Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-11-18

able was quite inadequate 10 the work
required. This must continue 10 be the
case until the annual appropriations are
increased The following are the re-
suits of the season: Number Of snags
pulled, Sal weight in tons, S606; trees
cut, l40S; drift-piles removed, l4;lnum-
Der Of miles run by the vessels, 1902. In
the Mississippi river the Long, De Russey
and 0ctavis were in the field. The
Long worked between Cairo and st.
Louis, until transferred to The lower Mis-
sissippi, while the DeRussey was in the
river between Cairo and Helena. The
Octayia was In the upper Mississippi.
The following is the result: SnRgs pull
ed, six hundred and thirty; weight in
tons, eleven thousand eight hundred and
eighty; trees cut, five hundred and fif-
teeni drift piles removed, six; number
OF miles run, i've thousand and forty.
Ii had been designed to devote two
| months to the Arkansas river, but the
new iron-hulled snagboat not having
been completed, it was deemed waste
OF money to send in either of the wooden
ones, as they could only venture few
miles from the mouth, aud could there
lOle accomplish nothing of importance.
Owing TO delays incident TO high water,
strikes at the rolling-mills, etc, the
contractor for the iron snagb0at in
fcourse of construction at Cincinnati has
as yet been unable to finish the boat.
Various extensions were granted him,
the last one fixing the thirtieth OF June
1874, as the day for the delivery of the
boat. At that date, however, she was
not finished, and moreover, the Ohio
river had fallen so low that il was
matter of some uncertainty when the
boat could be got over the falls at Louis
vile. She is too wide to go through the
locks of the canal. I is hoped, how
ever, that We VIII at least be able TO get
her on, in the autumn. Her machinery
is all ready 10 be set up, and when once
delivered TO the government few weeks
will mt her for service. As far as can be
at present predicted, the result OF this
experiment IN snagboat building prom
ises good results. The draft OF water
will not exceed two and a-half feet,
while the wooden boats built ia 1865 now
draw five feet. Moreover. the new boat
mas the advantage of enormous structu-
raj strength and stiffness, as well as an
almost indestructible hull. The iron
snagboat, J. n. Maeomb, viii draw two
and a-half feet. Her length is one hum
anu 1CNGnl1- 1--WE AEGAf A1lu nGk
beam siXty-twO feet. A wooden huh OF
the same dimensions would draw about
three feet and two inches, and with the
same power would be of much lower
speed. To bring wooden boat out in
the same draught as the J. n. Macomb,
and have her equally fast, would require
hull two hundred and fifty feet long
and siXty-twO feet beam at the very
a.
the old boats leads me TO doubt
the possibility of making such
boat strong enough TO fix the work re-
quired, even if her immense size did not
render her practically worthless. To get
out wooden hull in a draught of two
feet would, think, be impossible al
though a very useful, powerful iron
snagboat can be built which will not
exceed that draught. Such boatis now
being built by Major Merrill, corps of
engineers, and 1 have recommended one
of similar size to carry the machinery of
the Octavis. Two snagbOats only can
be put in the field, and one of these will
remain entirely on the Mississippi,
working there eight months. The other
one will work in the Missouri and Ar
kansas rivers four months in each year.
The ]. n. Macomb, when completed,
will take the place of this latter boat.
The estimates for this work are as fol-
lows:
For one large iron-hulled snag-
boat TO carry the machinery of one
of the present wooden $4,000 90
For one small iron-hulled boat. 10000 90
For working expenses of four boats,
month............. ................ I2s.O0O 90
Total amount required 900 90
Amount expended during last fiscal