# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 5/24th Congress/2nd Session/Chapter 44

Chap. XLIV.—An Act to provide for certain harbors, and for the removal of obstructions in and at the mouths of certain rivers, and for other purposes, during the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,Appropriations for carrying on certain works. That the following sums be, and the same are hereby, appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for carrying on and completing certain works heretofore commenced, to wit:
Chicago harbor.For continuing the improvement of the harbor of Chicago, Illinois, forty thousand dollars;
Michigan City.For continuing the construction of a harbor at Michigan City, Indiana, thirty thousand dollars;
St. Joseph river.For continuing the construction of a pier or breakwater at the mouth of the river Saint Joseph, Michigan, fifteen thousand dollars;
River Raisin.For the continuation of the works at the harbor near the mouth of the river Raisin, Michigan, thirty thousand dollars;
Black river.For continuing the improvement of the harbor at the mouth of Black river, in Jefferson county, State of New York, ten thousand dollars;
Whitehall harbor.For continuing the improvement of the harbor at Whitehall, in the State of New York, ten thousand dollars;
Genesee river.For continuing the improvement of the channel at the mouth of Genesee river, in the State of New York, ten thousand dollars;
Mobile harbor.For improving the harbor of Mobile, in the State of Alabama, by removing the bar of the Choctaw pass and Dog river bar, fifty thousand dollars;
Black river.For continuing the removal of obstructions at Black river, Ohio, six thousand four hundred dollars;
Huron river.For continuing the removal of obstructions at the mouth of the Huron river, in Ohio, two thousand five hundred and sixty-five dollars;
Vermillion river.For continuing the improvement of the navigation at the mouth of Vermillion river, Ohio, twenty thousand dollars;
Cleaveland harbor.For continuing the improvement of the Cleaveland harbor, Ohio, ten thousand dollars;
Cunningham creek.For continuing the removal of obstructions at Cunningham creek, Ohio, five thousand dollars;
Ashtabula creek.For continuing the removal of obstructions at Ashtabula creek, Ohio, eight thousand dollars;
Conneaut creek.For continuing the removal of obstructions at Conneaut creek, Ohio, five thousand dollars;
Presque Isle harbor.For continuing the improvement of the harbor of Presque isle, Pennsylvania, fifteen thousand dollars;
Dunkirk harbor.For continuing the improvement of Dunkirk harbor, New York, fifteen thousand dollars;
Portland harbor.For continuing the improvement of the harbor of Portland, Lake Erie, New York, ten thousand dollars;
Cattaraugus creek harbor.For continuing the improvement of the harbor at Cattaraugus creek, Lake Erie, New York, ten thousand dollars;
Salmon river harbor.For continuing the improvement of the harbor of Salmon river, Lake Ontario, New York, ten thousand dollars;
North and South Hero islands.For continuing the improvement of the channel between the North and South Hero Islands, Lake Champlain, Vermont, six thousand dollars;
Plattsburg.For continuing the construction of a breakwater at Plattsburg, New York, ten thousand dollars;
Oak Orchard creek.For continuing the improvement of the harbor at the mouth of Oak Orchard creek, New York, five thousand dollars;
Kennebunk.For continuing the pier at Kennebunk, Maine, three thousand dollars;
Big Sodus bay.For continuing the improvement at Big Sodus bay, New York, twelve thousand dollars.
Oswego harbor.For continuing the pier and mole at Oswego harbor, New York, fifteen thousand dollars;
Steele’s Ledge.For placing buoys in the vicinity of the monument on Steele’s Ledge, Maine, being the unexpended balance of the appropriation of the twenty-eighth of June, eighteen hundred and thirty-four, for rebuilding the monument on Steele’s Ledge, four hundred and sixty-six dollars;
Burlington.For continuing the construction of a breakwater at Burlington, Vermont, ten thousand dollars;
Stanford’s Ledge.For continuing the breakwater on Stanford’s Ledge, Portland harbor, Maine, twenty-five thousand dollars;
Sandy bay.For continuing the breakwater at Sandy bay, Massachusetts, twenty thousand dollars;
River Thames.For continuing the improvement of the channel of the river Thames, leading into Norwich harbor, Connecticut, twenty thousand dollars;
Southport harbor.For continuing the securing of the public works, at the harbor of Southport, Connecticut, one thousand dollars;
Westport harbor.For improving the harbor of Westport, Connecticut, three thousand seven hundred and thirty-four dollars;
Hudson river.For continuing the improvement of the navigation of the Hudson river, above and below Albany, in the State of New York, one hundred thousand dollars; to be expended according to the plan and estimate recommended by the Secretary of War;
Chester harbor.For continuing the repairs at the harbor of Chester, Pennsylvania, two thousand dollars;
Wilmington harbor.For continuing the improvement of the harbor of Wilmington, Delaware, eight thousand dollars;
Newcastle harbor.For continuing the improvement of the harbor of Newcastle, Delaware, ten thousand dollars;
Delaware breakwater.For continuing the Delaware breakwater, and constructing a wharf or mole pursuant to the report of Captain Delafield, one hundred and forty-one thousand dollars.
Erection of a marine hospital at N. Orleans, &c.And that the sum of seventy thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the erection of a marine hospital in the city of New Orleans, in that part of said city which shall be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, and for the purchase of lands on which to erect said marine hospital;Purchase of sites for marine hospitals on the western waters, &c. Proviso. and that the President of the United States, be, and he is hereby authorized to select and cause to be purchased, for the use and benefit of sick seamen, boatmen, and all other navigators on the western rivers and lakes, suitable sites for marine hospitals, Provided that the number thereof shall not exceed for the river Mississippi three, for the river Ohio three, and for Lake Erie one; and to enable the President to make such selection and purchase, he may call to his aid one or more medical men of the army, not exceeding three in all, to examine and report on such sites, and to ascertain at what price the same can be had; and that the sum of fifteen thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated, to effect the purchase thereof, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; and that suitable plans and estimates be prepared, under the direction of the Secretary of War, for the construction of said hospitals, and submitted to Congress,Erection of a marine hospital at Mobile. Proviso. at the commencement of the next session thereof; and that the sum of ten thousand dollars be appropriated for the erection of a marine hospital in the city of Mobile; Provided, That the expenditures for the purchase of sites and the erection of hospitals at New Orleans and Mobile shall not exceed the amounts herein appropriated for these purposes;After 1st April next all laws requiring seamen to pay 20 cents a month, &c., shall be suspended for 1 year, &c. that from and after the first day of April next, all laws enacted whereby seamen are required to pay twenty cents a month, or their employers are required to retain that sum out of their wages, to create a fund for the sick and disabled seamen, shall be suspended for one year, during which no such exaction shall be made; and that instead of said tax there be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury, not otherwise appropriated, the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to be disbursed in the same manner as the sum above mentioned,Proviso. Provided, however, that seamen and watermen, who have not contributed to said fund, may receive relief to such extent, and under such regulations as the President of the United States shall direct.
Baltimore harbor.For continuing the improvement of the harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, fifteen thousand dollars;
Cape Fear river.For continuing the improvement of the navigation of Cape Fear river, below Wilmington, North Carolina, ten thousand dollars;
Opening passage between the town of Beaufort and Pamlico sound, and improving New river.For opening a passage, of fifty yards wide and seven deep, at low water, between the town of Beaufort and Pamlico sound, North Carolina, and for improving New river, in addition to two sums of five thousand dollars each, appropriated at the last session of Congress for the harbor of Beaufort and for New river, twenty thousand dollars;
Channel between St. Mary’s and St. John’s.For continuing the improvements of the inland channel between Saint Mary’s and Saint John’s, Florida, five thousand dollars;
Cumberland river.For continuing the improvement of the Cumberland river in Kentucky and Tennessee, according to the report of Colonel Abert, United States Engineer, dated February twenty-third, eighteen hundred and thirty-five, of the survey of said river, fifty-five thousand dollars;
Red river.For continuing the removal of obstructions in the Red river, sixty-five thousand dollars;
Ohio river.For continuing the improvement of the Ohio river between the falls and Pittsburg, sixty thousand dollars;
Ohio and Mississippi rivers.For continuing the improvement of the navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, from Louisville to New Orleans, sixty thousand dollars;
Mississippi river.For continuing the works for the removal of the obstructions to the navigation of the Mississippi river at its mouth, two hundred and ten thousand dollars;
Arkansas river.For continuing the works for the removal of the obstructions to the navigation of the Arkansas river, in addition to the unexpended balance of thirty-five thousand dollars, the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars;
Mississippi and Missouri river.For continuing the improvement of the Mississippi river above the mouth of the Ohio, and of the Missouri river, forty thousand dollars;
Mississippi river.For the erection of a pier in the Mississippi river, near Saint Louis, including the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, appropriated for that purpose at the last session of Congress, fifty thousand dollars;
Ohio, Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Steam snag-boat Archimedes. Black and White rivers.For improving the navigation of the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi rivers, and to replace the steam snag-boat, Archimedes, sunk in the Mississippi river in November last, twenty-three thousand dollars;
For continuing the survey of Black and White rivers in Arkansas and Missouri, one thousand dollars;
Survey with a view to determine the practicability of an inland communication betw’n the Chesapeake and Charleston, S. C. New Brunswick harbor.For making a survey from the southern debouche of the Dismal Swamp canal, down the Pasquotank river to Elizabeth, thence to Croatan Sound, Pamlico and other sounds, near the coast of North Carolina; and thence by the most practicable route to Winyaw bay, in South Carolina, with a view to determine the practicability of opening an inland communication for steam navigation, from the Chesapeake bay to Charleston South Carolina, ten thousand dollars;
For improving the harbor of New Brunswick, New Jersey, by removing the obstructions in the Raritan river in addition to the appropriation of July four, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, six thousand nine hundred and sixty-three dollars;
When the corporate authorities of Alexandria deposite their stock in the Alexandria Canal Company, in the hands of the Secretary of the Treasury, with proper instruments, &c., to vest the same in him, &c., he is authorized to advance, from time to time, the moneys necessary to complete said canal, not exceeding $300,000. Proviso.Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That when the corporate authorities of the town of Alexandria shall deposite the stock held by them in the Alexandria Canal Company, in the hands of the Secretary of the Treasury, with proper and competent instruments and conveyances in law to vest the same in the Secretary of the Treasury and his successors in office, for and on behalf of the United States, to be held in trust upon the same terms and conditions in all respects as the stocks held in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal by the several cities of this District, were required to be held in and by virtue of the act approved on the seventh day of June, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, entitled “An act for the relief of the several corporate cities of the District of Columbia,” that the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby authorized and ​directed to advance, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the Alexandria Canal Company, from time to time, as the progress of the work may require the same, such sums of money, not exceeding three hundred thousand dollars, as may be necessary to complete the said canal to the town and harbor of Alexandria; Provided, That the Alexandria Canal Company, in the construction of the remaining piers, abutments and works of their aqueduct over the Potomac river, are hereby prohibited and restrained from throwing earth or clay into the open river, and are required with the money furnished by this bill to remove all earth and clay, heretofore deposited by them in the river.
Approved, March 3, 1837.