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DECEMBER 21, 1899. REPORT OF THE WATERWAYS COMMISSION. The preliminary report of the Deep Waterways Commis- sion, recommending an international dam at the foot of Lake Erie for the regulation of water levels in Lakes Erie, St. Clair and Huron and connecting rivers, forwarded to Washington Dec, 7, consists of 40 pages of typewritten mat- ter containing data and reports of engineering investigations. In a letter addressed to Secretary Root, of the War Depart- _ ment, the Commissioners cover the subject in a bright way, ~ as follows : “Under the influence of varying relative supply, evapor- ation and discharge, the monthly mean level of Lake Erie has had an extreme variation of 4.6 feet during the past 70 years. The low level generally occurs at a time of year _ when navigation is most active. If the level of the lake could be constantly maintained at or near high stage, navi- _ gation would be greatly benefited by securing a maximum depth at the time when it is most needed, and by the practi- cal deepening of the lake harbors. “To maintain the level of a lake at or near some fixed stage, the discharge must be controlled so that it will always be approximately equal to the difference between the supply of water to the lake and the evaporation from its surface. In the case of Lake Erie this can only be accomplished by ~ establishing regulating works in or near the discharging waterway. These works must be so arranged that they will not only maintain the level of the lake at or near the fixed stage adopted, but also so that they will produce no injurious effects upon the lakes and waterways from which a part of a supply is derived, or upon those which receive the dis- charge. ; . “This is the problem which the Board has investigated. For the details of its investigation, the methods employed, the data and reasoning upon which they are based, and the results obtained, the Board refers to the paper on lake regulations by Mr. George Y. Wisner, member of the board, which is appended to this report. This paper was prepared by Mr. Wisner in consultation with the other members of the Board, and it fully expresses their views. In this report, therefore, it is only necessary to give a brief statement of the conclusions at which the Board has arrived. “The board is of the opinion that the best location for works for regulating the levels of Lake Erie is at the foot of the lake just below Buffalo harbor. The location in the Niagara river below Tonawanda has been advocated, but the board find upon investigation that regulation by works at this point would be less effective and much more expensive than at the adopted location. “The works projected by the board are designed to dis- tribute the discharge of the lake so as to reduce its variation of level toa small amount. This result cannot be attained by the use of submerged fixed weirs only, and a series of sluices is added to secure, in combination with fixed weirs, the control desired.. The weirs will be constructed of con- crete blocks, and will have an aggregate length of 2,900 feet. _ The sluices, 13 in number, of the Stoney type, will each have an opening of 80 feet, making an aggregate of 1,040 feet. The piers separating the sluce openings will be of substan- tial first-class masonry. These sluices can be operated under rules easily formulated and, in the opinion of the board, amply provide for condition more unfavorable than any re- corded. A canal with a lock is provided on the American side around the end of the dam and the rapids at the head of the river, affording a much safer navigable channel than the present one through the rapids. The estimated cost is : “For regulating works, $796,923. ‘For lock and canal, $2,325,967. This would be quite necessary to accommodate traffic below Buffalo along the Niagara river. Le “The extreme high water stage of Lake Erie is about 575 feet above tide water. The level adopted by the board for regulation is 574.5 feet, or about 0.5 foot below the level of extreme high water. This is the lowest elevation at which regulation can be effected without enlarging the cross-sec- tion of the river at the gorge. Should it, for any reason, be considered desirable to regulate the lake at a lower level, the desired result can be accomplished by enlarging the cross-section of the river so as to provide for the maximum discharge at the adopted level. : “The board is of the opinion that, with the works proposed, the level of the lake can be maintained during the season of navigation within about 0.6 foot below the level adopted for regulation, under all conditions of supply heretofore re- corded. Considerable changes of level due to violent winds would be temporary and infrequent, and, in the opinion of the board, would not seriously interfere with the regulation of the lake level. “The current velocitiesin the Niagara river, below the ‘point where the canal enters it, will not be increased by the operation of the regulating works. : “The modification of the outflow of Lake Erie proposed for the regulation of its level will not materially change the _ total volume of annual discharge, and will amount to only - about one-fifth of the variation of the discharge for different years under present conditions. The effect of this modifica- tion upon Lake Ontario will be to slightly increase the rate of rise in the spring and make the date of maximum stage a _ little earlier, This will not injure the navigation interests of the lake. : : ___ “The board regrets that it has been unable to obtain reli- _ able data connecting the discharge of the St. Lawrence river _with the varying levels of Lake Ontario. The modification of the flow of the Niagara river which will be produced by _ THE MARINE RECORD the proposed regulating works is so small when compared with other causes of change of level that the board is of the opinion that it cannot affect the depth of the waterways re. ceiving the discharge to any material extent. “The effect of the regulation of the level of Lake Erie, herein proposed, would be to diminish the slopes of the Detroit and St. Clair rivers for any given volume of dis- charge and to redistribute the flow. In the opinion of the board, the result of these changes would be to raise the low water stage about 3 feet in Lake Erie, 2 feet in Lake St, Clair and one foot in Lake Huron. This would obviously be of great benefit to navigation. “If the channel from Lake Huron to Lake Erie should be made 30 feet deep, the low water plane would be slightly lower, the difference in level probably not exceeding 0.3 foot. ‘The board is of the opinion that works can be established for regulating the level of Lake Erie which will be of great values to navigation not only in Lake Erie, but also in the upper lakes and connecting waterways, and will be of no injury to the lower waterways of the lake system, and that such works can be constructed at a cost which will be small compared with their benefit to commerce. “In arriving at these conclusions the board has utilized all the information it has been able to obtain within the period covering its investigations, Additional observations are needed for more precise determinations of the probable effects of regulation upon the levels of the St. Clair, Detroit and St. Lawrence rivers, and the probable conditions of flow from the upper lakes. The board is, however, of the opinion that the uncertainties arising from this lack of complete data are fully covered by the ample provision made for wary- ing the discharge at the regulating works. The results of observations in the St. Clair and Detroit rivers now in pro- gress under the engineer department, United States Army, will probably be available before the board submits its final report, and any new information that may be thus obtained will be introduced therein. “Attention is invited to the fact that the project is of an international character and can only be carried out after agreement between the United States and Canadian govern- ments.”’ The more lengthy document, over the signature of Mr. Wisner, explains that the watershed of the Great Lakes sys- tem is 2.4 times the area of the lake surfaces, and that the problem of controlling the level of the lakes must allow for this rainfall as a possible increase of water in certain sea- sons, and for the evaporation from the surface in the sum- mer months. This fact makes it an impossible proposition to attempt to maintain any absolutely fixed level of water, especially for Lakes Huron and Michigan. The large water area on the upper lakes serves asa supply reservoir for rainfall in years of excessive precipitation, discharging gradually in- to the lower lakes in years of less rainfall. A variation of level of one foot in Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron is equivalent to a change in actual supply to the lower lakes and rivers of 68,300 cubic feet per second for an entire year. The average yearly rainfall on lake basins tributary to Lake Erie is 31.64 inches, equivalent to 618,000 cubic feet per second for the year. Of this, 340,000 cubic feet fall or flow into thelakes. Approximately 278,000 cubic feet per second is absorbed by the land on which it falls or is evaporated by local streams or marshes. Of the supply to the lakes, 120,- ooo cubic feet per second is evaporated and 220,000 feet flows through the Niagara river. The evaporation of Lake Brie is 30 to 36 inches annually. The average annual fluctuation of Lake Erie is greater than that of Lake Huron, and consequently the slope of the con- necting waterway is greater for the low water stages of the lakes than at high stages, a condition causing a greater low water discharge and a smaller high water discharge through the St. Clair and Detroit rivers than would be the case with the surface of Lake Erie regulated at some fixed elevation, The deepening of the channels at the St. Clair Flats and Lime Kilns Crossing caused a decrease in the slope between Lake Huron and Lake Erie of from 9.2 feet in 1886 to 8.3 in 1890. Experiments made by the commission showed that by raising the level of Lake Erie three feet, Lake St. Clair would be raised two feet and Lake Huron one foot, making the levels approximately what they were before being low- ered by the deepening of the river channels. This would be brought about by decreasing the flow in the Detroit and St. Clair rivers caused by the higher waters in the main bodies below them. The area of Lake Erie isso small compared with that of other lakes, that its reservoir capacity is only one-ninth that of the upper lakes, hence that body is more subject to extreme fluctuations than are the others. The regulating works would give to Lake Erie a controlling reservoir capa- city which would secure permanently the necessary regu- lation of the levels. Careful surveys and examinations have been made to determine the topography, hydrography and character of material on which the regulating works would have to be founded and a series of observations have been made to determine the character of the proposed works. Two plans have been generally advocated: The first to construct a dam with regulating sluices across Niagara river below Tonawanda river; the second, to construct a sub- merged weir in connection with aset of regulating sluices at the toot of the lake just below Buffalo harbor. The first plan would require an expensive dam with locks and wiers on each side of Grand Island, the excavation of 5,000,000 cubic yards of material at the head of the river, the purchase of $3,000,000 worth of property which would be ruined by high water and the construction and maintenance of many miles of dykes. The total cost would be over $12,000,000. The regulating works at the foot of the lake would demand a combination of fixed weirs and regulating sluices, the es- timated cost to be $2,325,967. The proposition of the commission is to increase the level to 574.5 feet above tide water, which is nearly extreme high water level, although the plan includes a change of the plant so that maximum level would remain about one foot less in case there should be any objection toa permanent high water mark. This change would cost about $384,000 additional. Under the present conditions there is about 35 feet of water at the head of Lake Erie, between the river and the islands. Westerly winds force the water through the passages, lower- ing the water at the head and deepening it at Buffalo. The continuance of a westerly storm, at a time when water in the lake is low, piles up six to seven feet of water at Buffalo. The deeper the water at the head the less marked is the wind effect, there being an under current of return water corres- ponding in volume to the depth of the body. Thus anadded three feet would practically overcome the seriousness of wind effects. Engineers’ reports show that every foot of permanent im- provements obtained in Lake Erie ports cost $1,000,000 per foot depth of water gained and the result of the regulating works would bea saving of many millions of dollars in dredging, etc. ‘ Mr. Wisner also discusses a 600-foot channel for the Detroit and St. Clair rivers and Lake St. Clair, with permanent 2r- foot depth, and gives estimates of the labor required to do this. He shows that the establishment of the regulating works will save the excavation of 4,891,000 cubic yards of sand, clay and gravel, 201,000 cubic yards of sand, clay and boulders, and 248,000 cubic yards of rock. This would mean a saving of $1,383,850 and would practically prove economical as between providing the 21-foot channel under present con- ditions or building the regulating works. Such an arrange- ment would allow lake carriers to load to full carrying capacity at all times with safety. This channel, Mr. Wisner insists, is an absolute necessity to accommodate the big vessels now in service, , “Congressman John B. Corliss called on the Secretary of War Tuesday morning and urged speed in the sending to Congress of the report of the engineers of the deep water- ways and the raising of the lake levels by a dam in or near the Niagara river. The Secretary at once sent the report, and Mr. Corliss obtained an order from Speaker Henderson for an immediate print of the work for the information of the house. The report is very voluminous. It is the basis of the Cor- | liss bill, and is full of maps and drawings. The report, as soon as printed, will go to the committee on rivers and har- bors, and Mr. Corliss expects to get an early committee re- port on his bill. There isa great deal of interest in the matter, especially among the members from states bordering on the Great Lakes. Se EASTERN FREIGHTS. Messrs. Funch, Edye & Co., New York, report the eastern freight market as follows: “Freights by steam, although hardly yet quotable at higher rates, have apparantly reached bottom for the time being, and in view of the reduction in available and prompt tonnage, a moderate advance in rates generally may be looked for in the near future, notwithstanding the dullness customary during the approaching holiday. season. The scarcity of grain at our seaboard, owing to the car famine, is slowly being overcome, and since Liverpool is likely to be a large purchaser of cotton in January, all prospects point to some compensation in freight rates and activity of move- ment after the turn of the year, for one, of the most dis- appointing periods ever experienced in the development of autumn business from this coast. Sail tonnage has been a trifle more active during the past week, a few charters having been effected for case oil to the far East, and but for the scarcity of vessels offering, the list would doubtless have been larger, as the inquiry in this line remains fair at present rates. In other directions there is nothing of importance to mention, unless it be a slightly better demand for lumber vessels in River Plate, both from the Gulf and from Eastern ports at full rates recently estab- lished, and it seems likely that we shall see a slight improve- ment ere long. —_—_—_—_—— oO OOS THE statement published recently that the scarcity of steel structural material is so severely felt by firms having con- tracts with the Navy Department that they have asked for extensions of time, is denied by firms interested. The pub- lication stated that the Bethlehem Steel Company had ad- dressed letters to a number of shipyards, asserting its inability to supply the steel demanded, and declariug that pig iron is not being produced in quantities supplied heretofore, owing to the lack of men todig the ore. Vice-President Edward M. Mcllvain, of the Bethlehem Company, says of the matter: ‘“The story is absurd. We have written no such letters regarding inability to get ore, and we have not asked Wash- ington for any extension of time on our contracts. I have just returned from Washington with the award of a contract for 25 sets of 3-inch gun forgings, which we have guaranteed to deliver in eight days and the remainder in fifty. That does not look very much as though we could not obtain suf- ficient ore to finish our contracts.” a _ THERE is considerable activity at Roach’s and also at the various other ship yards on the Delaware, including that of the Harlan & Hollingsworth Co., Wilmington, Del., where an unusually large number of vessels are either being newly built or extensively repaired.