The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-10-07

river. During that year aprO>pcctinG
company was OF the opinion thar il
would be good investment to putthc
river in condition for boats, and went
to the expense of having it surveyed,
and in fact this company went SO far
as to have work done III the way Of
Improving tho river. Dams aud
locks ut various places were built.
Some of our readers will remember
when work was being done on the
! Devil Shoals above this place. At this
early period the general government
took very little interest i'll improving
our in land streams. The company re-
I1errcd to was expecting aid from the
State, but this aid failing to come Oh
by some other means the enterprise
! was abandoned.
In 1873, when Congress seemed
more favorable towards internal inn
| proVcmcnts, an examination Of the
river was ordered. Col. S. ~. Albert,
of Washington, was dclcgatcdto make
this examination, which was done, but
Congress never took action upon his
report. During the last session of
Congress the matter was agitatcd again.
whcrcupon four bills were introduced
for the purpose of securing an cxami-
nation of Catawba river in North Caro-
lima, Cawtawba river in South Caro-
lima, Watcrec and Santee in South
Carolina. These different sections all
being part Of the same stream COM
bined arrangement was effected to
have one party to do the whole work.
Col. j. NJ. Walbrcct, Of Washington,
but whose headquarters are now at
Norfolk, Va, was appointed to this
c. Tnl,
gagged in examining the Ncusc and
Trent rivers in the eastern part Of this
State, but that work having been ac-
complishcd, he proceeds at once to
work on the Catawba river.
About two weeks ago Col. Walbrcct,
with his corps Of assistants, began
descend the river. The other mem
bcrs of the party arc Mcssrs. C. Dc
Witt, T.. T.. Walbrect, d. j. Ainsworth
and a. NJ. Kirkland. After building
Il flat boat aud battcau and getting all
their other equipments arranged, thcy
floatcd off down the rippling Catawba.
The weather has been very favorable
thus far, cuabling them to make rapid
progress. They arrived in Hickory
Thursday evening and stopped to rest
few days and make some repairs.
Col. W. informs us that the trip thus
tar has been pleasant, says also judy
ing from his prospecting observations
lt is altogether practicable to navigate
the Catawba from here to Old Fort.
The greatest distractions found above
this place arc at Horse Ford and Devil
Shoals, q short distance above Hickory.
The river at these places is very rough
and has considerable fall, but with
the proper engineering management a
channel can be made for the passage of
boats. The party will continue the
descent OF this stream until they come
TO the Atlantic. About two months
VIII be required TO finish the work.
The object OF this examination is to
get an approximate estimate Of fitting
tl,c river for navigation or to ascertain
whether or not it would Justify an ap-
preparation to make an actual survey.
Col. W. will make report to the next
Congress as to the condition Of Tic
| ivcr and other points Of evidence ne
ccssary for consideration, and upon his
report depends greatly whether or not
all appropriation will be made for
surveys or improvements.
One o. two persons saw the party at
Peay's Ferry, but knowing nothing as
to who they were or what was their
object, except that they were sounding
the channel, made 10 particular i'll
qdirics about them. This is pity, as
a number Of persons living in that sec
ton could RQvc given valuable infor-
nation about\ the channel, and there
arc one or two, colorcd men there who
used to carry boats all the way to
Charleston, and whose knowledge of
The stream would have been of great
service in avoiding useless work.
TheEchicf obstruc tions in tho River
arc at Laudsfo-d, at Mountain Island,
New Rocky Mount, and at Loves
Shoals, about ten miles above Camden.
Below the Shoals the river is navigablc
for small steamboats,. Around the
three shoals above mentioned were
formerly canals, built about fifty years
ago, which have gone to wreck, but of
which the masonry of the locks is still
in good preservation. These canals
were part Of the general system of
navigation which included the Santce
Canal, but they were not used for any
considerable length Of time. Even
after they fell into disusc, cotton was
sent from Peay's Ferry over Loves
Shoals down the river. IF only these
shoals were made navigab!e, it would
be Of great benefit to the counties OF
Chester, Fairfield, Lancaster and Kcr-
shaw. Mr.. Daniel Wells, Of Lancaster
county, has built him cotton boat in
which he proposes to transport cotton
this year rs far at least as Acton, on the
Wilmington Road.
While Northern States arc receiving
liberal appropriations for trout streams
and mountain torrents, it is shame
that such fino water way rs. the
Waterce River should be neglected
We hope that Col. Evins will press for
the appropriation at the coming session
Of Congress, especially as the obstruc-