Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1853-01-06

On all other items no, a. ....... ..
bave enumerated, estima-
ted, at, say, 3.0l7 25
Total "-...a " $l0S. 900 90
To make payment. from month to
month, on the Indebtedness of the work.
as above indicated--and To undertake TO
say that i: would not be met, but the
aOhole inc II ing fund applied to its fur
Their prosecution, was of course totally
out OF the ques,ion--while. at the same
time, constantly struggling to reserve
means enough. out of the comparatively
small amount of proceeds of sales of
lands that were being made. to apply on
The Ben,onsport. Bonapar,e and Cro.on
works, in order to put them in condi-
lion 10 pass boats I; and, furthermore, to
open the "old dams" at Plymouth and
Keosauqua, and channel through the
sand bars and the forests Of snags be
low ST. Francisville--.o do all this. we
say, under the existing difficulties, may
perchance, seem 10 those who have not
undertaken ii, a ,ritling and easy task;
yet experience teaches different lesson!
The embarrassments under which the
Commissioner has constantly labored, as
the dlsbursing officer on The work, in
consequence of the numerous and Pc
pesually increasing demands against it.
have been of a most harassing charac-
ter. With much to pay and much TO do,
and but little money, i, has not only
been "a fire in the rear" alone to which
he has been subjected, daily, bu. in front
also-and upon either flank!
RIVER OPEN FOR NAvIGATIoN-THE sold
DAMS
The next great object, however, with
HE undersigned, after the securing of
the grant above The Raccon Furk-ful.
lowed by the failure of Bangs, Brothers
& Co. 10 fulfill their contract-has been
achieved in the face of every obstacle
The opening of the river for navigation,
durlng the present season. was all that
could reasonably have been expected to
be accomplished, under such circumstan.
ces--and tina, has been done. l he O..
pening of the obnoxious "old dams" has
taken place 100, when the proper time
arrived, but not Beforehand they no
longer constitute an obstruction TO navi-
Canon. If they had been removed three
years ago, or even three months ago, as
was strongly and necessarily urged, no.
body in the world would have profi,ed
by it. while large numbers of people
would have been harmed materially
Until quite recently these much talked
OF "old DAMS" were, really, no obstruc-
uon to navigating the river; because the
State works were impossible for boats;
and hence the latter could have gone
neither up nor down, if there had been
no such thing as an sold dam" in the
river. The State works once in con.
diiion for the passage of boats, it became
not only proper, bu, duty, peremptori.
ly required of the Commissioner, by
law, TO have the old dams opened-and
therefore il was done.
CHANNEL below ST. FRANCIsviLLE.
In clearing out channel below ST.
Francisvllle, where the bottom OF the
river is sand and mud, instead of the
rock found, invariably, above that point,
1t became necessary TO get rid, as far as
practicable, of The hundreds of snags and
lstumps that had become deeply embed
de0 ,here. Some of these were of large
slze-huge trees, torn down and thrown
mo the channel of the river, during the
great flood of 1851. 10 remove, entire
| ly, all these trees, was matter utterly
Impossible to be accomplished, short of
the use of power not at the command
of the Commissioner-to. wit: '.Snae
Boat" propelled by steam, such as are
used on large rivers, and which would
cost some thousands of dOllars;-but the
next best thing TO that was done. All
the snags that could possibly be taken
out. with The power called into requisi-
lion; To. wit: windlasses, takles and pull
leys, with boats manned by some twenty
men, were wholly removed; while 9th
ers, that could not be thus removed, we're
cut down as low as possible in the wa.
ter. This, there can be no question,
will make u channel goo feet in width
that can be passed without difficulty, al
al times when the river can be nayiya.
ted above, until The dams and locks are
completed. The job was undertaken at
1.-The round sum of 5000, by II. ]. Ger