New-York tribune., 1906-10-01

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| feet the grade of a street twenty times the
| width of Broadway some idea OF the immensity
| OF the task of dredging out Ambrose Channel
may be obtained Then too. on land when the
work is done 1t is done for all time. There is no
Hudson River depositing mud in II year in and
year out trying to carry an Adirondack noun
| tain system out into the ocean.
ANXIOUS ABOUT CUNARDERs.
Men who have been connected with the ship
| ping of New York Harbor for years anxious
about the probability that the Mauretania and
| the Lusitania will not be able TO get into this
| port much less get out of It, with a load. They
have the patriotic feeling that the country will
| be considerably disgraced If Great Britain
| build boat that cannot be foated in the great
| est American harbor.
The Improvement should have been begun
| years before, they argue That it will not be
completed in time for the arrival of the big YES
sells, they say, is not due to the contractors
| the government officials in charge of the work,
but to Congress. which in years past has been
niggardy in appropriations for river and harbor
Improvement. Shipping say that If Con-
gress twenty years ago had needed the clamor
for a deeper channel for New York, and taken
into consideration its full value and sgnif-
canoe, the Ambrose Channel would have been
completed years ago.
The national Rivers and Harbors Congress.
which has taken upon itself the task of obtain
Ing larger appropriations for this sort of work.
points out that it is due to what it calls the
mistaken policy of Congress that shipping
and the nation in general are called upon to
face problems of this kind. They argue that
since the last British soldier left New York the
country has expended only S450,O00 600 on all it's
river and harbor improvements. Holland in that
time has spent S15OO,O0O,00O on only two thou
sand miles of navigable waterway, and France
$1,000, 600 on its seacoast and four thousand
miles Of waterways. But, members of the
Rivers and Harbors Congress think the work on
the Ambrose Channel will show the value of
such undertakings and all the seaport cities will
find 1t easier in the future TO obtain appropria-
tions for improvements These appropriations
the congress thinks should be at least $780,
100000 annually
From the Cunard Line officials in this city no
information could be obtained yesterday as TO
the plans of the company in case the vessels are
unable to move freely in and out of the port.
That such the possibility denied,
but it was said that one here was empowered
to talk of the plans of the company. Vernon H.
Brown. manager of the Cunard Line in America
said that no one could tell yet exactly what the
draft Of the Lusitania and the Mauretania
would be. There were none of the large vessels
entering or leaving the port, he said, with as
II
water enough in the channels. He refused to
discuss the situation in it's relation to the
Cunard interests.
OFFICIALS ASK GOVERNMENT ABOUT 1T.
That the Cunard Line officials are anxious is
clearly evident by the numerous letters of IN
Quiry which have been addressed to the govern-
ment officials in charge of the work OF the Am
brose Channel. both here and in Washington.
The replies Of the engineers have invariably
been that the work being rushed to compile
ton with all possible haste. and. barring un-
toward accidents, the channel would be opened
to full navigation in about four years. There
are numerous things which might occur, they
say, to hold the work back two or three years.
For instance. should the dredges be put out of
commission for any length OF time it would
cease entirely, they are the only boats In the
world which can do II as 1t should be done.
The contract for improving Ambrose Channel
entered into May Il, 1899, provided for the ex-
cavation Of the entire channel, an estimated
amount Of Il, 100000 cubic yards of excavation,
at rate sufficient to secure it's completion in
1900. with a provision that no payment should
be due if the required rate not maintained"
says Mr.. Babcoclz In his report to Colonel w L.
Marshall Corps Of Engineers, U s. A, and pub
Nshed in Engineering News" on September
20 LAS early as 1902 1t became apparent to the
contractor that he could not maintain such a
rate of excavation, and since Withholding pay
ments would leave him unable to work at all,
and thus would suspend the Improvement a
supplementary agreement was made modifying
the rate required condition Of payment and
stipulating thai the United States should itself
have the right to further the progress by putting
on other dredges whenever they could be OBJ
tanned.
THE two dredges Of the government were
completed on October 81 1904 and April l. 1905
the Manhattan arriving in New York Harbor
first and the Atlantic next. They were put to
work on February s, 1905 and June 10 1905.
respectively.
WORK RUSHED NIGHT AND DAY.
Since these dates" continues Mr.. Babcock,
"the dredges have been at work in Ambrose
Channel. The dredges work by lowering
drags to the bottom of the bar and pumping
while under way at slow speed . . resulting
in cutting two burrows of feet in width along
the ships course"
When the vessels are loaded they are taken 10
sea and dumped. They are working day and
night now, every day but Sundays, holidays and
Saturday afternoons. starting at o'clock Mon
day morning.
The reason for anxiety the part Of the |
Cunard Line officials over the probability that
the Mauretania and the Lusitana will not be |
able 10 enter and leave New York Harbor may |
be found IN the statistics of the vessels One is /
the exact counterpart of the other except posi-
bly,, in the style of interior furnishings The |
figures Of the Lusitana are:
hesssts heasih go 80 feet feet
Depth (nnouldedl co
Gross
DISPLACEMENT tonnage ................
Load draft (esttmated' 81 it. in