LETTER OF COLLECTOR OY CUSTOMS AT PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

CUSTOM-HOUSE, PROVIDENCE,

Collector's Office, July 1, 1885.

SIR: In compliance with your request I enclose herewith statistics of the commerce, &c., of this port during the year 1884.

DEAR SIR: In compliance with your request I submit the following statement, giving, as far as time and available data would allow, such information concerning the commerce of this port for the year 1884 as was called for in your letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Elliot, dated Newport, June 15, 1885.

The custom-house records show that the aggregate number of vessels that arrived at the port of Providence during the year 1884 was 5,974, making the total of vessels that arrived and sailed, 11,948, classified as follows: steamers, 2,551; barks and brigs, 35; schooners, 2,277; barges, 763; sloops, 75, and 273 steamtugs used in towing the coal, iron, and lumber barges to and from this port.

The net registered tonnage of the above arrivals was..
Of vessels sailed...

Total tonnage arrived and sailed.......

Tons.

1,953,573

1,953,573

3,907,146

Many of the steamers, barks, and large three and four masted schooners of the above arrivals were deep-draught vessels, drawing from 15 to 20, and some of them 22, feet.

The following staple articles of merchandise, brought to this port by the above vessels during the year 1884, were:

There are several excursion steamers and other vessels plying between this port and other landings on Narragansett Bay, within the district of Providence, that are not included in the above statement, but would considerably increase the number of arrivals and aggregate tonnage.

I have no record or other data by which I can give even an approximate statement of the tonnage of general merchandise shipped to and from this port, mainly by steamers, during the year 1884; but if a statement of such shipments was made for the year 1883, the difference in the two years' shipments would probably be small.

CYRUS HARRIS, Esq.,

E. M. ARNOLD. Inspector of Customs.

Collector.

LETTER OF MR. GEORGE R. PHILLIPS.

PROVIDENCE, R. I., June 26, 1885.

DEAR SIR: Your favor (13th) came duly to hand, and in answer to same would say that the great depression in general business has been felt here, although there has been an increase in importations of certain general merchandise. The general merchandise imported into the Port of Providence during the year 1884 was as follows:

I wish to call your attention to great need of an appropriation to remove the obstructions that are increasing on Field's Point. The narrow channel and the rapid current makes it very hard for any sailing vessels to get through without assistance from tugs.

I would also call your attention to the Green Jacket Shoal, which should be removed at an early date.

Col. GEO. H. ELLIOT.

Very truly yours,

GEO. R. PHILLIPS.

SPECIAL REPORT ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE

HARBOR OF PROVIDENCE,

RHODE ISLAND, BY THE REMOVAL OF GREEN JACKET SHOAL TO THE DEPTH OF TWENTY-FIVE FEET AT MEAN LOW WATER.

ENGINEER'S OFFICE, UNITED STATES ARMY,

NEWPORT, R. I., January 10, 1885.

GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of the following resolution of the Senate of the United States:

IN THE SENAte of the UNITED STATES,

December 20, 1884.

Resolved, That the Secretary of War is hereby directed to transmit to the Senate an estimate of the cost of the proposed improvement of the harbor of Providence, Rhode Island, by the removal of Green Jacket Shoal to the depth of 25 feet at mean low water.

Attest:

ANSON G. McCook,
Secretary.

In compliance with the direction contained in the indorsement on the above resolution, I beg leave to submit the following report:

Green Jacket Shoal is in the upper part of the harbor of Providence, off the wharves on the south front of the city. This part of the harbor is about 2,000 feet long by from 600 to 1200 feet wide, and this area, the shoal, or rather that part of it which is within the 15-foot curve, takes up about 18 acres. There are channels on either side of the shoal, between it and the harbor lines, having, the one on the north side, a width of about 300 feet and a depth of 20 feet, and the one on the south side a width varying from 50 to 100 feet, and a depth of about 15 feet at mean low water. The water on the summit of the shoal is about 1 foot deep at mean low water.

In my last annual report, in speaking of the value of the space occupied by the shoal, which is the best part of the harbor for anchorage purposes, I said:

It may not be thought necessary in the first instance to excavate this shoal deeper than 20 feet, but within a short time the commerce of Providence will doubtless demand its removal to a depth of not less than 25 feet at mean low water. The cost of the work cannot be estimated before the survey required to determine the quantity, and the borings to discover the character, of the material to be removed, which are now in progress, are finished.

The major part of the larger class of vessels engaged in the commerce of Providence are from 16 to 20 feet draught, and there is a constant tendency to an increase in the size of vessels arriving at this port, and a corresponding reduction in the cost of freights. There are several vessels already that draw more than 20 feet and the number would be much larger, but at present there is no anchorage for such vessels, except in such positions that they rest in the mud at low water, or they occupy and obstruct our newly excavated 25-foot channel, the upper end of which lies just west of the shoal, and the whole of which is nearly completed to the deep water of Narragansett Bay.

When, at low water, these vessels rest in the mud near the channel they crush down its banks, and our recent surveys show that much damage has been done to the channel in this way.

In consideration of these facts and the comparative economy of making the whole depth in one contract, it will doubtless be advisable to dredge the shoal at once to the depth of 25 feet at mean low water.

Assuming that the city will take care of the space between the harbor lines and ⚫ lines drawn parallel and distant 200 feet from them, the survey above referred to shows that the amount of material to be removed is 851,108 cubic yards. Our borings covered every part of the shoal and we found that it is almost entirely composed of mud. My current contract for dredging similar material in the 25 foot channel in Providence River is 12 cents per cubic yard, and although this is almost a minimum price for such work, I think it safe to estimate that the shoal can be removed at the same rate, or, allowing 10 per cent. for contingencies, at a total cost of $112,346.25.

The collector of customs at Providence reports 17,104 arrivals and departures of vessels during the year 1883, with an estimated total tonnage of 4,522,768 tons. In concluding this report it may be proper for me to remark that when this shoal is removed the harbor of Providence will be one of the finest in the country, whether in respect of its capacity for deep-draught vessels or its security or the safety of its approaches or its distance inside the general coast line, which gives it an especial advantage by reason of the comparatively low rates of water transportation.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Brig. Gen. JOHN NEWTON,

Chief of Engineers U. S. A.

GEORGE H. ELLIOT,

Lieut. Col. of Engineers.

IMPROVEMENT OF NEWPORT HARBOR, RHODE ISLAND.

This harbor is on the main entrance to Narragansett Bay. It is one of the most important harbors on the coast, providing a safe roadstead and anchorage. Newport itself is upon an inner harbor, separated from Narragansett Bay by Goat Island and a breakwater which extends northerly from the island about 1,400 feet. The mean rise and fall of the tide is about 3 feet.

ORIGINAL CONDITION.

Before improvement the capacity of the inner harbor was limited by shoals, and it was not adequate to the number and size of vessels seeking it for refuge. The southern (the main) entrance was obstructed by a bar which stretched out from Goat Island, and the general businoss wharves of the city could not be reached at low tide by vessels drawing more than 8 feet.

PLANS OF IMPROVEMENT.

The original project, and its subsequent modifications, under which work is now carried on, are substantially as follows: Deepening the southern entrance

to 15 feet at mean low water, cutting away a portion of the spit which stretches out from the southerly end of Goat Island to the same depth, and constructing a jetty on the southwest shore of the island to arrest the drift of littoral sand and gravel into the entrance to the harbor; deepening to 13 feet at mean low water, the area included between the 13-foot curve on the west, a line drawn from the southwest corner of Perry Mill Wharf to Lime Rock on the south, the harbor line on the east, and a line drawn parallel to and 50 feet from the City Wharf on the north; deepening to 10 feet at mean low water the area northwest of a line drawn from Lime Rock through the spindle which is in the southeast part of the harbor, and excavating a channel 10 feet deep at mean low water along and outside the harbor line south to a point opposite the Gas Company's Wharf. The additional plans of the last year include the excavating of a channel 750 feet wide and 15 feet deep at mean low water around and to the eastward of the Dolphin, which marks the Goat Island Spit; cutting away the spit to a depth of 15 feet at mean low water northward to a line drawn from the Dolphin to clear the permanent dock at Fort Adams by 100 feet, and the construction of additional jetties on the western shore of Goat Island.

A plat of Newport Harbor, showing the plans of the work and the work done to June 30, 1885, accompanies this report.

AMOUNT EXPENDED AND RESULTS TO JUNE 30, 1884.

The amount expended up to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1884, including liabilities outstanding at that date, was $73,141.23, with the following results: A jetty on the southwest shore of Goat Island 150 feet long had been constructed, and the northern angle between it and the shore quickly filled with sand and gravel, showing its utility, a considerable portion of the southern entrance, and the spit south of Goat Island had been excavated, first to 12 feet and afterwards to 13 feet at mean low water; of the area to be deepened to 13 feet within the harbor, about 58 acres, or two-thirds, had been completed, except at a few places in the northern part of the harbor where the material was found too hard for the dredge used in the work, and except that a bulkhead was left in the extreme northeast portion of the harbor to protect an anchorage for small vessels. Many large bowlders had been removed from the bottom of the harbor. No work had been done in the area to be dredged to 10 feet at mean low water.

OPERATIONS DURING THE LAST FISCAL YEAR.

At the beginning of the last fiscal year no work was in progress. On the 28th of August, 1884, advertisements were issued for dredging under the provisions of the act of Congress of July 5, 1884, appropriating $20,000 for the further im