The Daily Cincinnati Republican, And Commercial Register

From the Arkansas Gazette
SNAG BOATS.
The curiosity of the citizens of our town was
highly gratified, last week, with the opportunity afforded
them by the politeness of captain Shreve, of
witnessing the operations of the Archimedes, one
of the snag boats under the superintendence of that
gentleman, employed in removing the obstructions
to the navigation of the Arkansas. This boat, which
is commanded by captain Dillingham, arrived at our
landing, on Thursday evening last, in company with
the steam tender Java, captain Tyson; and on Friday,
a number of the ladies and gentlemen of this
town received an invitation to go on board the latter
boat, for the purpose of witnessing the facility
with which the former can remove the snags and
sawyers which abound in every part of our river.
After running down a few miles, the two boats returned
to town, when the Archimedes exhibited, in
the presence of a large number of our citizens, who
lined the banks, an evidence of her astonishing powers,
by grappling with, and removing a large cotton
wood tree, which has been lying nearly buried in the
mud, for some time past, near the shore on the opposite
side of the river from this place. The raising
of the tree, sawing off the root, and sinking it
in the deepest part of the river, and sawing the body
into two or three pieces, and sending them adrift,
was comparatively but the work of a moment. In
about an hour every vestige of it was removed, when
the party were set ashore at the landing, highly
pleased with their trip and with the polite attention
which they received from the officers and gentlemen
of the boats.
The two boats then proceeded down the river;
and their operations on the Arkansas, we understand,
are closed for the present season, in consequence
of the appropriation ($15,000) made for the
removal of the obstruction to its navigation being
exhausted. Their success in removing them, however,
leaves no doubt on our minds of an ample appropriation
being made during the present session
of Congress, for their entire removal, and of the
navigation of the Arkansas being rendered as safe
and easy as that of any river in the Union.