Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-11-29
QUIZ RIVER AND HaRBOR.
what the Government IL being In
the Way OF improvements - The
Work Proceeding satisfactorily.

In an interview day or two since with
Captain R. 8. Burnett, who is superintend-
ing the improvements of our river and har-
Dor now being carried on by the government,
we gathered the following interesting de-
tails regarding the work:
he says the government has now at work
five stone barges, built at Charleston, eighty
feet long and twenty five feet wide, one pile
driver, two anchor fats, one house fiat
eighty feet long for laborers, and one small
house fat. A force has been employed du-
ring the past two weeks cutting brush and
making fascines for mattresses to be put on
the cross ties at the foot of the dam at the
lower end OF Fig Island, to prevent scour-
ing out at the dam, and on Friday last log
mattress one hundred feet long and thirty
feet wide was sunk, with about fifty cubic
| yards Of stone.
The Captain also informs US that Messrs.
| Bangs s. Gamer, contractors to furnish
stone and logs for the work, have bought
| tug boat In Charleston for towing mat
tresses from their timber fields at Keller's
plantation, about ten miles from the city, to
the foot of Fig Island. The government
| has ACCCltcQ butOuEA bhCnAs AtOh 1NCW
York, one cargo of stone of about $50 tons,
aud two more vessels, similarly laden,
are on the way, while still two more are
loading. Ten thousand trees have been cut
by the contractors, who have steadily en-
gagged force of about fifty laborers, chop
pers, etc., and besides this they have ten
timber wagons busy hauling timber for the
mats. The steam dredge Henry Burden
has been at work since Tuesday dredging
the wrecks channel. She has been much
improved and her capacity consider
ably increased, and will remain
constantly at work, the Ameri-
can Dredging CompanY-which has been
engaged in dredging the channel at this
point--having ceased their operations. To-
day the work of laying mats for the jettY at
the lower end of Fig Island, along the crest
of the sand bar, will be begun, and to-
morrow a.party will be put in the field to
make a complete survey of the river from
cross tides to Fort Pulaski. The work of
removing old wrecks at the oyster shoals
has been temporarily suspended because the
American Dredge Company did not have
the proper machinery for this work 1t will
be resumed, however, as coon as the snag
boat which has been built for the govern
ment arrives, and she is expected to be here
In two or three weeks.
Captain Burnett also states that carpen-
tiers are now at Fort jackson busilv repair
ing the damage done by the late storm, and
that the entire work is progressing finely.
He says the jetty at the foot of Fig Island
will be formed on log mattress LOO feet
long, and this, he thinks, will result In
washing away Garden Point. that place so
much dreaded by our river navIgators. The
jetties at the dredge will be given deeper
draft, and another pile driver win be put to
work there to-day or Tomorrow. The snag
boat now in service will hereafter work on
the distractions between this city and Au-
gusta.
One great difficulty in the way of rapid
work is that of procuring stone. This has
heretofore been brought from New York,
and such is the case st present. Captain
Burnett hopes, however, that satisfactory
arrangements can soon be made to get the
stone By rail and water from up about Au-
gusta, and when this is done the work will
be greatly facilitated. He is confident that
the money appropriated for these improve
ments will be more judiciously expended
than heretofore, and that satisfactory results
will be accomplished.