National Republican., 1883-12-19
POTOMAC FLATS.
Report Of Maj. Hains on the Condition Of Af-
fairs in Washington HarbOr.
seven Tcnths of the Entire Flats Raised
Three Feet Above High Tide.

Moi Peter c. Hains in charge OF the work OF
improving the Potomac fats ana the harbors OF
Washington aud Georgetown, submitted his report
TO Gen. Wright yesterday OF the operations for
November and the probable operations for the
pr,scnt month"; u states that during the past
month the work of dredging the Virginia channel
mud dcpusitug the material on the PotOmac Hats
in front of the city has been continued under the
contract with T. SANFORD Ross.
Que Clam-shcll drcdge has worked slCadlly ~
the end of each tTanw0y louding cars while six
other dicdgcs have worked in the CHANNEL. me
latter work 10y day only, tho former night and
day. whenever the drcdgings from the channel
come IN sufficient quantities to justify IT, 49,
The total amount oNcavated from the virginia
was h6Ol6 cubic yards from below long bridge,
47,Q33 cubic yards, making the total amount cx.
Cayutcd and deposited on the fats during the
month, 103 $40 cubic yards. The amount is some.
what below that OF last month, and Is partly duo
to the stormy weather during q part OF the MONTH
The total amount OF material eNcAvuted and de-
POSTED on the flats up to dale is in round NUM-
bcrs about 100000 cubic yards. lhis is sufficient
to aso about seventy acres of the flats to height
above mean low tide. In reality, however, the
area above overflow at ordinary hign tide amounts
TO at least 100 acres due TO the fact that part OF
it is less than three feet above high tide.
There is now clear navigablo enamel OF
twenty feet deep at low tide from the deep water
near Giesboro' point to Georgetown.
The filling III Ofa small area of the Hats near
Ensby's point is progressing slowly, under n.
tract with Thomas T.. Morgan About two acres
have thus far been filed in.
.=The contract for dredging along the line of the
tlope wall and depOsiting the dredging behind
II, so as to form an cmbankmcnt, was awarded To
Frank g. Somcrs, the lowest bidder 40 $40 cents
per cubic yard, the price being somewhat less
than that ofJohn Van Patten, who failed TO com;
mcnce his work at the time agreed upon, and
whose contract failed In consequence.
MIR. someB arrived here Nov. so with the new
clam shell DIRE &c Atlantic alter rough passage
from Delaware breakwater TO the capes OF the
Chesapeake, and went TO work at once.
few laborers have been kept at work AZ
.l..,fa .t..N NtN.V Ia hn
foundation OF the slope wall, repairing TOOLS re-
ceiying deposits OF stone, &c.
The removal OF rocks IN Georgetown har6or,
company, has been continued with moderate
progress.
than was expected. and consequently more tine
Is spent i'll eXcavating II.
1t was intended 10 have put dredge on the
work to remove the loose rock of the blasting, but
this has not yet been done, all the pieces on the
bottom have to be handled by the oiver-a slow
process.
encountered, owing to the'numerous seams in the
rock, which render 1t difficult TO properly direct
the drill Two or three times the drill shan has
beer. broken from this cause.
Up to the present time about 14O cubic yards of
rock have been excavated and landed at the
wharf at Easby's point. This rock will be avail
able for making concrete or Tor other purposes
connected with the improvement of the river, To
facilitate its handling, a short line of trnmway
which was on hand was laid from the wharf TO
the solid ground.
The final examination of "group A" has not yet
been made. This will be done with sweep The
drill has been moved to "group d." opposite the
G street wharf, and work on that is now In pro-
gress.
During this month the removal of the rocks in
Georgetown harbor will be continued under the
same contract unless the formation of ice should
necessitate n stOppage.
During the present month also the dredging of
the Virginia channel and depositing of the
dredgings on tho fats will be continued under the
contract with Mr. Ross as long as the weather will
permit, and II practicable all the winter
MIR. Ross has under consideration the ndvisa-
lility OF putting an electric light on two of his
most powerful dredges that work on the channel
and running them night and day.
The work under contract with Mr. Thomas p
Mogan was continued, that under Mr. Somers
commenced.