New-York tribune., 1895-08-04

affords the principal traffic for the new great i'm
provement.
One reason why the new channel has not oe-
veloped larger sphere Of usefulness IS the iac'
that the dredging opposite the Dyck1nah Meauo"'
and extending up toward kingsoridse anu '''e
K,ngsbrdge Road is not yet completed Jus'
above the bridge rock drills are still engaged J"
work upon the channel. while below the dreoses
of Rittenhouse r. Moore and James D. Leary are
occupied In deepening the new watercourse. Yet
this fact is of insignificant bearing upon 'he mann
prob,em according to Colonel w l.. Gillespie or
fhe limited States Engineering Corps. VINO mas
the work in charge.
COLONEL GILLESPIES OPINION
s.,, % q renorter OF The Tribune the other
day:
The Harlem River has been navigabe all a'oi's
below Macombs Dam Bridge, and iahcy 'ne
traffic below that point has not been ahec'eu o"c
way or the other by the Harlem River improve
meut Since the interchange of waters. "heh 'i'e
canal was formally opened. understand tha' 'ne
number OF vessels entering the Harlem from the
Hudson River and carrying hay. grain' iumoer or
coal has largely Increased. As matter Oh 'ac1
the draucht possible under present cohoi"ons Is
still too small the channel to invite the entrance
NJ n larger class Of vessels. The draught at the
present time is ten feet at low water ana 'nere-
fore only vessels Of the smaller size can YET enter
the Harlem from the Hudson River.
Before the close of the season. however we nope
,o have a channel between the Hudson and the
Fast rivers which will have a depth OF twenty
feet at high water. Under the present cohdlohs
uaht draugh, schooners are coming IN 10 various
no,nts in the Harlem River for the delivery or
building material for while the depth OF water IS
ten feet at low tide II is fourteen feet at hgh de
and advantage may readily be taken OF that ract.
"As a matter Of fact, we have not expected
material increase in traffic In the Harlem RIVER
until the channel has been excavated to deptn OK
a. least fifteen feet at mean low water. which
would mean an average depth OF twenty feet at
hiwh water. As to the designation snip caha''
that was only q local Interpretation OF the harem
River Improvement and docs not accurately de-
scribe the purpose of the new canal Ihe dreuging
still to be done. and which is now going on IS In
nro1re.s principally north OF Washington Bridge.
that is between the Washington Bridge and the
IIudson River. There Is some rock 10 De excaVateo
in the channel just beyond the new kihgsor'dge
Road Bridge, but that work Is now nearly COM
pleted. In the channel just west OF fahoas isniho
dredging is still being carried on. This was always
a dinHcult place of navigation. in consequence OF
the shallowness Of the water and the narrowness
Of the channel. The hardness OF the short-pah
makes the accomplishment OF the WORK especiahy
difncult. -,
"In less than a month. however. that channel VIII
have a width Of nearly two hundred and fifty feet,
4 condition which we accept as entirely
satisfactory at present, for II will enable US 10 oi-
rect our energies elsewhere to points where there
are rocks and powders which must be removed
"As TO the Harlem River itself 1t Is to be said that
Il has a depth Of fifteen feet up from the East
River az far as Seventhave. but the channel up to
that point is not OF the full width-25o feet.
A GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT INTENDED
"Our great purpose is a gradual improvement OF
the navigation Of the Harlem River. II has been
by no means completed. 1t is still to be an i'm
provement Of the future. We are working up to
q completed course Our purpose is to keep just
ahead OF the demands for navigation purposes
through the river. At present the knowledge Of
navigators 10 not up to the demands OF the situ-
alton as regards commerce. We expect TO take
the lead In these requirements until the entire
project has reached Its full limitations. BY this
mean to say that propose to keep ahead OF
the situation as we did when We began work at
the bar or Sandy Hook eleven years ago. When I
began operations for the Government at that point
there was only twenty-five feet Of water at low