The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-03-20

pelue -. elitsS sa9 oo'as Ase1Ao4. eo p1e''0
upon Ine eslle y
The report was read. as follows:
To the Honorable the Members of the General
Assembly:
The sneciaI Joint committee to investi1ata
the affairs of the New Canal would respect
fully report that there are three principal
grounds Of complaint against the lessee
Second-As to the condition of the piers at
the mouth of the canal and of the banks and
pickets on the sides of the canal.
Third AS to the depth of water and OBJ
structions.
First-Tbe COMPLAINT ia that commerce
does not now authorize the rates charged.
The lessee has, nv the terms Of the Contract
with the State, the right to charge thirty
seven and 0ne-half (37il1 cents Der ton. He
has in no case exceeded tits limit. The policy
question fDr the lessee to determine. and the
State cannot Interfere unlpss he exceeds the
rates allowed by his contract
Second-On this point the testimony is vol
ger of vessels using the canal being Injured
by collision with the piles at it's entrance.
Your committee finds that the danger
arises Not from the construction or condition
of the work, but from the shallow water in
IN 1 touch Bottom at distance Of 100 to $50 FEET
outside of the entrance to the canal. thereby
losing their head way and becoming unmanage-
able. and should the winds be unfavorable,
they are driven broadside against the piles
This is no fault of the levee For a short dis
lance, in two places, the pickets planted to
prevent the earth from washing In and filling
the canal have been driven out: these should
be repaired, as they are dangerous to vessels
hugging the shore. The levees or embank-
ments in several places we're DESTROYED and
washed away by the severe storm in Septem-
her last so completely AZ to admit the waters
Of the lake; the evidence proves that the les
see has repaired much of this injury and is
still at work upon it.
bound to widen the canal to one hundred feet,
to make basins. and to procure and maintain
a depth, in the canal Of eight feet at low tide.
Suit was instituted against him In 1878 for the
and so decided, that he had complied with the
terms of his contract The question now to
he decided ia whether he has since then
maintained the requisite depth" and whether
his failure so to do has. in any manner. been
os t. sygs ssks and be baf Shall
al that Il ber se somemes
peciaflv at The entrance. only five and a half
feet. It is shown that the rise and fail of the
tide denends greatly on the winds. A stiff
north wind frequently driving the water
ont Of the lake to AS much as two
or three feet below low tide The evidence
however, shows that the depth is less than
eight feet at what is known as low tide mark
in some places. and ESPECIALLY at the entrance
of the canal the depth does not exceed six and
nne-haIf feet of Wafer Rut the testimony
also proves that there is at all times from one
foot to one foot and n half more water in the
canal and at it's entrance than there is in the
lake. AT q distance OF from 100 to $50 feet
from the entrance of the canal there is a
shifting sand bank. which is sometimes shifted
by the winds to and into the entrance of the
canal This change is effected in very short
time, and until the sand thus shifted Is re-
moved the depth of water is greatly lessened
It is surely to the interest Of the lessee to
have removed as. speedily as Dossible this
obstruction, occasioned by a "force majeure''
and for which he is not responsible
The impeachment to navigation, the place
where the accidents occur, is this sand bar: it
issin the lake, and its removal forms no part
of the duties imposed upon the lessee.
Another complaint is that there is a saw
mill erected near the canal the RATS or logs
for which are permitted to come into the
canal; that these logs sometimes sink and
vessels strike against them. We find moth
ing lin the lease forbidding the use of the
canal by dealers in logs. The canal Is for the
benefit Of commerce, OF which lumber forms a
part. At the place where the lumber is some
times allowed to remain, the canal is one hun
dred feet wide; the lumber never extends more
than TWENTY-FIVE feet from the bank. leaving
some seventy-five feet unoccupied. Should
any damage occur from the fact that some of
This ElInDer, Delng WaJ6r-iORgH0, 1Oated be-
meath the surface, land it is not shown that
any damage has ever thus occurred), the
party injured would have recourse against
the lessee. The evidence Is that these RATS
or logs are never permitted to remain in the
canal longer than Is necessary to make room
for them in a basin expressly used for that
purpose.
Your committee believes that although
there has not been strict compliance with
the letter of the contract, and that some in
convenience may have at times been expert
enced, yet the evidence would not justify any
action In the premises That the only point
of a serious nature is the failure of the lessee
to keep and maintain depth of eight feet in
the canal. This failure, strictly. speaking, isa
o, shs he na Is t
lar would be beneficial to no one inasmuch as
there is enough water in the canal for any and
every vessel that can cross the bar in the lake,
your committee concludes that the spirit and
not the letter Of the contract should govern.
The object OF that provision was to admit of
the passage up the canal OF vessels OF a GER
tain draft; il these vessels cannot reach the