APPENDIX Y Y. OCCUPANCY OF AND INJURY TO PUBLIC WORKS BY CORPORATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS. [Reported under section 2, river and harbor act of 1884, and section 4, river and harbor act of 1886.] (1) REPORT OF LIEUT. COL. CHAS. J. ALLEN, CORPS OF ENGINEERS. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, GENERAL: In accordance with General Orders No. 6, June 1, 1887, and General Orders No. 9, June 26, 1888, Headquarters Corps of Engineers, Washington, I have the honor to subinit the following report of all cases in which piers, breakwaters, locks, and dams, or other structures or works built or made by the United States in aid of commerce or navigation in this district, are used, occupied, or injured by a corporation or an individual, and the extent and mode of such use, occupation, or injury. OCCUPANCY OF THE POTOMAC FLATS, BELONGING TO THE WORKS OF IMPROVEMENT OF THE POTOMAC RIVER AT WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Under date of January 28, 1897, the unauthorized use and occupation by certain persons of portions of the Potomac Flats was again reported to the United States attorney for the District of Columbia, in accordance with the provisions of section 11 of the river and harbor act of September 19, 1890. One of the parties so reported, a firm of lumber dealers, was given until July 1, 1897, to vacate the grounds occupied by them. * No other occupation, or use of, or injury to works built in this district in aid of commerce or navigation has been reported to this office since the date of the last report upon the subject. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Brig. Gen. JOHN M. WILSON, CHAS. J. ALLEN, Lieut. Col., Corps of Engineers. Chief of Engineers, U. S. A. (2) REPORT OF MAJ. J. H. WILLARD, CORPS OF ENGINEERS. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, Vicksburg, Miss., July 1, 1897. GENERAL: In compliance with requirements of General Orders No. 9, Headquarters Corps of Engineers, series of 1888, I have the honor to report the following information obtained since my report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1896, concerning the occupation of, trespass, or injury to public works in my charge, viz: Under date of January 16, 1897, the Board of Trade of Vicksburg, Miss., reported that officers and agents of local packets and other steamboats coming to the city wharf complained of obstructions at mouth of Vicksburg harbor, consisting of shanty boats and other small water craft moored at that locality, which interrupted and made navigation dangerous, stating that they were informed the jurisdiction of the city did not cover the case, and asking action by United States authorities. In accordance with section 11 of river and harbor act of September 19, 1890, on February 10, 1897, I sent copy of this complaint to Mr. R. C. Lee, United States attorney for southern district of Mississippi, at Madison Station, Miss. * By letter to the Secretary of War dated April 9, 1897, W. H.Wall made complaint that navigation of Bayou D'Arbonne, La., was obstructed by raftsmen tying lines across that stream catching floating timber, and thereby delaying the passage of steamboats. In accordance with your directions of April 24, 1897, by indorsement upon this letter, the matter was investigated by me; the information obtained was sent Mr. J. Ward Gurley, jr., United States attorney for eastern district of Louisiana, at New Orleans, La., May 5, 1897, and copies were sent you with my indorsement of same date upon original complaint. Under date of May 8, 1897, the papers were acknowledged by the district attorney, who stated that the matter would receive prompt attention. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Brig. Gen. JOHN M. WILSON, Chief of Engineers, U. S. A. J. H. WILLARD, Major, Corps of Engineers. (3) REPORT OF CAPT. DAN C. KINGMAN, CORPS OF ENGINEERS. [For letter of transmittal, see Appendix B B.] No case of unlawful occupancy of public works has occurred in this district during the past year, and only trifling injuries have been done by individuals. Upon the Upper Tennessee River and upon the French Broad River, particularly at Soddy Shoals on the former and Hanging Rock Shoals on the latter, individuals, perhaps fishermen, have made breaks in the training walls constructed by the United States, in order, it is supposed, to enable them to pass with their skiffs from one side of the river to the other without going around the ends of these walls. The injuries are not very serious, but they do draw off a portion of the water from the navigable chute, and to this extent interfere with navigation. It was believed that this mischief was done by people who were ignorant of the law. It was not possible to find out who the parties were, in order that they might be warned personally; but in order that the law might be generally known in the vicinity, notices were printed upon linen and posted in the vicinity of the breaks. The notices were as follows: NOTICE. $5,000 FINE AND ONE YEAR IMPRISONMENT. All persons are hereby warned not to alter, deface, injure, obstruct, or in any manner impair the usefulness of the works built by the United States for the improvement of this river. The following is the law: "SECTION 9. That it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to take possession of, or make use for any exclusive purpose, or build upon, alter, deface, destroy, injure, obstruct, or in any other mauner impair the usefulness of, any sea wall, bulkhead, jetty, dike, levee, wharf, pier, or other work built by the United States, in whole or in part, for the preservation and improvement of any of its navigable waters, or to prevent floods, or as boundary marks, tide gauges, surveying stations, buoys, or other established marks, nor remove for ballast or other purposes any stone or other material composing such works. "SECTION 10. * Any person or persons who shall violate the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by both such punishments." DAN C. KINGMAN, Captain of Engineers in Charge. It is thought that when the people are aware of the serious penalty which the law imposes they will refrain from further interference with these works. (4) REPORT OF MAJ. JAMES F. GREGORY, CORPS OF ENGINEERS. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, GENERAL: I have the honor to submit the following report of information obtained during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1887, with reference to occupancy of and injury to public works in my charge at the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897: GREAT KANAWHA RIVER, WEST VIRGINIA. In lowering the movable dam at Lock No. 7 on the night of November 28, 1896, a sudden rise in Coal River, which latter empties into the Great Kanawha about 14 miles above No. 7, brought out a large quantity of heavy drift. The lockmen, misjudging the extent of the rise, delayed too long about lowering the wickets of the navigation pass of the dam, and so much drift accumulated against the pass trestles that nine of them could not be put down. Some of the drift was removed and the trestles put part way down by December 1. On December 3, the river having fallen some, the fouled trestles were pulled up, with five others near the lock, to clear out the drift and lower the trestles. While this work was in progress the towboat Winifrede came down with three loaded coal barges. The towboat started to land at the head of the lock, to be locked through, but before her lines were secured the strong current around the head of the river wall of the lock and through the pass swung the steamer out from the shore. The towboat was unable to hold the tow, and the towboat and tow were carried down against the standing trestles. Twelve of the trestles were bent and broken, some of them being badly wrecked; also, twelve bridge aprons were bent or broken, four rails were injured, and five rails were lost in the river. One of the coal barges was sunk alongshore below the dam, out of the way of navigation, and another barge was considerably damaged by striking the trestles. The owner of the Winifrede, one of the most careful and skillful towboatmen on the river, was at the wheel at the time of the accident. As the conditions and circumstances were almost unprecedented at the time of the accident, it appeared that no one was to blame for it, and no action against the owner or officers of the towboat was recommended. With the exception of the Kanawha Lumber and Manufacturing Company, operating a small sawmill about 1 mile above Lock No. 7, the mills have, so far as known, complied with the law in regard to disposition of refuse. The mill of the Kanawha Lumber and Manufacturing Company was idle a considerable part of the past year. It has started up again recently, and part of the sawdust and edgings has been thrown over the bank. A fire is kept going to burn this stuff, but in the absence of a furnace or other suitable inclosure more or less of it is not consumed, and is left where it would be carried into the river by high water. The superintendent of the company was recently notified that he must change or better his arrangement for disposing of the refuse. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Brig. Gen. JOHN M. WILSON, JAMES F. GREGORY, Major, Corps of Engineers. Chief of Engineers, U. S. A. (5) REPORT OF CAPT. GEO. A. ZINN, CORPS OF ENGINEERS. [For letter of transmittal, see Appendix H H.] AHNAPEE HARBOR, WISCONSIN. Two hundred and eighty linear feet of the shore end of the south pier is occupied by Mr. Edward Decker. He has built a warehouse just in the rear of a portion of it and receives and ships goods over the pier, and claims the land upon which the pier is built. KENOSHA HARBOR, WISCONSIN. Some 400 feet of the shore end of the south pier is now used and has been occupied by Mr. George S. Baldwin as a coal and lumber dock since 1883. The records are not clear as to the ownership of this portion of the pier, or whether it was originally built by the United States, by the city of Kenosha, or by private parties. A portion of it is in bad condition. The best interests of the harbor require that it should be put in good order. It should therefore be rebuilt by occupant or vacated and rebuilt by the United States. (6) REPORT OF LIEUT. COL. G. J. LYDECKER, CORPS OF ENGINEERS. 1 UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, * * * GENERAL: Pursuant to requirements contained in General Order No. 9, Headquarters Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., Washington, D. C., June 26, 1888, I have the honor to report that on August 23, 1896, steamer Avon struck Fort Brady Pier, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., doing damage to the amount of $142.08, which sum was recovered and deposited by John Power, United States district attorney, and credited to the appropriation for "operating and care of canals and other works of navigation, indefinite," allotment "St. Marys Falls Canal." Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Brig. Gen. JOHN M. WILSON, G. J. LYDECKER, Lieut. Col., Corps of Engineers. Chief of Engineers, U. S. A. (7) REPORT OF MAJ. W. S. STANTON, CORPS OF ENGINEERS. UNITED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, Oswego, N. Y., July 21, 1897. GENERAL: In compliance with General Orders, Headquarters Corps of Engineers, No. 6 of 1887 and 9 of 1888, I have the honor to report that the Northern Central Railroad Company has built a house upon that part of the west pier at the entrance to Great Sodus Bay, New York, which has been so covered by the accretion of sand that the upper timbers of the pier are just visible at the surface. The house is used as a dwelling or club house in summer. In December, 1895, I requested the company to remove it, but after a correspondence extending to April, 1896, the company failed to manifest any disposition to comply with the request, and on June 10, 1896, I presented the subject to the United States district attorney, Hon. W. A. Poucher, Oswego, N. Y. Accretion of sand, to the extent of about 40 acres, has occurred along the west pier and in the angle between it and the shore, and fences built upon this accretion by the railroad company or others claiming the land interfere with the free passage of wagons along the pier to the lake to haul sand for building purposes, and this house prevents the use of the pier as a road for that purpose. If teams could get free access on the buried pier to the beach a very considerable quantity of sand would be hauled away for building which now drifts over the pier into the channel, from which it has to be dredged. As fences have been built up to the pier upon the land formed by accretion, and as this house occupies the full width of the pier, the ENG 97--250 |