The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-02-07
Y - 2 = II q tsti{i
os LOCAL TTERS.a
THERITER IMPROVEMENT.

lIEI s1Slf>ylS - 2luA Avn tiISlENl5
laaH ..{f1tt,S ~ BIZ q L..l.,r5 X; t:,3Rt
Mr.. Whiteomb's Recent Rcporf to. tss.
Council. .e;st.. .as., T
WORK DONE SINCE. LAST. OCTOBER-I'HF
MACHINERY REMOVED TO A, PLACE OF
ii .SAFEFY-THE EICE-JAstt!AND RISE IN THE
RIvER-EFFEcT ON THE EoTToM-P
soNAL2PREsENT CONDITION OF TuE
| CHANNEL &C.. &c; 4,,;s 1; IT,. ~" !:
AT the lastlmeetingiofthe Common Coun.
Gil hlr. Curtis, on behalf OF the Committee
on the Improvement. of James River, sub
mitted a communication from 'Mr. r. +.
BIankenship, chairman OF. the committee,
enclosing the report Of Mr. II. D. Whit
(, comb, engineer OF the improvement, giving
an account OF operations on the river since
hislast report, made on the s1st Of October.
From the report we gathersome interesting
facts. ;arc .s...s,-,. ...., = - e.fr
Work was suspended on the 2Sth Of, De!
cember, and alithe machinery removed for
safety to Richmond bar, where it. now !is.
The con.ract-work at Gap cut of
was not suspended, however, being above
water. and Mr.. Haggerty has nearly com.
pleted that portion of bis contract. He ex.
poets to begin dredging in few days. :
|. TIE WORK NEAR RICHMOND.
The work near Richmond was impeded
and sometimes suspended entirely from
freshets, and the amount done in December
was inconsiderable. Owing to these him
draDces the plan Of contraction contem.
plated has not been fully completed, and
several of the lower wing-dams are yet in
differently protected against freshets. From
the beginning Of last years work in, July
to the 2Sth December Ithe following amounts
were removed from the channel from a
short distance above Rockets rect to the
lower end Of Drewry's island: Sand and
loose material, $4,000 cubic yards; soft and
decomposed rock, cobble-stones, &C., 19,3
cubic yards; solid rock, principally from
Rockets reef, 1,234s cubic yards. Besides
this, 1.435 cubic yards OF sand. were re:
moved from shoal above Warwick, and
21,045 cubic yards were dredged opposite
the wing-dams on Warwick bar and de-
posted on them for their protection, All
the other material mentioned above was
used in protecting the Wing-dams and dikes.
Four thousand nine hundred and seventy
six feet OF wing,dams have been, con-
structed. .s,,i ALA; 4gaplu -
No dredging or other work than repairs
Of machines and machinery was done by the
city during the year except a. few days
dredging in the early part OF January, after
the fseshet Of November, 1877.
.a. !: .,f REPAIRS TO STEAMERS
After removing the machinery to safe
position on the 2Sth and 29,b December, The
tug Craighill was found to be leaking Sc
riousy, and although greatly needed here
to aid in protecting tue machinery, Mr.
Whitcomb was forced to send her to Nor
folk for repairs. She. left on the 2d Janua
nv, the dav before the river was closed by
ice, and returned on the 20tn January, llav
ing been delayed by ice in Norfolk harbol
and in the river. =.
The tug Somers is also in eaky condi
ton, and must be repaired before doing an!
hard service. ,@.1 ;"
The repairs to the Craighill, including
however, eight tons, OF coal purchased
amounted TO $1,000. a. - tt"s,, -.
THE ICE JAM. 20 :.
The river closed with! ice. on the Sd o.
January and remained so 'unti the 10Th
when the Old Dominion steamship Wyan
oke cut her way to the Wharyes. At fhl:
time the ice was about six inches thick
Rain had fallen on the: 9Th and 9Th, and or
the 10th, the, ice from above was coming
down In large quantities. at T. M.. on
the 10th the. water ut Rockets was 81 feet
above high tide, and it continued to rfse
until on the It'll It is reported to ,haye
reached nearly Is feet above high tide. Thls
rise was accompanied by q gentle current,
and was caused By agorge OF ice several miles
below, as the rise above the falls was no
where over. seven feet, so far: as heard,
| Another rain fell onthe 9Th, which brought
down more, ice, but in, the mean time the
river had fallen several feet. and the later
rise, dusto the rain, was not so high las ON
the 11th, At this time, the river was gorged
eleven miles below the city,, was then
clear via Dutch Gap cut to Varina, where
another gorge or pack occurred Of more lin.
tied extent. The bend at Trenps reach
was also packed full OF ice. !2 - -. + Z
HOW TIE GORGE WAS BROKEN. . !.
On the 18th the OLD Dominion steamships
Wyanoke and Richmond attempted TO break
the goree-the former from Richmond, the
latter from below Varina. The Richmond
failed 70 make any serious impression be-
low. and abandoned the effort. The Wyan,
ol:e spent the 18th, 18th. and 18th 10 The
pack. and finally broke through on the 18th,
and was met by her companio the
Old Dominion, In the pack at Yarina OF on
the 18th. The latter came onto thee city tne
same day Without serious difficulty. Ine
officers. of the Wyanoke are certainly
entitled to great credit and admiration ior
The persistent spirit shown, and Tor thell
.long-cantinued effort, advancing as they
did few yards at a time until 5tney nag
passed through at least eight miles OF ice,
averaging, perhaps, eight feet ia. thickness; ];
Some Of the ice left on the dikes measures
on 22d January nearly mine feet in tmck" sk
8uessJ Is is safe fo,say that no ntper PesselEs
coming to RinhmondiWere competent f9I
,.},ss taslsyI ,..f 6fiytti if - isf.t I.
n, t.1s 10 .4,iigtf sjss 3 ~ q ]
.r.is r.isEFPEeYtoFiTHE ICE ON TEE WINGED ms. iii
The. ice seems to- have first gOrged, so as
to raise the 'leRelI OF tho water pereept tibly,
sat q point efeyea miles below the city; Cap7
tain Frank Cunning gsiar5, who bad charge
OF the city and United States machines dur
ing the alseaee Of the super eEintenden With
the tug CraiehiaI, and who was on duty lay
and dnirhs faurds tie ice ftesh states that
the ice from ab0Yef flowed fn a'stead yssfreap,
by his post OH RIahIn ondl bar s Tor HentY-;
-four hours, filling the " hole space between
the wins. dams, and that It did mot check
3unfil the uataE had risen over atIe tops 4oi
the dams, yy6en the current slackened
from ths ponaihg ab5etes. lta height
these Wing. Cams s .1ess! 5!