PRESENT CONDITION OF IMPROVEMENT. The part of the dike built in 1880 to high-water level has settled from a few inches to a foot; the part built in 1889 to 1 foot above highwater level is not yet completely filled with stone. The channel in the bay, which has been dredged several successive times, has now nearly the required depth of 6 feet at mean low water, but with rather less than 100 feet width. PROPOSED OPERATIONS. Under the contract about to be entered into it is expected to restore the full depth and width of the channel, and in order to provide against its frequent shoaling the depth will be made about 2 feet greater than the project calls for. Owing to strong opposition to the dike by a large number of property owners at Flushing, College Point, and Newtown, representing that it seriously interfered with the navigation of the bay by small craft, I recommended that work on the dike be discontinued. This recommendation having been approved by the Chief of Engineers, the funds available and future appropriations will be expended in dredging. Appropriations for improving Flushing Bay have been made as fol lows: Flushing Bay is in the collection district of New York. The nearest light-house is on North Brother Island, about 3 miles to the northwest. The nearest fortification is Fort Schuyler, about 4 miles to the northeast. Money statement. July 1, 1890, balance unexpended.......... Amount appropriated by act approved September 19, 1890. $2, 143. 41 20,000.00 22, 143. 41 6, 643. 39 15, 500. 02 112. 10 15, 387.92 68,500,00 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project........ harbor acts of 1866 and 1867. Abstract of proposals for dredging in Flushing Bay, New York, opened at Engineer Office, U. S. Army, New York, June 22, 1891. The statistics received for 1890 are very incomplete and valueless, as showing commerce of the harbor. The amount of commerce is not materially different from that of 1889, when the following figures were reported: The principal articles of commerce are manufactured goods, coal, grain, building materials, and general merchandise. D 27. IMPROVEMENT OF PATCHOGUE RIVER, NEW YORK. Patchogue River is a small stream on the south side of Long Island, emptying into Great South Bay near its eastern end and about 55 miles in a direct line east from New York City. The village of Patchogue, which lies about a mile north of the mouth of the river, has a resident population of about 5,000, which is considerably increased during the summer months. The approach to Patchogue River by water is through Fire Island inlet, and thence by a rather crooked course for some 14 miles through Great South Bay; the depth through the bay and up to within half a mile of the river's mouth is about 8 feet; at the mouth of the river the depth shoals up to about 2, which depth could be carried up to the vil lage landings. About the year 1870 the State of New York made an appropriation for improving the entrance to this river. A jetty about 1,000 feet long was built from the west side of the mouth of the river and a channel dredged alongside of it. The jetty was built of a single row of sheet piling, with round piles at intervals of about 6 feet, and riprapped along the sides; in 1891 about 200 linear feet of the piling remained, but badly injured; the riprap could be traced for nearly the whole length of the work, but no trace of the dredged channel remained. The mean rise of tide at Patchogue River is about 1.1 feet. PROJECTS FOR IMPROVEMENT. The river and harbor act of June 4, 1880, provided for a survey of the river, which was made in that year; the report, dated October 30, 1880, and printed in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1881, Part I, page 674, contained estimates for a plan of improvement as follows: The estimate to secure a depth of 6 feet at mean low water by dredging in Total...... $21,000 15,800 5,520 42.620 One dike was to be on the west side of the river's mouth, and another and shorter one on the east side; the total length of the two to be 2,400 feet; to be of carbolized timber filled with riprap, and to be from 5 to 7 feet wide from out to out. Nothing had been done towards the desired improvement; and in1886 another examination (ordered by the river and harbor act of that year) was made. The report on this examination is printed in the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1887, Part I, page 759. This report contained a project and estimates for dredging a channel 60 feet wide and 6 feet deep from the highway bridge at Patchogue (4,000 feet above the mouth of the river) to the 6-foot contour in Great South Bay, a total length of about a mile, and to protect the channel in the bay by a dike or jetty on its west side 1,700 feet long; the plan also mentioned the possible necessity of a dike on the east side, but it was not included in the estimates, which were as follows: Dredging from the head of navigation at the bridge to the 6-foot contour in the Great South Bay, the channel being 60 feet wide and 6 feet deep, would require the removal by scow-measurement of about 60,000 cubic yards of sand, at 30 cents per cubic yard Diking, 1,700 linear feet, at $10 per linear foot Superintendence, contingencies, etc. Total $18,000 17,000 5,000 40,000 Beginning of work under this project was approved by the Secretary of War October 4, 1890, after Congress had made the first appropriation for the improvement. OPERATIONS DURING THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1891. By act of Congress approved September 19, 1890, $15,000 were appropriated for improving Patchogue River, N. Y. Proposals for construction of a riprap jetty on the west side of the entrance were received, and April 18, 1891, a contract for this work was entered into with E. Bailey & Sons, of Patchogue, N. Y., at the rate of $2.80 per gross ton for riprap delivered and placed in position in the jetty. Construction of a similar jetty at Browns Creek, N. Y., was included in the same contract. Delivery of stone in the Patchogue Jetty was begun June 8, 1891, and up to the close of the fiscal year 450 tons of stone had been placed, building 150 linear feet of the jetty, and partly completing about 900 feet additional. The contract is in progress. PRESENT CONDITION OF IMPROVEMENT. The jetty is as above described, the only work done upon it being that mentioned in this report. The available depth of channel is still about 2 feet at mean low water; at places in the river considerable dredging has been done by wharf owners to obtain material for filling; the resulting depths are irregular, varying from 8 to 18 feet, and the dredged areas are not continuous. PROPOSED OPERATIONS. Under the contract now in force the jetty will be made about 1,200 feet long. As soon as it is sufficiently long to admit of dumping material behind it a contract for dredging at the mouth of the river will be made. The available funds will, it is believed, extend the 6-foot depth a short distance inside the mouth of the river. Future appropriations should be applied to completing the dredged channel and to extending the jetty, as contemplated by the project. The only appropriation for Patchogue River is the one of $15,000 made in 1890. Patchogue River is in the collection district of New York; the nearest light-house is at Fire Island Inlet, 14 miles southwest; the nearest work of defense is Fort Hale, New Haven Harbor, Connecticut, aut 35 miles in a direct line northward. Money statement. Amount appropriated by act approved September 19, 1890. $15,000.00 156. 18 July 1, 1891, balance unexpended. 14, 843.82 July 1, 1891, outstanding liabilities.. $1, 385.00 July 1, 1891, amount covered by uncompleted contracts.. 7, 140.00 8, 525.00 July 1, 1891, balance available.. 6, 318.82 Amount (estimated) required for completion of existing project. 25,000.00 25,000.00 Abstract of proposals for constructing jetties at Patchogue River, New York, opened March 26, 1891, by Col. D. C. Houston, Corps of Engineers. * Lowest bid ($16,800, $9,800 for Patchogue River and $7,000 for Browns Creek.) Entered into contract April 18, 1891; work in progress. The above amounts are included in the proposals for constructing jetties at Patchogue River and Browns Creek, New York. Amount available for these works, about $17,000. The principal articles of commerce by water are coal and wood, brick and stone, lumber, oysters, and general freight. D 28. IMPROVEMENT OF BROWNS CREEK, SAYVILLE, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK. Browns Creek is a small stream flowing midway between the villages of Sayville and Bayport, near the south shore of Long Island, and emptying into Great South Bay, about 11 miles northeast of Fire Island Inlet. From Fire Island Inlet to the vicinity of Browns Creek there is a rather crooked channel of about 8 feet available depth. The entrance to the creek is crooked, narrow, and shifting. Its depth at mean low water is about 0.4 foot. In the stream itself the low-water level is from 0.3 to 1.3 feet higher than low water in Great South Bay, and the channel depths are from 0 to 3 feet below low water in the bay. The width |