Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.. $40,000.00 b. Above Vincennes.-The snag boat Richard Ford was at work on this portion of the river from August 11 to the end of December, 1892. The channel was cleared of the most dangerous snags in about one-half of the distance from Vincennes, Ind., to Terre Haute, Ind., 688 snags, with a total weight of about 3,870 tons, being removed and cut up in this work. During the ensuing year it is proposed to resume the work at the first opportunity and clear the balance of the channel up to Terre Haute. The amount expended on this section of the river to June 30, 1893, was $78,237.66. 15,000.00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project.. Amount that can be profitably expended in fiscal year ending June 30, 1895 15,000.00 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 G G 4.) 5. White River, Indiana.-The object of this improvement is to make the river navigable for the transportation of local products at all stages, by removing rocky reefs and gravel shoals, contracting the wider portions by dams or dikes, and removing snags. With sufficient money a navigable low-water channel, with a depth of 2 feet, might be realized. Operations during the past year were limited to the removal of snags, and it is proposed to continue such work during the summer and fall of 1893. When this has been done all the dams heretofore built on the river should be repaired and channels that had been made through bars and shoals should be re-dredged, in order to restore the river to the condition in which it was prior to the suspension of operations, as directed by Congress in the act of August 11, 1888. The amount expended on this river to June 30, 1893, was $104,812.94. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892 $2,954. 79 5,000.00 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 G G 5.) 7,954. 79 262.98 7, 691.81 803.07 6, 888.74 7,500.00 7,500.00 EXAMINATIONS MADE IN COMPLIANCE WITH RIVER AND HARBOR ACT APPROVED JULY 13, 1892. The preliminary examinations of the following localities, required by act of July 13, 1892, were made by the local engineer, Lieut. Col. G. J. Lydecker, Corps of Engineers, and reports thereon submitted: 1. Little Wabash River, Illinois.-Lieut. Col. Lydecker submitted report of examination under date of December 22, 1892. It is his opinion, concurred in by this office, that the river is not at this time worthy of improvement by the General Government. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 163, Fiftysecond Congress, second session. (See also Appendix G G 6.) 2. Embarras River, Illinois.-Lieut. Col. Lydecker submitted report of examination under date of December 22, 1892. It is his opinion, concurred in by this office, that the river is not worthy of improvement by the General Government. The report was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Ex. Doc. No. 162, Fifty-second Congress, second session. (See also Appendix G G 7.) IMPROVEMENT OF GREAT KANAWHA, ELK, AND GAULEY RIVERS, WEST VIRGINIA, AND OF NEW RIVER, VIRGINIA AND WEST VIRGINIA. This district was in the charge of Col. William P. Craighill, Corps of Engineers. 1. Great Kanawha River, West Virginia.-This river flows through a fertile and picturesque region, filled with mineral wealth, especially coal and salt. It was by nature divided into a number of pools, some of considerable length and depth, separated by shoals of gravel and coarse sand, which were the principal obstructions to navigation in low water, there being often on them at such seasons but a few inches of water. In some of the pools were found shallow places, also obstructing navigation. There were also snags and loose rocks in the channel. The navigation was almost suspended in summer. The coal and salt were generally sent out on rises, which enabled the boats to pass safely over the obstructions that otherwise would stop their movements entirely. The use of the river for the movement of these valuable products was therefore unsatisfactory and intermittent. By the agency and superintendence of a board acting under the State, first of Virginia and then of West Virginia, considerable improvement in the river was from time to time effected, tolls being charged on the commerce for the payment of expenses. The object of the improvement, begun several years ago by the United States, was to give a constant navigable depth of at least 6 feet throughout the whole length of the Kanawha to its mouth at the Ohio River, to be accomplished by large locks and dams. Those already built have been about 300 by 50 feet above Charleston and about 340 by 55 below. The peculiarity of most of the dams is that they can be lowered when the stage of the water in the river will suffice over the shoals. This gives them the name of "movable dams," and enables an open river to be had when the water is high enough. Dams 3 and 2, above Paint Creek, are fixed, as the declivity of the river in that section is too great to permit the advantageous use of the movable system. Up to June 30, 1892, the amount expended was $2,389,302.03. At that date the finished works were Locks and Dams 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. An appropriation of $225,000 was made July 13, 1892, and another of $500,000 March 3, 1893. The following list of contracts indicates in a summary way the principal work in progress during the fiscal year. Contract with Munford & Reynolds, dated December 29, 1890, for the foundations of Dam No. 7, or the immovable parts of the navigation pass and weir, and of a central pier and an abutment with shore crib and bank protection, completed June 1, 1893. Contract with C. Irwin McDonald, dated March 3, 1891, for the foundations of Dam No. 8 or immovable parts of the navigation pass and weir, and of a central pier and an abutment with shore crib and bank protection, completed in May, 1893. Contract with The Fred. J. Meyers Manufacturing Company, dated June 8, 1892, for irons for the movable parts of Dams Nos. 7 and 8, including the maneuvering winches, and some extra irons for Dams Nos. 4, 5, and 6, to be completed September 1, 1893. Contract with H. T. Morrison & Co., dated November 19, 1892, for iron work for the gates of Locks 7 and 8, to be completed July 20, 1893. Contract with James M. Mays, dated March 31, 1893, to build two lock houses, one at the site of Lock No. 9 and one at the site of Lock No. 10, with outhouses at each, to be completed August 10, 1893. Contract with L. Williams, dated April 17, 1893, for building one dump boat, to be completed July 15, 1893. Contract with the West End Rolling Mill Company, limited, and Chain Works, dated April 20, 1893, for chains and clevises for Dams Nos. 7 and 8, to be completed July 15, 1893. Contract with Zimmerman, Truax & Sheridan, dated May 23, 1893, for building Lock and Dam No. 9, to be completed December 31, 1896. Contract with Thomas Munford, dated June 1, 1893, for building Lock and Dam No. 11, to be completed December 31, 1896. Contract with Zimmerman, Truax & Sheridan, dated June 5, 1893, for building Lock and Dam No. 10, to be completed December 31, 1896. The amount expended in the year ending June 30, 1893, exclusive of outstanding liabilities, was $201,923.26. Had funds been available, all the locks and dams needed for this improvement could have been begun at the same time and finished in three years with much economy to the United States and with manifest advantage in the use of the improved waterway. The development of commerce on this river has been very great since the improvement by the United States, although the project has as yet been only partially executed for want of money. During the seasons of low water the value of the improvement is shown in a very marked manner, as free and sufficient navigation is then easily maintained over the improved part of the river, while navigation may be entirely suspended below the lowest dam and above the upper pool. The estimate for the project for the improvement of the Great Kanawha River, by the method of locks and movable dams, was prepared in 1875. The river and harbor act of July 13, 1892, contained the following provision: Provided, That such contracts may be entered into by the Secretary of War for such materials and work as may be necessary to complete the revised project of improvement of January eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, to be paid for as appropriations may from time to time be made by law, not to exceed in the aggregate one million eighty thousand seven hundred dollars, exclusive of the amounts herein and heretofore appropriated. In compliance with this law contracts have been made for the completion of the remaining locks and dams, 9, 10, and 11. Locks and Dams 7 and 8 are nearly ready for use and will be in operation before the end of the calendar year 1893, thus adding 18 miles to the improved portion of the river. No appropriation is asked for this river for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895, as work has been so much delayed it is believed the money already available will suffice for that fiscal year. Some of the reasons are the following: Congress by act of July 13, 1892, provided for the completion of the improvement fixing a certain sum for the purpose, based upon an estimate made before the passage of the eighthour law. It has since been difficult to get reliable contractors to take the work within the limit. Delay has also been caused by the neces sity of resorting to the tedious process of condemnation in procuring the land at new sites for locks and dams. The sites are, however, all now in the possession of the United States and good contracts are made for completing the remaining locks and dams. July 1, 1892, balance unexpended.......... Amount appropriated by act approved July 13, 1892 Amount appropriated by sundry civil act approved March 3, 1893 July 1, 1893, amount covered by uncompleted contracts.. 1,078, 742. 04 1,082, 742. 04 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project..... Submitted in compliance with requirements of sections 2 of river and harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. (See Appendix H H 1.) 580, 700.00 2. Operating and care of locks and dams on Great Kanawha River, West Virginia.-The amount expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, for this purpose was $19,564.91. (See Appendix H H 2.) 3. Elk River, West Virginia.-The Elk is one of the chief tributaries of the Great Kanawha, emptying into it at Charleston. Its course is tortuous, but the country through which it flows is rich in minerals and well fitted for agriculture and grazing. The average low-water width is about 200 feet, with narrows at the rapids of about 150 feet in width and occasional portions of about 300 feet in width. The pools vary in depth from 3 to 10 feet, and are separated by rapids over shoals of cobblestones and gravel, on which there has been at low seasons a depth of but a few inches of water. The average fall per mile in the river from Braxton down is about 24 feet, but is not uniformly distributed, being greatest (about 4 feet per mile) in the central section and less (about 2 feet) in the upper and lower sections. Freshets of small height are of frequent occurrence, but rapidly pass off. The annual rise in the spring is about 10 or 12 feet. An extraordinary rise is sometimes had of 25 to 30 feet, but the duration is not great. The approved project of improvement has been the removal of rocks, snags, overhanging trees, etc., and the making of narrow sluices through the rapids and shoals. The principal interests to be served are those of lumbering and rafting, but much country produce is also carried downstream in small boats, which return with merchandise, etc. The work done was between Little Otter, 6 miles below Sutton, and Mink Shoals, 4 miles from the mouth of the river, embracing a distance of about 90 miles. It consisted mainly in clearing and widening the chutes and in building, altering, and repairing chute walls on the shoals. A passage for rafts was also made through four old and abandoned mill dams, a break in the Blue Creek Dam was repaired, and where required snags, leaning trees, and like obstructions were removed. The work was done between August 10 and October 27, 1892, with a force of hired laborers under the overseer employed on this part of the river last year. A serious obstruction to the navigation of this river at some stages consists of several other milldams. The attention of the proper authorities has been called to these in compliance with the law. 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................ 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 H H 3.) $158.89 2,500.00 2.658.89 2, 574. 19 84.70 3,000.00 4. Gauley River, West Virginia.-Gauley River takes its rise in Webster County, W. Va., its tributaries having their sources in Pocahontas and Greenbrier counties. It is about 115 miles in length, flowing through Nicholas and Fayette counties in a southwesterly direction, sometimes nearly west, and near its mouth almost due south; it is entirely in the State of West Virginia. Its headwaters and those of its tributaries are covered with a virgin forest of the finest timber, with only clearings of a few acres here and there; and on the north side of the river, in Webster and Nicholas counties, some glades a few miles wide and in extent 20 or 25 miles, which give only a stunted growth, to break up this vast timber section. For the first 12 miles from its mouth the Gauley falls only 4 feet per mile; in the next 26 miles its fall is nearly 34 feet per mile, in a gorge similar to that of New River, as seen from the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway between Kanawha Falls and Hinton, the hills on either side being several hundred feet high and almost perpendicular, and the stream full of bowlders of sandstone, some very large, and so numerous as to justify the people in calling this section the "Roughs" of Gauley. From the head of the "Roughs" near Hominy Creek, 2 miles above Hughes Ferry, to the Forks, about 57 miles, the fall is estimated at 5 feet per mile. The levels from the mouth of Gauley River to the mouth of Meadow River, 29 miles, are taken from Ellet's report on the Great Kanawha River, West Virginia, made in 1858; the remainder are estimated. The levels on Meadow River were obtained from the same source. Gauley River is 500 feet wide at its mouth, 350 feet wide at mouth of Meadow River, 200 feet wide at mouth of Cranberry River, 150 feet wide at mouth of Williams River, and 75 feet wide at the Forks. Operations for the improvement of the Gauley River were instituted after an examination made in 1878 in accordance with the provisions of the river and harbor act of August 5, 1886. It was then pointed out that a valuable improvement of the 12 miles of river from the mouth to |