neering work. The battalion was kept intact all the time, and was not cut to pieces by details as in years past at our State camps. Engineer troops, in addition to being prepared to fight as infantry, have a definite technical service to perform. In this respect they are unique-being the only special troops that are also fighting troops and therefore troops of the line. The fact that they are line troops, however, does not make them any the less special troops. In order to prepare for their special service they must be given the same immunity from details of officers, men, animals, and material that is given to all other special troops, such as the Signal Corps, Hospital Corps, and the Ordnance.

I am informed by officers of the Corps of Engineers of the regular service that the same is equally true of their training. This matter seems to have been thoroughly appreciated by General Hodges, and at this encampment the engineer troops enjoyed complete immunity from detail for the first time, and for the first time really satisfactory results were obtained in the special training of engineer troops.

It is to be hoped that this immunity from detail will be speedily granted by War Department orders, for until this is done it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to bring engineer troops to a proper standard of efficiency in their special work.

The thanks of the organization are due to the Chief of Engineers of the Army for promptly approving the requisition of Captain Caples for funds to purchase the material necessary to carry out the course of instruction, also to the Adjutant General, Col. Wm. A. Simpson; to the Chief Quartermaster, Lieut. Col. Thomas Cruse, and to the Chief Commissary, Capt. Jack Hayes, for numerous courtesies extended in connection with their respective departments.

But the one thing that contributed most largely to the success of the encampment was the presence of Company I, Third Battalion, United States Engineers. The officers and men of this splendid organization did everything in their power to give the Ohio battalion the most possible instruction in the limited time. Officers and men worked without regard to hours, and several times it was pitch dark when the two commands returned to camp after a day's instruction and practice. The good feeling, social intercourse, and esprit de corps of the two commands were matters of comment throughout the camp of instruction.

Very respectfully,

J. R. MCQUIGG,
Major, Corps of Engineers,
Ohio National Guard.

+

Joseph Gilbert Totten

Joseph Gilbert Totten was born at New Haven, Conn., August 23, 1788. He entered the United States Military Academy November 4, 1802, and was graduated and commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers July 1, 1805. He almost immediately joined his uncle, Jared Mansfield, Surveyor General of Ohio, as assistant on survey work in the then West and resigned his commission in the Army March 31, 1806.

On February 23, 1808, he was reappointed to his former rank and served until 1812 as assistant to Col. Jonathan Williams in the construction of Fort Clinton and Castle William, New York Harbor.

He was promoted First Lieutenant July 23, 1810, and Captain July 31, 1812. In the War of 1812 he served as Chief Engineer under General Van Rennselaer and took an active part in the Battle of Queenstown. He also served in the same capacity under General Dearborn in 1813, and under Generals Izard and Macomb in 1814.

He was brevetted Major, June 6, 1813, for "meritorious services," and Lieutenant-Colonel, September 11, 1814, for gallant conduct in the Battle of Plattsburg.'

In 1816, he was appointed member of the board of engineers to examine the coast and prepare plans for the necessary defensive works. In 1817, he was placed in direct charge of the fortifications at Rouses Point, New York. He was promoted to Major November 12, 1818, and in 1819 was again placed on the above-mentioned board, which now consisted of General Barnard and himself.

He was engaged for several years in the preparation of the projects for the defense of the coast harbors, and these reports were on such broad lines that even to-day they form an excellent study, notwithstanding the great changes in arms and armaments. He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel May 24, 1828, and from 1825 to December, 1838, he was in charge of the construction of Fort Adams, R. I. Fort Adams is one of the best types of the forts of that period and still stands as a monument to General Totten.

He was appointed Colonel and Chief Engineer of the Army December 7, 1838, and continued to serve in that capacity until his death, April 22, 1864. He was promoted Brigadier-General and Chief Engineer, United States Army, on March 3, 1863.

In the invasion of Mexico, Colonel Totten assumed direct charge of the engineering operations of the Army under General Scott and directed the siege of Vera Cruz. He received the brevet of Brigadier-General "for gallant and meritorious conduct at the siege of Vera Cruz." He is probably most widely known as the designer of the Totten embrasure for the old style forts, although his work on Hydraulic and Common Mortars was also well known at the time (1838).

Colonel Totten was ex-officio Inspector of the Military Academy from 1838 till 1864. He was member of the Light-House Board from 1852 to 1864, one of the original regents of the Smithsonian Institution, an incorporator of the National Academy of Sciences, a harbor commissioner of New York and Boston, and a member of many scientific associations.

The degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by Brown University, Rhode Island.

He died April 22, 1864, at Washington, D. C. The day before. his death he was brevetted Major-General, United States Army, for long, faithful, and eminent services."

AN A-FRAME MOVABLE TOP TO PROVIDE INCREASED DEPTHS ABOVE FIXED DAMS

BY

Lieut. LEWIS M. ADAMS

Corps of Engineers

In those rivers which are adapted to improvement by means of locks and fixed dams, careful consideration should be given to the possibility of securing the proper navigable depth by installing movable tops on the dams. The principle of the movable top is peculiarly pertinent when the stream under consideration is one which has a very small low-water discharge. On such a river, the navigable pools practically become horizontal surfaces during the periods of minimum discharge and the gages below the dams frequently show so little depth on the lower lock gate sills that navigation at normal loading ceases. If it were possible to raise the crest of the dam a few feet when the river fell to near the lowwater stage, the whole horizontal pool surface would be correspondingly raised and navigation could proceed under normal conditions as to loading.

This is one of the advantages to be secured by a movable top to a fixed dam. Another advantage consists in being able to float off grounded vessels by temporarily dropping part of the movable top of the dam above, and thereby raising the river surface. The movable top presents several other important advantages, among which may be cited: Less guard above normal pool necessary for lock walls; the fall over the front of the dam is reduced, and for dams founded on piling, or crib-built, this is quite important. Flood heights will be materially reduced for a given discharge.

Before proceeding further, it should be stated that credit for originating the A-frame type of movable dam belongs to Mr. B. F. Thomas, United States Assistant Engineer, now in the Cincinnati office. A discussion of this dam appeared in the Journal of Engineering Societies, June, 1896.

A movable top, substantially the same in design and operation as that shown in the illustration accompanying this article, was