REPORT. To the Honorable the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island, etc.: The Board of Harbor Commissioners respectfully submits its Eighteenth Annual Report. APPOINTMENT TO THE BOARD. At the May Session of this General Assembly, His Excellency the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed Alfred W. Kenyon, of Richmond, to the Board for a term of three years beginning the first of July. HARBOR LINE. Upon petition of D. Goff & Sons and others for a change in the harbor line on the west bank of the river south of the stone bridge in Pawtucket, it was Resolved, That the petition of D. Goff & Sons and others be granted, and the Commissioners recommend that the harbor lines be changed by the General Assembly in accordance therewith; provided, no section of the river within the proposed harbor lines be made less than the section at present existing just below said change, except where the sections within the present harbor lines are less, and that in such case no diminution be made in said sections. A plan of the proposed lines accompanied the petition. A copy of the petition and a copy of the resolution of the Board were transmitted to the General Assembly. ENCROACHMENT AND DUMPING. Continued vigilance has been required, as heretofore, to prevent unauthorized encroachments. The city of Providence has at last fulfilled its contract to remove from the Seekonk river as much material as was forced beyond the limits prescribed by this Board, by means of the filling deposited near Tockwotton street. This was a case where work was allowed, under persistent petition of the city, against the judgment of the Harbor Commissioners; but the responsibility for the consequences was assumed by the city under a contract, and now the obstruction, or its equivalent, has been removed at a cost to the city of five thousand dollars. The statute prohibiting building in public tide waters without authority of either the General Assembly or the Harbor Commissioners has now been in force nearly eighteen years, but the knowledge of such a statute is less general than might be supposed. The Commissioners, many times in a year, find occasion to notify persons to desist from such work until a license has been obtained for it. Such notices are also sometimes required in reference to unauthorized dumping. LICENSES, ETC. Licenses have been granted during the year for structures in the public waters as follows: No. 164. January 25, to the Old Colony Railroad Company to make alterations and repairs to their wharves near India Point in the city of Providence. No. 165. March 15, to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company to drive piles across the Providence river above the Crawford street bridge in Providence, to support a bridge for railroad tracks. No. 165-2. April 19, to George Gerhard of East Providence to drive piles and widen the walk at Bullock's Point wharf. No. 166. May 31, to the Narragansett Electric Lighting Company to lay cables of electric wires across Providence river below and near the Point street bridge. No. 167. June 28, to J. A. Dailey and Son to drive piles at the wharf of Thos. J. Hill on the east side of Providence river between the New York dock and Doe & Little's wharf. No. 168. June 28, to J. A. Dailey and Son to drive piles at the pier of the Providence Coal Company at the foot of Orange street in Providence. No. 169. June 28, to the Pomroy Coal Company to drive piles at the wharf on Dyer street, at the foot of Orange and Peck streets, in Providence. No. 170. June 28, to the Continental Steamboat Company to drive piles at their wharf at No. 136 Dyer street in Providence. No. 171. September 13, to Thomas J. Hill to drive piles at his wharf on the westerly side of Providence river. Assent has been given as follows: 1. March 15, to J. M. Browning to build a breakwater at Watch Hill 100 feet long, subject to removal within six months after notice from this Board. 2. March 29, to the Fall River and Providence Steamboat Co. to drive piles to replace broken ones at their wharf in the city of Providence. 3. April 19, to James G. Burns to construct a boat-landing on his property at Narragansett Pier, subject to removal on the order of this Board upon three months notice. 4. July 5, to Richard Thornley to make alterations and improvements upon his wharf, known as Crompton's wharf, in East Greenwich. |