New-York tribune., 1910-11-29
B|XBY UPHOLDS WOOD
Chief of ENGINEERS Thinks Coun-
try Unprepared for Big War.
OFFICERS AND MEN NEEDED
Annual Report Tells of Large
Amount of Work Done in
New York Harbor.
rrron The Tribune Bureau. ]


,,-o.,,,,,~or Nov. 2S-General Woods |
statement that the United States army is
,,nnrenared for war with a first class power |
&c corroborated strongly by General ". H. |
Bixby. chief of engineers, in his annual re-
mort While his observations deal exclu- |
si,eIv with the engineer corps. General
p,~h,7 finds q sad lack of officers and men |
+, this department and emphatically re-
naets the recommendations of the last two
,ears that an Immediate increase be au-
thorized- He points out that, even in time
of neace. the duties of the engineer corps
are steadil~ increasing. and he declares
that they viii continue to increase. Besides
the great demand on the corps for non-Hili-
+arv work. he shows that there is a great
necessity for officers and men to perform
the strictly military duties of the corps.
II is impossible, according TO the report,
for the corps to devote the necessary and
r,roner attention to the detailed work re-
oured Of it. and in many cases whole en-
gineer companies have been left in charge
of second lleutenants. just out of West
Point for want of captains who could be
assigned TO their command General Bixby
at least sixty officers and that a. CORE
spending increase be made in the number
of men. He declares that this number of
officers is absolutely necessary. even in time
of peace. A bill carrying out his recon-
mendations is pending in Congress.
During the last year New York Harbor
has received more than its share of atten-
ton from the engineer corps For the
- Moi HF-N
s1O0O0O was expended. 1t is now proposed
TO dredge the channel from the ocean TO
the Battery, p distance of twenty-five
miles, of which eight miles has already
been excavated- The principal work of the
last wear has been to eXGavate 459,993 cubic
yards of mud and sand from either side OF
the Main Ship Channel. where the accre-
tions are the greatest. Nine dredges have
been at work on the Ambrose Channel
during the year, with the result that 9,246,-
401 cubic yards have been excavated- The
channel now has depth of 10 feet. It
is easily navigabIe at low tide for ships or
81 feet draft and has a maximum high
water capacity of a feet.
The foreign exports and imports for the
port of New York during the year ended
June, 1903 were valued at $1,521 966,0 ,09O. This
''IA~N+
provement of New York Harbor was be
gun. of 1851. $50 1898 The entire cost of the
I improvement up TO date IS about per cent
of the increase in valuation of foreign
commerce alone for the port. and is less
than one-half of per cent of the present
annual value of foreign commerce. The
project for making Bay Ridge and Red
Hook channels So feet deep is about three
Z
Iarging Governors Island ny addition
of eighty-two acres has advanced splen-
didly during the last year 1t is estimated
that nearly nine acres have been added to
the area Of enbankment, and the tina.
grading of the enlargement has begun
AS the city of New Y Ork has not yet
taken action satisfactory to the Secretary
OF War with regard to the Improvement OF
Jamaica Bay. no part of the S250.500 appro-
nriated for that purpose by the last Con-
gress has been expended. Congress adopt
ed a project for Improvement and appro-
Driated money for the work. with the pro-
viso that no part of this amount shall be
expended until the Secretary of War is
satisfied that the CITY Of New York is pre-
pared TO undertake its part of the general
nIau for the Improvement Of Jamaica Bay
as outlined in the report cited above.
I
| In this project the United States and the
| CITY of New York propose to enter into 4
I general plan of Improvement of Jamaica
| Bay Jointly by bukheading the shores Of
the bay. filling behind the bulkheads and
dredging and maintaining an entrance and
| interior channels.
| 1t is proposed that the general govern
/ rnent provide the main waterway and the
cftv the auxiliary waterways. bulkheads.
| fills and basins The main waterway, as
defined above. Is of two parts-(a) an en-
trance channel between the deep water of
| the ocean and the southeast corner of Bar
rem Island. and (b) a main Gntertor) chan
mel living at the inner end Of the entrance
! channel and terminating at the mouth of
! CorneITs Creek. Under this arrangement
| the United States is to open and maintain
the channel of entrance, and the city of
! New York is TO dredge the main interior
! channel and ''be reimbursed therefor at the
rate of eight cents a cubic yard, place
| measurement, for all material dredged
within the limits of the main channel 10
the extent only of 81. 10000 less cost 10 the
ART EXHIBITIONS AND SALES.