59TH CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. (DOCUMENT 1st Session. No. 145.

MYSTIC RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

LETTER

FROM

THE SECRETARY OF WAR,

TRANSMITTING,

WITH A LETTER FROM THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, REPORT OF EXAMINATION OF MYSTIC RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

DECEMBER 11, 1905.-Referred to the Committee on Rivers and Harbors and ordered to be printed.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, December 7, 1905. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a letter from the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, dated August 21, 1905, together with copy of a report from Col. W. S. Stanton, Corps of Engineers, dated June 24, 1905, of a preliminary examination of Mystic River, Massachusetts, made by him in compliance with the provisions of the river and harbor act of March 3, 1905.

Very respectfully,

WM. H. TAFT,

Secretary of War.

The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS,

Washington, August 21, 1905.

SIR: Under authority conferred by section 9 of the river and harbor act of March 3, 1905, I have the honor to submit herewith for transmission to the Public Printer a report, dated June 24, 1905, by Col. W. S. Stanton, Corps of Engineers, on preliminary examination ordered by said act, of Mystic River, Massachusetts, to the upper limits of the city of Somerville.

It is the opinion of Colonel Stanton, concurred in by the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors and by me, that the section of the

river in question is not worthy of further improvement by the United States at the present time. A. MACKENZIE,

Very respectfuly,

Brig. Gen., Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army.

Hon. Wм. H. TAFT,
Secretary of War.

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF MYSTIC RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS, TO THE UPPER LIMITS OF THE CITY OF SOMERVILLE.

UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE,

Boston, Mass., June 24, 1905.

GENERAL: I have the honor to submit the following report of a preliminary examination of " Mystic River to the upper limits of the city of Somerville," made in compliance with Engineer Department letter of March 16, 1905, and a provision in section 9 of the river and harbor act of March 3, 1905.

There are two present approved projects for the improvement of the Mystic River, namely:

a

Of July 13, 1892, to make the channel 100 feet wide and 6 feet deep at mean low water from the Boston and Maine Railroad (western division) bridge (blueprint herewith) up about 1 mile to the first turn above Dunning's wharf (the line between Somerville and Medford), and 4 feet deep at mean low water thence 2 miles to the head of navigation at Medford, gradually narrowing to 50 feet at the upper end, at an estimated cost of $25,000;

Of March 3, 1899, to dredge a channel 25 feet deep at mean low water and 300 feet wide for a length of 1.7 miles from the confluence with the Charles River to a point 800 feet above Island End River, at a cost of $267,547.50.

Under the project of 1892 the channel 6 feet deep and 100 feet wide has been completed; the channel 4 feet deep has been dredged a further distance of 4,200 feet, and the entire project will be completed under a contract now to be made.

Under the project of 1899 a channel 25 feet deep at mean low water, with a minimum width of 100 feet, has been dredged up to Chelsea Bridge and thence 150 to 300 feet wide to a point just above Island End River. Under a contract now to be made the 25-foot channel will be dredged to a width of 200 feet up to Chelsea Bridge and of 300 feet thence to a little above Island End River.

Further, under the project of June 13, 1902, for the improvement of Boston Harbor to obtain channels 35 feet deep at mean low water from the navy-yard at Charlestown and the Chelsea Bridge and Charles River Bridge to the ocean, a channel is now being dredged to that depth and the width of about 540 feet along the wharves in Charlestown, from the confluence with the Charles up approximately to the Chelsea Bridge.

The natural channel extending from the head of the 25-foot channel to be provided under the project of 1899, up to the foot (at the Boston and Maine Railroad, western division, bridge) of the 6-foot channel, dredged under the project of 1892, is 6,700 feet long, has a mid-channel depth of about 6 to 13 and averages about 8 feet at

Not printed.

mean low water, and a width between 6-foot contours of 120 to 800 and averages about 390 feet.

This examination has been requested by the parties in interest with a view to the improvement of the channel extending from the head of the 25-foot channel, embraced in the project of 1899 ("H” on blueprint), to the line between Somerville and Medford ("B"), a channel length of about 2 miles (13,000 feet), embracing besides the 6,700 feet of channel not embraced in the projects of 1892 and 1899 the channel about 1 mile (6,300 feet) long, which, under the project of 1892, has been dredged to the width of 100 feet and depth of 6 feet at mean low water.

As to the increased depth and width requisite, the parties requesting the improvement specify variously the depth of 11, 16, 21, 22, and 25 feet at mean low water and a width (where they specify any at all) of 125 feet.

The commerce of the river amounted in the year 1904 to about 2,841,000 tons, of which 2,136,318, or 75 per cent, were coal and the remainder building materials, raw materials for manufactories, grain, and merchandise. Of that total commerce only about 192,500 tons (7 per cent) went above the head of the 25-foot channel authorized by the project of 1899. Of this 192,500 tons of commerce on that part of the river where improvement is now requested, 19,665 tons are carried to Medford, the head of navigation in fact, and 75,225 tons are carried into the Malden River, a branch of the Mystic; thus 94,890 tons, or 49 per cent of the commerce of that part of the river embraced in this examination, is carried into channels where the depth is now only about 1 foot at mean low (10.8 at mean high) water, and where the depth under existing projects is to be increased in the upper Mystic to only 4 feet at mean low (13.8 feet at mean high) water and in the Malden to only 12 feet at mean high water. Thus the present annual commerce to be benefited by the improvement amounted in 1904 to about 97,610 tons (192,500 minus 94,890). Of this 52,652 tons were coal delivered in Somerville at the wharf of and consumed by the Boston and Maine Railroad Company, which does not request the improvement; so the present commerce in the interest of which the improvement is requested amounts to about 45,000 tons.

Of the 45,000 tons about 6,300 (1,800 coal and 4,500 stone) are received or shipped at Dunning's wharf in Somerville; 25,000 are coal and miscellaneous raw materials delivered at the wharf of the Cochrane Chemical Company; 1,800 are stone and gravel received at the wharf of the Boston Elevated Railway Company; 7,000 are coal received at the wharf of the Charlestown Gas and Electric Company; 4,175, mostly coal, received at the wharf of the Mystic Wharf and Storage Company, and 725 tons lumber and kaolin received at wharf of Edmands & Hooper.

The upper 8,400 feet of the channel examined are within the corporate limits of the city of Somerville, which has a population of about 70,000 inhabitants, but the land lying along the river is in great part unoccupied and unimproved.

February 23, 1905, a resolve was passed by the board of aldermen and approved by the mayor of that city

That in the opinion of the mayor and aldermen of this city the dredging of Mystic River is a matter of great public importance and should be carried on

under an appropriation by the United States Government throughout the entire length of that portion of the river which is within the limits and along the boundary of the city.

The mayor states in his letters of April 11

We believe that the making of the river navigable for vessels of considerable draft would be in the interests of commerce and that much of the water frontage of our city, which is now of little value, commercially speaking, could be rendered very useful for wharfage purposes.

Of May 8

I am informed that the coal tonnage received in Somerville is 70,000 tons annually. Quite a quantity of stone is shipped from here. It is believed that this tonnage would be materially increased if the channel of the river were sufficiently deepened and widened. The river should be dredged to a depth of 16 feet at mean low water and to a width of 125 feet. If this depth can not be reached at once, a depth of 11 feet would greatly help matters. We hope to see the work extend upstream as far as the Somerville-Medford line, or at least to the present Dunning coal wharf. Whether any wharves would be built above this one, in Somerville, in the event of the river channel being improved, I do not know, but I am strongly of the opinion that considerable wharf property would develop between this point and the mouth of the river. The amount of any other commerce which would be conducted at Somerville wharves as a result of improving the channel is, to my mind, a matter of conjecture one that can not be very definitely stated by anybody.

And of May 25

The questions regarding the percentage of coal supply for Somerville people, the saving in freight rates per ton, and the probable increase of freight, other than coal, which would result from the improvement in the river, I can not answer. It does appear to me, however, that the commercial interests of Somerville and its people would be greatly benefited by the contemplated improvement and by the property which would probably be built upon the bank of the river as a result of such improved shipping facilities.

Others interested in the improvement state as follows:

Edward L. Dunning, the owner of Dunning's wharf—

Owing to the limited number of small barges and vessels engaged in trade and the tendency toward larger crafts, the commerce on this river is greatly damaged, and to relieve this situation a petition has been presented to Congress asking that the Mystic River be dredged to the Medford line to the depth of 25 feet at mean high water, thereby enabling the commerce on this river to secure the advantages of larger vessels.

Boston Elevated Railway Company

Would beg to say that at present the company is developing its property at the Charlestown power station, and expects in the future to make it an important depot for the receipt of material by boat. During the past year there was delivered by boat at the wharf only about 1,819 tons of gravel and paving blocks. This amount, however, should not be taken as a criterion of the future use of the wharf. Up to within a year and a half ago the company was receiving large shipments of coal, but this was discontinued, as it was found that on account of being able to get larger boats at its other wharves it was cheaper to haul its coal to the Charlestown power station by rail. With improved harbor conditions it is quite possible that the company might in the future wish to have the wharf used for delivery of coal as well as for all kinds of street railway material, which could be brought to the Charlestown power station yard by boat.

Mystic Wharf and Storage Company, by its treasurer—

[April 3] The property located upstream from the Mystic wharf terminals of the Boston and Maine Railroad is largely open to improvement, and this would be encouraged and would occur if there was a deeper channel.

I am writing you on behalf of the Mystic Wharf and Storage Company, the

Letters not printed.