, 1879-08-28
The Jetty Appropriation

Inc st, LOUIS CriOpG Democrat give!
the following account Of q conversation
recently held with Mr., Eads relative tt
the ietty system recently completed Al
the mouth Of the Mississippi at a cost tc
the government Of IS, ,250,000, one mil
lion Of which is held back as O guaranty
that the channel shall be kept at it,
present depth for 90 years: "When Mr.
Eads left New Orleans lately, he had re
ceived in all for .jetty work S3,250,000
On arriving in st. Louis he found &
draft from Washington for the $500,00C
payment due on the attainment of o
26-foot depth of water, and which
amount was lately passed upon by the
Attorney General A few weeks age
the fact that final depth of 30 feet had
been reached had been certified on tt
Washington, and another cash draft fol-
$500,000 is expected by Mr.. Eads iii
the course of thirty days more. This
sums up total of $4,250,00O out OF
$5, 250,000 to be eventually received fol
the whole work. The recent attain.
ment of 30-foot depth entities Mr..
Eads and his friends, therefore, not only
to half million cash payment, but com.
pletes their title to an additional mil
lion, which is to be held back, however,
as a guarantee that the present depth OF
the channel will be maintained for a
period of twenty years, at an annual
cost not exceeding 100000. 1t was
originally supposed that it would be
necessary to advance the ietties from
year to year in the gulf, and that this,
with the maintenance of the works
when completed, would involve an an,
nual enormous expenditure; but Mr.
Eads agreed that this should not exceed
100000 per annum, and that he would
leave million of the price of the jetties
to guarantee it. On this million the
government is to pay 5 per cent. inter-
est semi.annually, one half of the prin-
cipal at the end of ten years and the
other half at the end Of twenty years.
Payments for maintenance of work are
to be made quarterly. If it shall be
found that it costs more than 100000
per annum to maintain tue etties, the
law provides that Mr.. Eads may draw
the excess of that cost from the million
reserved, on the fact that such extra
cost being properly certified to the Sec.
retary of War. If at any time during
the next twenty years the present depth
of the channel is not maintained, then
pay is to be deducted from the $l,000,-
900 held back in proportion to the time
during which there is deficiency of
water
DISTRIBUTION OF PROFITS.
The half million dollars (26-foot pay
ment) has already been divided up and
sent to the Louisiana National Bank of
New Orleans; the Third National Bank
of st. Louis; Banking House of Winslow,
Lanier d Co., New York; and the Bank
of Pittsburg, of Pittsburg, Pa, and those
banks have been instructed to pay the
26-foot certificates which are held by
petty stockholders on presentation. The
petty stockholders are located chiefly in
New Orleans, Memphis, st. Louis, Pitts
burg, Philadelphia and New York, and
there are twice as many of them in New
Orleans as in st. Louis.
eff it is fair question, Mr. Eads,
what will the petty stockholders make
by their investments"
t'They will make all that / guaranteed
them"
"What was that 2
''They will receive a net
PROFIT OF 100 PER CENT,
and 10 per cent. interest for the use of
their money, beside"
"That is very neat little pro6t-a
pretty hard-time profit"
eyes, it is.
"You must certainly have been able
to execute the work for much less than
was the original estimate of its cost. L
believe you undertook the work for some
hundreds of thousands less than the
estimate of the Board of United States
Engineers of 1874, did you notq
eyes, that is so. l not only accom-
plished the work for much less than the
original estimate, but did it under pecu-
liar difficulties. Work is ordinarily paid
for by the government as it progresses,
at the end of each month, but in this
case l had to provide all the money
I T