Hire of towboat.-Venus Towboat Company, September 21, 1903; commence when ordered; terminate when discharged; discharged November 29, 1903.

Stone for Maysville ice pier.-October 3, 1903; commence within ten days after receipt of order; terminate in thirty days; completed November 21, 1903.

Reconstructing three dump scows.-The Monongahela River Consolidated Coal and Coke Company, February 12, 1904; commence within ten days after date of signature of contract; terminate two months from date of receipt of the old scows; completed May 18, 1904.

STAGES OF OHIO RIVER IN 1903.

The following are the records of the gauges at Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and Evansville, which may be taken to represent the navigable condition of the upper, middle, and lower Ohio:

Gauge at Davis Island dam, near Pittsburg, Pa.

[When the dam is up, low-water readings must be obtained from the gauge at the lower end of the lock. On this gauge 3 feet 2 inches corresponds to a navigable depth of 3 feet, and 6 feet corresponds to the same depth in the river.]

[The zero of this gauge is about 2 feet below low water. Readings of about 4 feet correspond to about 3 feet in the channel, and those of 7 feet to about 6 feet in the channel.]

Evansville gauge.

[The zero of this gauge is about at low-water line. Readings of 2 feet correspond to about 3 feet in the channel, and readings of 6 feet correspond to about 6 feet in the channel.]

Highest, lowest, and average stages of the Ohio River at Cincinnati each calendar year from 1860 to 1903, inclusive, with the highest stage during the floods of 1832 and 1847.

a

Prepared from the stages as shown by the waterworks marks daily at 6 a. m. and 6 p. m., the previous and succeeding years having been made from one daily observation at 6 a. m.

MONTHLY COMPARISONS OF RIVER AND RAINFALL.

Highest, lowest, and average monthly stages of the Ohio River, and monthly and annual'

rainfall, at Cincinnati, in two years, ending December 31, 1902 and 1903.

The following table shows the reported losses sustained by the commerce of the

Ohio River by collision with the piers of bridges crossing the Ohio River to the end

of the calendar year 1903:

NOTE. The loss at the Newport and Cincinnati highway and the Ohio Falls bridges was reported
by owners of vessel; all other losses during the year were reported by Mr. J. Frank Tilley, secretary
of the Pittsburg Coal Exchange.

1,041, 888. 42

[Compiled from reports made by owners, agents, and masters of vessels and transportation com-

panies, in compliance with act of Congress approved February 21, 1891.-Public, No. 92.]