The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-11-10

A close study of work already done between Mobile. Ala. and Ronies Ga. along the Alabama and Coosa Rivers, leaves the impression, in relation to The lower river. of narrow view or the problem involved in providing nav igation between these two points. fet in Justice to earlier appropriations U Is right to add that the temporizing ef- forts along a line of great potentfaii- ties have been in keeping with much similar work done throughout the United States, under the old prevalent Idea that appropriations were the great aim in life for Congressional activity. whether the appropriations bore reia- tions or not to well rounded ana per manent development of the riches or the country as whole.
 Let us look at the broader aspect or he problem first. The mileage in- Yolved, including the feeders formed py The Tallapoosa, above Montgomery, ana he Cahaba, near Selma, approaches r. poo miles. Awaiting equalization or i'm provement The main divisions Of this Snormous potential outlet to the world sre as follows:
 Outer Bar to Mobile ... SA miles Mobile to wetumpka .. .... S6I miles. Wetumpka to Lock .. 1l6 miles. Lock to Rome, Ga, ... lsS miles Above Rome ..... ... -. '' Aoe i, l,es The CahaDa ....s oo mn0s The Tallapoosa to Talladega 14S miles
 9A6 miles.
 Locks 1 to 4 already exist in the Up- per Coosa and give four foot navigation nearly all the year round to Rome. Be- tween Lock 4 and Montgomery nothing of moment has vet been done or at- tempted that is of benefit, though $40e.- GOO has been spent; between Montgom' cry and Mobile the work has been of a temporizing character. The same fs true of work on the CahabA. which has been trimmed occasionally but latterly all work done has fallen into desue- tude through failurs of appropriations. The work on the main river between Montgomery and Mobile represents a total expenditure of about $so0.000 in appropriations spread over nearly thtr- ty years. To give an idea of what has not been attained 1t is right and proper to mention that the steamer "Oauchita" on an up journey in October of this year, loaded light. only made Sell ma after frightening and capstan work owing to shoals. Contrast this inenect- i've condition with the majestic pro- portions of the river itself and real Izatfon of the waste of money through parsimony becomes apparent At. -We- tumpka the river at ordinary low water is 40o ft wide and the width gradually fnereases to 500 and &o 500 feet. until the blum banks Eitsappear between Claiborne and Gainestown.
 As an i1lustration of the partial eff forts made (and 1t must not be un- defstood that these statements reflect on the Engineering Corps in any man ner whatsoever, as they are men un- der authoTiity3 . summary nt renorIs made year after year is here included:
 1s7s-fS79--Logs removed, S20, and work done at cutoff between the Ala bama and Tombigbee Rivers to rem edy the shoal south of the cutoff.
 Is7e-fssO--Cut-off dam finished; sew eral chuts closeds or partly closed and 490 snags removed.
 IsS1-1SS2--Cut-ofH dam repaired (showing that it lasted less than one year). work done on several bars and compressoin dam constructed at Gard ner's Island.
 1ss3-1ss4-Snags and trees removed
 iss4-1ss5-Snags and tops removed
 1sS5-1s86-SnaEs and logs removed and brush dam constructed at Gard ner's Island, (showing that previous work lasted less than five years. ) -
 1sse-1ss7-Obstacles removed at mouth of the TalIapoosa lbut not as part of general river scheme of in- provement.)
 fss7-ISss--Logs and snags removed from channel 1883. and 5SS overhang- ing trees cut down.
 1gsS-lSs9-Stumps and trees removed from banks, 4,730; and 2.200 logs and snags and one wreck removed from the channel.
 And in similar fashion the record goes until the report of June 1906, which has this to say: "On June 30. 1906, fine maximum draft that could be car-S ried to Montgomery was about three and a half feet. During the last fis-