The Arkansas advocate., 1833-02-20

Annual Report of fthe srorat done in,propiag
 He aosigotio,s of fhe One end Missis-
 si5,i sassss, from iiis It t sgf Ge,esotsa,
 1881, 10 the 33G1iilt of September, IS32-
 From tho lst of October, 1881, to the lst of March, 1899, the steamboat IIel. cpolis removed SCI snags, aod felled 1895 trees from the banks. II. the same time, inc steam boat 4ifetsin,e1es removed 5s2l6 snags from the channel, and fslled some hundred trees from the falling banks of ttlc river. On the first day of March those boats were laid np at St. Louis, the river being too high for them to operate. They They were repaired and reiitted. and commenced operations ontlse 10th of June last. Since that time the Ilelepolis has removed from the bed of the river y65 snags, md fell ed, from tho falling banks of tic river, 1900 trees. The totalnumber of snaes removed in tlle year hy the two boats is 2757: the number of trees felled by the crews of the same boats in the year.
 944 hes by thc crew of tle steamboat AreIpisae- des, from the lst cf October, 1881, 10 tothc lst March, 1899, not enumerated. By a reference to the monthly reports from the captains ofthe two boats, the department nay see the part of the riv. CT from wis,,i;, fite sls,gs above s,iiiudiesf te have been takeas also the daily op- eratiops of those boats during the vear. The whole line q operation for the year has been from bayou placqnemine to al,e Missouri river, a distance of about HOO miles.
 Three companies of men. of about 40 each, were employed from fhc lst Of 0e. tober to the l9th of January last, feIi- ing timber from the hanks. Two corn |palics, of about % men each, eommen- ced at the same service about the i5th off August last up to the 3;e .3,;1eill of sertem- Eber. The banks have been cleared Of lhe dangerous timber, ia inc last year, q distance of abcnt 27i) miles.
 On the Ohio river, four usacline boats were worked from the 30th of Septctr- Der to the lst of December. They were again put in operation on the 10th Of August Inst. They have been en- gagged removing logs, roots, and snags. from the low watey channels offhe Ohio river. In that time, those four boats have removed ll20 logs. roots. 6zc.. of different sizes, (trom great 10 small, ] from the bottom of the Ohio river.
 The improvement of the Ohio river, under the act of Congress of the 2d of March, 1881, fordecpcning the channel over tho bars in tiat triver, was conmen- eed about the let of October last year, the water being loo high to ronsuarnce operations at an earlier date. Inc fall being cold, and the high stage of ihe wa- ter operated 50 much t.!s;stt F, that but little was done excep. quarry ing stone. making preparations, 6c. h Jaly last, ti,at work vas again com menced. Two wing danss hare been completed at French Island, measuring together over one mile and q half in llsIlt lsIlstit; two sIi sssuiiiicto town bars, up. wards of thfee-elia iarters of a mile long !; three at she Three Sister Islands, in length one and E miles; and one at the Three Mile Island bar, about half mile in length. At those four bars, tic greatest difficulty in tic low wafer na'yiii-I gation Was formerly met with: fre- quently there was not more than IS 10 n inches of water to De found over the bars, Since the wing dams have been completed there has net been less thas, four feet water in the channels ever them, although inc water has been with- ina few inches of it's lowest stage.
 At the head of Cumberland island, a dam has been built across the main channel Of the river, for the purpose of changing the channel to the left side ot the island, 60 as 10 pass the town of Smithland and the mouth of the Cum berland river, by which means the bar at the entrance fthe Cumherland river will De removed. A shoal in the Ohio river, at the loot oftbe island known by the name of iile Cnnberland bar, will also De summed by tbe channel Of lhe| river being changed to the lef sisle oil the jsland. Much benefit will also be felt from this improvement bya large portion oi lie b0ats That pasc down the Ohio when the wafer is brlnu medic um stage. A large portion oi these boats have passeDgersand freightto land al Smithland, which could not approach previous to this improvement. The dam is t,ovv nea rlv fsniahod. t1,, ..,<~l<