, is contracted to give between the supply D, and discharge E, pipes, the guides forcing the vanes into the inner cylinder to pass this point. Between R and S, the vanes fill the whole water-way, forcing the water out in front, and by suction filling the space left behind. To relieve the axis, friction wheels are placed under the revolving cylinder, one of them, K, being shown in Fig. II. A heavy fly-wheel is used to regulate the motion. The pump may be made of any required size. The one represented is intended to throw 50 barrels per minute, and will, I think, be large enough. The drawings are made to a scale. The pump is similar to that designed by Dietz, but I have introduced several modifications of his plan. I have represented plain vanes; it might be well to curve them as in Appold's pump. The inner guide might perhaps be dispensed with, the centrifugal force being sufficient to throw the vanes out after passing the discharge pipe. A practical mechanic would no doubt make useful changes in the details of construction. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. HOWELL, Captain of Engineers and Brevet Major U. S. A. Byt. Maj. Gen. A. A. HUMPHREYS, Washington, D. C. Estimated cost of machine. 200-barrel pump, Gwynne's patent.. Cost of pipes, (no reliable estimate.) Cost of setting up machine. Probable total cost, $2,500 to $3,000. $500 00 1,000 00 100 00 100 00 1,700 00 200 00 These estimates are only approximate and founded on the best authority I have been able to get for cost of castings, patterns, hose and labor. If some pump at present in use is not adopted, the cost of pattern for a new design will be about $1,000, to be added to above. M 3. WASTE LANDS, MISSISSIPPI RIVER. Memorial of Brevet Brigadier General B. S. Roberts, on a plan for reclaiming the waste lands of the Lower Mississippi. WASHINGTON, D. C., January, 1866. SIR: The magnitude of the subject I propose in this memoir to bring to your notice, and through you to the consideration of Congress, and the vast interests involved in reclaiming and converting to the use of the world, the delta lands of the Lower Mississippi Valley, would suggest a sufficient excuse, were any necessary, for this manner of expressing my views on this subject, and attracting the attention of the country to the unappropriated elements of prosperity in the material of the waters of Mississippi, borne on by its eternal flood and constantly wasted in the tides of the Gulf of Mexico. I here propose, briefly, to suggest my undoubting conviction that a new plan of diking the Lower Mississippi in connection with a system of water-weirs and gates, so constructed at proper distances in the levees of the river that during all the seasons of great floods, vast volumes of the waters of the river, thick with the delta-making material borne down in the Missouri and other great rivers of the northwest, may be turned off to overflow the extensive swamps and morasses, and fill the lagoons and lakes abounding between the table lands and the proper alluvial bottoms of the Lower Mississippi Basin, depositing in them and creating from these waters new and rich delta-lands, and by degrees raising them to the level of the stream when in flood. In this manner it is proposed to redeem them from their present waste, turn them to bottoms exuberant in richness for the culture of cotton and sugar, relieve the country from their fatal malarias, and create sanitary and productive soil where morass, swamps, stagnant lagoons, and lakes, are the fruitful causes of the contagions and pestilences of this region. The fact that an engineer of the army, distinguished for capabilities as a general, and in scientific and practical engineering, has been charged by you with the repairs of the levees, neglected and destroyed since the beginning of the rebellion, and sent to superintend their reconstruction, suggests clearly to my mind your views of the powers of the government to take in hand any measures of this nature, involving and facilitating commercial intercourse with the many States washed and traversed by the tributaries of this great "inland sea," and all emptying their floods through this great lower basin of the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico. How far the government, under its constitutional powers "to regulate commerce between different States," can, incidentally, in improving the navigation of this tide-water river, introduce improvements by any new system of diking, releasing the main flood-waters from existing banks and beds, so as to divert their creative material of delta into the swamps, lagoons, and lakes of the States of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and reclaim them from wastes productive only of contagions, fevers, and pestilences, Congress must decide. But it is in my judgment, offered, however, with diffidence, as clearly within the powers of Congress as it is to pass laws of quarantine and health, or laws to protect life and preserve health on steamers that navigate this river on the high seas. Preventive measures against pestilence and epidemics at home are, or ought to be, as much under the control of Congress, as legislation to close our harbors and rivers against their importation from abroad. At all events, the right of the government to improve navigation of rivers that flow into the sea is conceded; and under this concession I shall proceed to show that the plan I propose goes directly to this point, and is one of the most economical and practical the government can adopt. Under the present regimen of this river, as partially regulated by existing systems of dikes, the waters, charged with their rich and fertilizing material forming our deltas, are not permitted to spread themselves over the great alluvial bottoms of the States I have mentioned, but are borne on into the Gulf, depositing their material near the great mouths, and constantly forming new land there. The heavier water of the sea, and the stronger tide and stream of the |