severest squalls we have had came down on us from the northward, accompanied by heavy rain; the channel boat dragged its anchor, and two scows broke adrift from the dredges; they were, however, towed back by the tug; cleared off about 3.30 p. m., when work was resumed; thinking that the canal boat anchor was foul of its chain, the foreman had it weighed, whereupon it was discovered that during the squall it had broken short off near the stock; we have now in its place the anchor of No. 1 dredge, and it is almost useless in a blow, it is so small; 9.30 p. m., light breeze from northwest, and very dark; placed lanterns on the stakes and worked till 12 p. m.; No. 2 dredge had a bad break down about 11.30 p. m.; the whole of the crane, dipper, and handle are at the bottom of the cut; the dippertender had a narrow escape; he was standing on the turn table, and that going with the rest, he went with them; he could not swim, but managed to scramble out some how. Number of dumps this day, 17; number of cubic yards excavated, 698. Tuesday, August 11.-Wind light from northward; continued dredging with No. 1 since midnight; could do nothing in the dark towards regaining the crane of No. 2; waited for daylight; ceased working No. 1 at 5.30 a. m., and had her towed back to No. 2 to aid in raising the crane. Day perfectly calm and exceeding hot; "Forester" passed on her up trip at 10.30 a. m.; her wheels were stopped whilst passing the dredges; I don't know whether it was courtesy or precaution; the crane was raised, and No. 1 towed to her proper place in the cut at 7.15 p. m. Wind rising from northeast, I took the boat and sounded in front of dredges this afternoon; found 14 feet water within 200 feet of leading dredge, and towards the lake. The dredges are now excavating in 83 feet water; the material, sand and mud; tried to work a little with No. 1 on getting her into place, but broke a wheel on crane; repaired by 12 p. m. Fresh wind from southeast; blew away tug, canal boat, and wood scow, (all made fast to one small anchor;) they drifted to the northwest about 500 yards; got all back safe. Number of dumps, 3; number of cubic yards, 98. Wednesday, August 12.-Wind blew fresh all the morning, and continued so all day and night from southeast; tug went to Baltimore to bring up the wood; towed back a scow with wood and coal at 4 p. m. No work to-day. Thursday, August 13.-Wind from westward; no work this morning; blows hard, with heavy sea; last night the dipper handle of No. 1 was taken out for repairs; put in again at 8 p. m. this evening. Forester brought from Detroit to-day an anchor for canal boat and six cedar posts, 10 inches in diameter, for buoys; the latter I ordered from Detroit. Mr. Polglase sawed them into lengths of 18 inches, and then bored them with a two-inch augur, so that small stakes could be run through them, after the manner instructed by Captain Whipple. The wind veered during afternoon a little more to southward, and at sundown moderated, but it still blew fresh. No work done to-day. Friday, August 14.-Sunrise; strong wind f.om southwest; no dredging; another severe squall from northwest struck us at 2 p. m.; continued about half an hour; the wind then changed to northeast, blowing fresh; moderate at 5 p. m.; commenced dredging at 5.30 with No. 1. The crew of No. 2 can't make steam fast enough to keep her working; it blew pretty much until 9 p. m., when it calmed down; rained balance of night; the darkest night I ever saw. Number of dumps this day, 6; number of cubic yards, 259. Saturday, August 15.-Midnight, wind from NE., moderate, with rain; dredge No. 2 idle from 1.30 to 4 a. m.; no steam; 4 a. m., wind freshened and again moderated at daybreak, when rain ceased; 8.30 a. m., No. 1 broke chain wheel; No. 2 managed to get out a few boats, but her boiler leaked so badly it was wasting fuel to work her; the material is so stiff it clings to the scow; the tug has to stop many minutes to let it dump. No. 1 on breaking the wheel lay idle from 8.30 a. m. till 2.30 p. m. Number of dumps this day, 14; number of cubic yards excavated, 598.5. Sunday, August 16.-Wind from northward; forenoon rough; afternoon blew strong, with rain; very rough sea; tug went to Algonac at 1 p. m.; I went with her; returned at 7.30 p. m. Blew fresh all night. Monday, August 17.-6 a. m., blowing a gale from westward, forenoon; discharged five men to-day. They were not wanted on account of the weather; wind changed at 9 a. m. to northward; heavy sea. No dredging done to-day. Tuesday, August 18.-Wind at sunrise from northward; light breeze and cloudy. Commenced dredging with No. 1 at 5.30 a. m.; No. 2 no steam until 6 a. m.; 11 a. m. perfect calm ; 4 p. m. turn table chain of No. 1 broken; repaired in fifteen or twenty minutes; No. 2 broke one of her spuds; continued working with other two; 8 p. m. wind from NW. blowing hard, with rain; ceased work at 9.30 p. m. Number of dumps this day, 17; number of cubic yards excavated, 745. Wednesday, August 19.-No work this morning, strong wind from SW.; schooner "Fox, "of Lake Navigation Company, ran aground during the night about 200 yards to the southward of the cut; was endeavoring to make north channel; she was taken off this morning. by two of the company's tugs. Tug went to Algonac at 10 a. m. for spud for No. 2; returned with it at 5.40 p. m. Blew fresh all day; no dredging done. Thursday, August 20.-Wind this morning light, from northward; 11 a. m. calm; commenced dredging with No. 1; the boiler of No. 2 was taken out for repairs; a boiler maker and blacksmith arrived from Detroit. Although the wind was light, the water was too rough to dredge until the time above noted; 6 p. m. light wind from SW. Number of dumps this day, 7; number of cubic yards excavated, 308. Friday, August 21.-Continued dredging during night; wind moderate. At about noon No. 1 dredge (the only one working,) got into 14 feet water. She was then swung around, and dredged alongside of previous cut, so as to meet No. 2, that both may be towed together to commence the second, to the above end of the channel; 2.25 p. m., blowing fresh from SE.; ceased working; winded dredges. The material to-day was very soft, greasy, fine sand, mixed with grass, &c. Number of dumps, 7; number of cubic yards excavated, 280. Saturday, August 22.-Blew a gale all last night, accompanied by rain and thunder. Very rough sea. At 6 a. m., No. 1 dredge tore away from all her spuds, and was carried by wind and sea to the northeast. The tug was unable to go after her immediately, on account of difficulty in weighing her anchor-the windlass was broken in doing 80. She had to slip cable and run. By this time the dredge was drifting through the rushes to the northeast, in the direction of the middle passage, having five or six men on board. The rest of the property rode out the gale in safety. One of the spuds of No. 1 is standing in 14 feet water, with perhaps five feet of it over water. It being 30 feet long there must be at least six or eight feet of it buried in the sand or mud. The second dredge escaped the casualty which occurred to the first, as she was lying in nine feet water, and consequently the strain was much less on her spuds. The scows belonging to No. 1 broke their fastenings and took their own courses in the direction of Baltimore. It blew hard all day. The tug returned at 2 p. m.; reports that she could not get within less than two miles of the dredge. She got the men, however, as, having a small boat, they deserted the dredge in the rushes and steered to Baltimore, where the tug found them. At 6 p. m., the wind again rising, the tug fastened on to the fleet and made for the river. Luck again turned somewhat against us, and the tug ran aground in four feet of water at the bend, near the barrel buoys. We dropped anchor in the channel and waited for morning to get into the river. Although a little sheltered from the sea, we were anything but comfortably situated. I essayed to write my journal, (it being a blank since Thursday ;) but, owing to the wind blowing at right angles to a very strong current, the boat had a double motion-head ways and sideways-and I could not succeed. No dredging this day. Sunday, August 23.-Wind from southwest, stronger than on yesterday. Tug backed off into the deep water, took fleet again in tow, and anchored in shallow water in the river. Wind blew a storm all day, and exceedingly cold. 4 p. m., tug started for Algonac to order spuds for dredge No. 1. Wind moderated about 12 p. m. I was enabled to post up my journal to-day. Monday, August 24.-Morning, at sunrise, clear-light wind. Tug did not arrive until 10 a. m.; towed back fleet to cut. All this fine morning lost. The tug should have returned on last night, to be in readiness to tow the dredge into her place by sun rising this morning. A large cable and anchor was brought up from Detroit to-day. About time to know its value. The tug was sent to try and get No. 1 dredge back, and succeeded in towing her into Baltimore, where she will be repaired. Tug returned at 9.30 p. m. On account of the depth of water where No. 2 is dredging, (about nine feet,) she has to move a number of times to fill a dumper, consequently does but little during the day. Number of dumps, 3; number of cubic yards, 131. Tuesday, August 25.-Morning calm; no dredging until 6.15 a. m. I found a part of spud of No. 1 standing in the sand near the one mentioned yesterday, the top of it is under water. At 1.30 p. m. tug went to Baltimore to fetch the dredge; returned with it about 8 p. m. Blew fresh from SW. during the night. The lost dumpers are fast in the rushes, the doors down. Number of dumps this day, 9; number of cubic yards, 366. Wednesday, August 26.-Blowing fresh from SE; No. 1 dredge undergoing some repairs. Afternoon, men went in the yawl to float off the dumpers; succeeded; tug towed them in; got out but two boats to-day. at 5.40 p. m; blew fresh; ceased dredging. Number of dumps, 2; number of cubic yards, 87. Thursday, August 27.-Wind this morning from SE.; water rough; 12.30 p. m., wind increasing; 8 p. m., severe storm, with rain and thunder; wind from SW.; stormed all night. No work. Friday, August 28.-Wind at sunrise from SW.; blowing fresh; heavy sea; continued so all day, with squalls and rain. Dredges ride well, attached to large anchor. The boiler of No. 2 could not be repaired here; she was towed to Detroit by tug at 3 p. m; foreman and Mr. Polglase went with her. Blew a gale all night. No dredging done. Saturday, August 29.-Blowing fresh from NE. this morning. I forgot to mention that on Thursday one dredge was employed for a time in raising the sunken spuds of No. 1; two stout chains were broken in doing so; raised both the spuds. Strong wind all day. At sundown the wind fell away, and at 10 p. m. the water was perfectly calm. It took some time to find the face of the cut of No. 2, as the buoy dropped there shifted. One boat was loaded and another partly, but were not dumped during the night, as a fresh breeze sprung up from the SW. about 2.30 a. m. Sunday, August 30.-Wind from SW.; moderate; 8 a. m., commenced dredging; the men poled the boats out in the absence of the tug. A strong wind sprung up at noon and nearly swamped a loaded scow; she was dumped, to save her, alongside the cut and to the north of it. But two boats were poled out; the second one, when dumped, became unmanageable on account of the wind. An anchor was brought out to us, and we warped her to the dredge. Ceased working at 12.30 p. m. Number of dumps this day, 2; number of cubic yards, 86. We could have worked all the afternoon had the tug been here, but with what wind there was the men could not pole cut the boats; and there was no use in loading them, as they would leak out a large portion of their contents into the cut again. Monday, August 31.-Fresh breeze from SW. No dredging to-day. If the tug had been here we could have worked all day. "Sam Ward,' "Forest Queen," and "Dart" passed here to day through the cut, sucking up the loose sand from the bottom. Tug arrived from Detroit with No. 2 dredge at 8 p. m., and started again for Baltimore at 9.30. Night clear and calm. Mr. Polglase arrived on tug. The total number of cubic yards of material excavated during the month of July is. August....... Total..... 14,159 9,261 23,420 |