1 v / 4^ . 9 pay of the men. Two thousand two hundred and ten dollars ($2,210) have already been returned, and it is contemplated that by the first of January next the whole amount advanced will be repaid. Both officers and men have been selected with great care, and have performed their duties with fidelity and manliness. Our citizens may look with just pride upon the o:- ganization as being confessedly one of the very best in this country. The pay of the Privates at the commencement ofthe year was fifty dollars per month. It was then increased ti> sixty dollars, and recently to seventy-five dollars per month. When it is considered that these men are in the service of tincity day and night, and are debarred all other pursuit, it will readily be conceded that the increased amount given them by the City Council is just and proper. They are exposed to tinvicissitudes of heat and cold, storm nnd darkness, and in every emergency have shown themselves worthy of the trust which has been confided to them. The expense of their maintenance has been heavy and must continue to be so, for in the changed circumstances that surround us, with a vagabond freed element in our midst, and constantly pouring into the city, together with the influx of "roughs" coming by every steamer, it is a mat ter of necessity to keep up at any cost an efficient Police Force for our protection. STREETS AND LANES. The expenditures in this department have been necessarily very heavy, rendered so mainly by the rebuilding of the stone causeways leading down under the bluff, which, during the war, were entirely destroyed, and the material carried away and sunk in the obstructions. Two of these thoroughfares ha\ < been put in complete repair. The grades have been cut down and rendered easy of ascent, and the curb walls on either hand underpinned and strengthened. Cesspools have been con structed at the foot of each to check the flow of sand into ihe river. The work has been carefully done, and will last many years. The causeway and wall at the head of Fast ISroad street is also in process of repair. There has been constructed during the past summer an important sewer in Drayton street, 6 MAYOR'S ANNUAL REPORT. connecting with that passing through Perry street lane. The wants of commerce will necessitate the grading and paving of River street during the winter, and I would also earnestly re commend the paving of Drayton and Whitaker streets as far out as Gwinnett. The work on West Broad street, as far as the Central Railroad Depot, is now in progress. The expendi tures on the streets and lanes to date amount to $22,173 44, including in this sum the repairs and painting of the railings around the squares and monuments in Bull street. One of the noticeable features growing out of the changed condition of affairs, has been the introduction, during the past year, of the chain gang, as an institution upon our streets and public works. This force is rapidly accumxdating in numbers, and is made up of convicts iwitenced to labor by the Courts. It already ex ceeds the wants of the city, and a portion of the excess has been turned over to the U. S. Barracks for employment. Any further increase will be assigned to the Railroad Depots, should their labor there be deemed desirable. SCAVENGER'S DEPARTMENT. This department of the public service has been kept up dur ing the past year at an expense to the city of $15,852 93, a sum materially in excess of what has been usually expended in form er years. An increased population may in part account for this. The outlay has accrued mainly in bills of repair upon harness and vehicles, the purchase of carts, mules and appli ances, time of hands, etc. The Superintendent has been ener getic and attentive in the discharge of his duties, and the streets and lanes have been kept in an unusually clean condition. I am convinced, however, that the present system is a defective one, and that the same ends will be attained at a far less cost to the city, by a return to the former plan of letting out the work by contract, with approved security. The city owns, in connection with this department, twenty-two carts and twenty mules. The whole subject is commended to the prompt atten tion of the incoming Board of Aldermen. MARKET. The present market house is totally inadequate to the wants of the city, and should be pulled down and modernized when- MAYOR'S ANNUAL REPORT. 7 ever the finances of the city will admit of it. The structure has been patched and added to at different periods, without attain ing material results, and has recently been enlarged by the ad dition of a commodious shed on its eastern face. A suitable building would unquestionably prove a source of revenue to the city. Under the faithful administration of the Clerk ofthe Market and his Assistant, there have been paid into the Trea sury since 1st of January, fees to the amount of $6,152 15. The gross returns from fees and the sale of stalls combined, amounts to $12,785 59. JAIL. / The Jail was turned over to the civil authorities on the 19th of December, 1865, in an insecure and dilapidated condition, rendering many repairs necessary for the safe-keeping and comfort of the prisoners. The building, at best, being poorly adapted to the purposes for which it was erected, has been over-crowded with prisoners, and it has been necessary to as sign additional guards for their security. The care of these people has been conducted with humanity and kindness by the Jailor. The amount due the city by the county for the sup port of the prisoners will be heavy. MILITARY PARADE GROUND. On the eleventh of August, 1853, the City Council, by ordi nance, set apart nineteen acres of land, known as the "Old Can tonment," as a parade ground for the volunteer companies of Savannah, vesting the control, custody and management of the same in the captains for the time being of the several volun teer companies, who were to have exclusive charge thereof. The aforesaid grant and dedication was made under the condi tion that the several volunteer companies should have the said parade ground properly cleared, and in case it should be used for other purposes than that to which it was dedicated, the same was to revert to the city and fall again into the common public domain ; and all grants, privileges and advantages con tained in the ordinance to become void and of none effect. Six years later, on petition of a committee from the volunteer mili- 8 MAYORS ANNUAL REPORT. tary companies of Savannah, Council resolved to exchange the parade ground then in use for land south of and immediately adjoining the Park, bounded on the east by Drayton street, south by New Houston street, and west by Whitaker street. The ground was thereafter enclosed with a neat, substantial rail, and until the evacuation of the city by the Confederate forces, was kept in order, in accordance with the terms stipu lated. It is now an open waste, cut up and defaced by the troops who have at various times been encamped upon it. In the changed condition of our fortunes it is not probable that for many years to come the volunteer organizations in whom it was originally vested will be enabled again to enclose and improve it, and I would recommend that an arrangement be made with all parties in interest, under which the parade ground may be merged into Forsyth Place, and by being beau tified and improved, afford a public Park to our citizens of thir ty acres instead often, as at present enclosed. CITY EXCHANGE. It may not be amiss, in connection with the Mayor's Report, to replace upon record a brief history of this old landmark, as derived from the minutes of Council. Many of its archives have been lost in the occupancy of the city by the United States forces. The records of Council commence in 1791, with a hiatus from December 1796 to July 1800, and from the 20th of January, 1850, to the 10th of March, 1853. The register of deaths is complete from 1803 to the present time. " The ques tion of the erection of an Exchange Building was first agitated in 1798, and in the following year the foundation of the present structure known as the Exchange was laid. It was built by a Joint Stock Company, in which the city was a stockholder to the amount of twenty-five shares. The ground was leased to the company for ninety-nine years. The estimated cost of erec tion was $20,000, the stock being divided into two hundred shares, at one hundred dollars each. The subscription was limited to the inhabitants of Chatham county. In the year 1806 a committee of Council was appointed to purchase stock for the city, and they reported having bought eleven shares at onehun- MAYOR'S ANNUAL REPORT. 9 dred and fifty-six dollars per share. The city continued to pur chase at prices generally much above par until the year 1812, when it secured the entire balance of the stock in private hands at one hundred and fifty dollars per share. The purchase money was raised by the issue of certificates of stock at eight per cent., redeemable in ten years. One year previous to this purchase the subject of erecting a new City Hall was agitated in Coun cil, and a committee was appointed as a preliminary step to as certain on what terms the city shares in the Exchange could be sold. At the time of the sale to the city the revenues of the company were $3,000, and had been as high as $4,000. The estimated revenue to accrue to the city was twenty-four hundred dollars per annum. From this brief history of the Exchanoe, it appears that it was originally the property in part of certain citizens ; that in 1812 it became public property, and that the building which was an Exchange became the City Hall. It was a profitable property to the company which owned it, but the merchants ceased to line it as an Exchange long before it was sold to the city at the enormous profit of fifty per cent." The annual revenue to the city from this building, at the present time, amounts to $2,700, arising from the le-nse of the four rooms on the first floor, used as Banking institutions. These leases date respectively from June 15, 1865, and from January5, 1866, and are for five years. The Council Chamber and the apartments on the floor above, used as public offices, need extensive repairs and should be attended to without de lay as a matter of economy. The space in the basement of the building, with a comparatively small outlay, could be convert ed into stores or ware rooms, and yield a profitable return into the Treasury. PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The want of a Public School system, with a uniformity of discipline and method, has long been felt in our community. Realizing this, application was made in the early part of Feb ruary last to the State Legislature, for a local act incorporating a Board of Education for the city of Savannah. Under this act Dr. R. D. Arnold, John Stoddard, Solomon Cohen, Edward C. B 10 MAYOR'S ANNUAL REPORT. Anderson, John C. Ferrill, John Williamson, John L. Villalonga, Henry Williams and Alexander M. Winn were appointed, and James B. Read, Sylvanus Landrum and Bernard Mallon, chosen, under Ordinance of Council, to represent, in connection with the above named gentlemen, the interest of the city in the Massie Common School. It will be gratifying to the public to learn that this Board is now fully organized, and has made every necessary arrangement for the inauguration of a complete and thorough system of public instruction, under the direction of experienced and competent teachers. Every preparation has been made to render the system a thorough one, and to give to our city a method of instruction second to no other, It is pro posed by the Board to make these schools of free tuition, and to appeal to the City Council for an annual appropriation of five thousand dollars, which, in connection with the special county tax awarded for this purpose by the Justices of the In ferior Court, and the Educational fund from the State for the county of Chatham, will fully meet the estimates made for the inception of the project. If this plan can be successfully carried out, it will afford gratuitou: instruction to between five and six hundred children, many of whom would otherwise roam our streets in ignorance and idleness. The subjoined statement will exhibit the annual expenses of the proposed system, together with the amount needed from the city to make up the sum total for carrying out the same. I would respectfully recommend the appropriation by Council of five thousand dollars per annum, payable in monthly instalments, in furtherance of the plan. State and County Educational fund $ 4,000 Special County Tax for Public Schools 5,000 City appropriation of $5,000 per annum 5,000 $14,000 The following is the estimate for salaries and expenses for the current year : Superintendent and Principal Girls' Grammar School.. $2,500 Principal Boys' Grammar School 2,000 First Assistant Girls' Grammar School 750 Second Assistant Girls' Grammar School 700 First Assistant Boys' Grammar School 750 MAYOR'S ANNUAL REPORT. 11 Principal Boys' Intermediate School 1,000 First Assistant Boys' Intermediate School 700 Principal Girls' Intermediate School 750 First Assistant Girls' Intermediate School 650 Second Assistant Girls' Intermediate School 600 Principal Primary Boys' and Girls' School 650 First Assistant Primary Boys' and Girls' School....... 500 Second Assistant Primary Boys' and Girls' School 500 Music Teacher 400 Janitor's wages 300 Stationery and Incidentals 300 Supernumerary Teacher 300 Apparatus, Insurance, &c 650 Total Expenditure #14,000 RIVER OBSTRUCTIONS. It is to be regretted that the work for the removal of the ob structions in Savannah river could not have been commenced in the early Spring and been vigorously pushed forward during the past Summer months. These obstructions are of three classes: sunken vessels, piles and cribs. The first in order, blocking the approach to the city from the sea, are the hulks of two large ships, and a smaller vessel, sunk in the channel near Fort Pu laski in 1861. They remain in the same position now as when first put down, but are rapidly giving way to the assaults of the terredo navalis, a worm abounding in our Southern waters. The northernmost of these vessels should be removed, ^he chan nel being very narrow at that point, and a short turn has to be made around the wreck, which is difficult for a sailing vessel. Next in order come the impediments at Four-Mile Point, con sisting of cribs, piles and sunken vessels. These obstructions stretch across the river from the Elba Island side to the Caro lina shore, and to Mackay's Point, across South Channel, com posed mainly of cribs built of yellow pine timber, forty feet square, filled in with paving stones, live oak and brick. Each crib has two floors, with ballast on each. Sixteen vessels were sunk in the North Channel, contiguous to and below the cribs. On the capture of Savannah by the United States forces, three cribs and one sunken vessel were removed by the Quartermas- 12 MAYOR'S ANNUAL REPORT. ter's Department, at a cost to the Government of thirty thousand dollars, and an expenditure of four weeks in time. The open ing is insufficient for the purposes of commerce, and should be enlarged so as to give a space of at least five hundred feet in width. The gap in the South Channel is not so wide as that opened in the main river. It was made by the Navy, at the cost and labor of two vessels. By comparing the soundings at these points on the Coast Survey Charts, recently completed, with those published before the war, it will be seen that the changes in this neighborhood are for the better, and that the depths have been materially increased. Following up the ship channel in its course toward the city, we come next to the ob structions in the immediate vicinity of Fort Jackson. These consist of an irregular line of nine cribs, sunk between Fort Lee and the marsh island opposite. Two others were sunk a short distance above, as moorings for the floating battery Georgia. This vessel was scuttled on the night of the evacua tion, and now lies with her armament, machinery and all her appointments precisely as when she went down, a most danger ous obstacle in the navigation of the river. There are said to be about five hundred tons of railroad iron covering her shield. The jiile work and other impediments in the side channels put down during the war are not commented upon in this report, as they do not immediately affect the direct approaches to the city. The changes in the channel near Fig Island, occasioned by the sinking of the obstructions below, offer at this time the most serious hindrance to the commerce of the port. Previous to the commencement of the war, vessels drawing seventeen and a half feet passed easily to and from the city, whilst at the pre sent time the best water reported by the pilots is only thirteen and a half feet at mean high tide, the lines upon which this depth can be found being very much narrowed in comparison with those which formerly prevailed. It is proposed to dredge out this shoal immediately, and to this end the Commissioners of Pilotage entered into contract on the 30th of June last with the Charleston Dredging and Wharf Building Company, to ex cavate at this point twenty-five thousand cubic yards of sand, at a cost of thirty cents per cubic yard, proposing to increase MAYOR'S ANNUAL REPORT. 13 the depth of water to eighteen feet at full tide. This contract, owing to delays on the part of the company, has not as yet been commenced, and from present indications is not likely to be. It will be the interest of the city to rely upon her own enterprise, and to build for herself a dredging machine which will meet the necessities of the present occasion, and thereafter be employed in deepening the river along the entire wharf front. The cost of such an apparatus, with all its appliances of machinery, scows, &c., will not exceed eighteen thousand dol lars, and the investment will pay for itself in three years. Our river is the artery of wealth and prosperity to Savannah, and its improvement should take precedence over every other pro' ject. Following up the channel from Fig Island shoals, we come next to the wreck of the ram Ogeechee, near Willink's ship yard, and above her again an old hulk imbedded in the stream, in the immediate vicinity of the Ferry wharf. Both of these are awash at low water, and form serious impediments in the navigation of the river. A shoal is forming around each. The space above, as far as the mouth of the Ogeechee canal, is un impeded with obstacles. In May last the Treasury Department at Washington, re voking the authority which it had conceded to the city to en ter into engagements for clearing out the impediments to navigation in the Savannah river, entered into contract with " Henry S. Welles, of New York, representing the Brunswick and Florida Railroad, to raise and transport to the city of Sa vannah such jwtions as may be valuable of the following wrecks, viz: The Savannah, the Ogeechee, the Georgia, the wrecks of vessels sunk below the obstructions, the Dry Dock sunk in St. Augustine creek, the wrecks sunk near Fort Pulas ki, and such other vessels as may be discovered in and near said river and harbor." " The said Henry S. Welles agreeing to execute a bond in the penal sum of $30,000 for the performance of this contract." This agreement, so manifestly unjust to the commercial in terests of Savannah, as involving only the removal from the channel of "such portions" of the wrecks as might prove valua- 14 MAYOR'S ANNUAL REPORT. ble to the contractor, was promptly brought to the notice of the City Council, and at once acted upon by the Board, by the appointment of a committee to proceed to Washington, with a memorial to the President of the United States, asking his in tervention in the action of the Treasury Department, and pray ing that the city might be allowed to perfect its own arrange ments, then in process of completion with another party. To this ajrpeal the President responded by issuing instructions to the Secretary of the Treasury, directing the amplification of Welles' contract, so as to include the removal of " all cribs, piles, boats, scows, vessels and other property obstructing the channel of Savannah river, at his own expense and risk ;" thus virtually adopting an agreement of substantially the same tenor and effect as that which had been prepared by the city with Mr. Andy Hartshorn. Mr. Welles further stipulates to pay over the sum of five thousand dollars from the proceeds of said property, to be used for the purpose of dredging the channel, and enters into bond in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, con ditioned for the faithful performance of the provisions of his contract. Serious delays have occurred uj) to this time in the prosecu tion of the enterprise ; but the work is now fairly under way, and, under the ausjnees of our energetic fellow-townsman, Mr. Henry F. Willink, Jr., will be pushed forward without any fur ther loss of time. The dangerous wreck in the channel near Ferry wharf, has been lifted from its bed and removed, and workmen are now engaged upon the sunken ram Ogeechee. The gunboats Isondiga and Firefly have been raised and brought to the city from Back river. The contractor has al ready expended thirty thousand dollars in the purchase of ma chinery, material and appliances now here, and has ordered out from New York a powerful steam tug, with pumps, cranes, XES, 1866 Refunded by resolution of Council 148 18 BY WATER WORKS Paid pay roll $ 6,742 75 " passed bills, including wood. 5,855 91 12,598 66 BY BALANCE 29,285 26 ___^ $396,644 42 " JOHN WILLIAMSOi^it7"Trea7iire7 The undersigned, Committee on Finance, have examined the Accounts of the City Treasurer from the 1st December, 1805, to the 30th September, 1800, inclusive, and find the same correctly stated as per vouchers produced, showing a balance in his hands of twenty-nine thousand two hundred and eightyfive dollars and twenty-six cents ($29,285 26.) H. A. CRANE, GEO. C. FREEMAN, SAVANNAH, October 1st, 1866. Committee on Finance. MAYOR'S ANTSTUAL REPORT. 25 RESOURCES OF THE CITY OF SAVANNAH, OCTOBER 1,1866. 12,383 shares Atlantic & Gulf R. R Co. - $1,238,300 00 1,307 shares Mont. & West Point R. R. Co., 130,700 00 639 shaies Augusta & Savannah R. R. Co., 63,900 00 331 shf res Southwestern E. R. Co. - 33,100 00 3 Promissory Notes of N". B. Clinch, secur ed by mortgage on lands sold to him, 6,843 75 $1,472,843 75 CITY DOMAIN. 622 Lots in 22 Wards, under lease and valued at $465,286 32 73 Lots in Springfield, under lease, 35,038 00 Lots laid off and valued, not leased, 68,000 00568,324 32 APPROXIMATE VALUE OF LANDS AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 33 Lots South and East of Hospital,20,000 00 61 Lots in Lloyd Ward, South of the Jail, - 90,000 00 Eemainder of Springfield Plantat'n, 40,000 00 City Barracks, - - - 20,000 00 City Exchange, - - - 30,000 00 Water Works, - - - 200,000 00 Site purccased for Water Works, 22,000 00 Firemen's Hall, - - - 8,000 00430,000 00 $2,471,168 07 The above does not include Wharf Lot at the foot of West Broad street, rented for one year from July 1,1866, at $810 per annum ; Slip on the Canal, rented for one year from October, 18C6, at $75 per annum ; a small encroachment on Lot No. 3, Decker Ward, rented at $10 per annum ; Line of Wharf Head between Hutchinson's and Fig Islands, Wharf Slip at the foot of Reynolds street, east end of the city, known as the Ferry Wharf, ; Lot No. 90 Spring field Plantation, rented for two years from February 1, 1866, at $60 per annum; 22 Carts and 20 Mules, for use of streets and lanes and Scavenger's Department; also 6 Horses for use of City Police. The following shares, owned by the city, are supposed to be valueless: 50 shajes Ogeechee Plank Road Company, $ 5.000 00 500 shares Monroe II. It. and Banking Co., 50,000 CO D 26 MAYOR S ANNUAL REPORT. A A3 ^ ooooooooooo OOCXJOOOOOOOO OO'+lO-*>0OOiiGDO ooocooooooot lOOOSO'OCOOO'+IOii "S 0~-* T-H t- T-H t^ -t< -* 5 c C5 ^3 b -5 cs e ' = -s ci ^ 2 o 5 i: .y &. cerS ?^ ee S ? 60 ^ fee. c S ? c C , w -; u .~ 03 ^ O * =8 ^ 3 2 fee s g r- p ^ p .p -- (B C Ct- > -73 0 = C3 g =* 5 -. C ? ^ ^ d C! X* i'^ a E "a S ST-g S* S g i _c ^ ^ g ^ ^ S -s *-> ) 4-J V ^^ ^3 ~t-J -t^ -t^ 4 *^ 4J 'iITI h TJrH^^^iIT< i O 'n AO (M cc TH OO or or. o r i^t t^oo> r-ooccoo cooocooooooooocoooco o CO CO l-H -H iO lO lO lO lO lO lO lO J^ AD coooooGOoocrooooooocGO ooooooooo ooooooooo COC^OOOOO CCi-tlOOOOCO O O 00 O, O^ C:__ C_ O^ O^ o o r-T o of IO o" o~ cc iC O Cd O CM O O CO il Ol TI 1< Cd o o o o o o c o -* o -+l CO OS o o o Oi_ of <3 C&'xit- '**.{ M.f Staolfi Staok Georgia Colleotioa