The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-01-13

centrifugal suction pumps with a Capac-
ity each of 10000 gallons per minute
Her draught forward when loaded Is Is
feet. ON each side there IS a large sue
ton pipe, the length now used being IS
feet. This pipe goes down at an angle, and
is so arranged that II scrapes
the material from the bottom, aud II
is then brought up by the force Of the sue
ton from centrifugal pumps each OF which
makes go revolutions per minute. and
is deposited in six large bins all Of which
are located forward. three on the star
board and three on the port side. These
bins are bulkheaded one from the other
and the material gets from one to an
other by overlooking. The water, "a large
quantity of which Is brought Up through
the suction pipes. drains out through
openings for the purpose on the sides
of the hull
When in operation the dredgc moves
along slowly in the channel and the ma
terial Is scraped and sucked up into the
hold. The Gcdney gets a fun load by
going twice the length Of the new cham
mel on Tvbee Knoll, and with her 700 cubic
yards amoard goes out to sea where the
material is dumped from the bins through
the bottom. The number Of trips made
each day depends on tho nature of the
material dredged, and the distance which
IL must be carried TO be dumped. II Is
considered that with her work on Tybee
Knoll she should make about four trips
"a day, which means the removal of about
. 600 to 900 yards OF material from the
channel during that time. This Is about
twice the amount OF work done by the
ordinary clam or scoop dredge, six Of
which are now at work at different points
on the river channel between the city
and the sea-
The Gedney IS in charge OF Capt. J. Q.
Norton and Government Recorder d. i.
Haasis. who superintends Its operations
and directs where the work is to be done.
She carries twenty-five men all told
and cost originally $4,000. The dredge
has one Of the finest steam stearing
gears made, it having been purchased by
the government from the worlds fair
where Il was on exhibition and took
the medal. As her draught is IS feet she
sometimes comes in contact with the
bottom Of the new channel on the KNOLL
as there are places in this channel which
have q minimum low water depth of 1G
feet, and the channel Is at present a
narrow one. Arrangements have been
made, however, by which an officer thor
oughly familiar with the channel win
be on board Of her, and when the crew is
entirely accustomed to the new conditions
under which it Is working. the fun ca
pacity Of the dredge Will be reached
here as easily as was the case in New
York harbor. This no doubt viii be
brought about within a short time, and 1t
will not be many weeks before the new
or straight sea going channel on the
knoll is given a perceptible increase Of
depth.
with the exception Of a few places on
the knoll which have a minimum low wa
ter depth Of 16 feet. the channel now has
a minimum low water depth Of II feet,
all between the city and the sea. Even this
depth. however, is 70 be found only in a
few places and the other dredges are now
busy cutting them out so that within n
short time the minimum low water depth
will be IS feet, and ia most places as 1t is
now. 20 feet, and more. The charterng OF
the Gadney for work on the knoll was a
good move on the part Of the dredging
company, and it Will no doubt have a
tendency to hasten the harbor work very
much.