22, EIGHTH REPORT OF THE SHELL FISH COMMISSIONERS 
Since June 1, 1881, there have been, in all, 750 applications, having 
an aggregate area of 99,717.8 acres. Seven hundred and thirteen 
applications have received final action. Of the remaining 37 ap- 
plications the deeds for 9 have been tendered to the applicants, 
and await payment. The aggregate area of the same is 419.6 
acres. The 28 applications now pending are waiting for hear- 
ings or for deeds delayed for surveys, required for accurate de- 
scriptions, or for the legal adjustment of the property lines of 
the adjoining owners. Mathematical descriptions for 61 deeds 
have been drawn during the year. 
SIGNALS. 
During June, 1887, the signals were placed in first class order, 
so that it has not been necessary to expend much money on them to 
date. But by another year many of them will need painting and 
renailing. Such work is now done by boatmen who live near the 
signals. I visit these structures as often as I can, without mak- 
ing direct expense for so doing. But one signal was destroyed 
by the great March blizzard of 1888. It was located on the 
meadows near the mouth of the Saugatuck River. The bolt 
which held the tripod head together was three-quarters of an inch 
in diameter; but the storm forced the head off from the bolt, and 
the signal fell. It was rebuilt as soon as the ice was out of the 
river. 
During the blizzard the prominent single poplar tree, which 
stood on Plant’s Hill, town of Branford, was blown down. This 
tree was used as a signal for sextant work, and also for many 
ranges. ‘The Smith Brothers have erected a pole with a box on 
top at the stump of the tree. <A large pole with a good sized cage 
on top of it is desirable at this point. 
STATE BOUNDARY LINES. 
The work on the boundary line between Rhode Island and 
Connecticut has been completed, my last work in connection 
with it being on October 28, 1887; at which time a granite post 
ten feet in length and one foot square above ground was set near 
Watch Hill. The line dividing Little Narragansett Bay passes 
through this post and Rhodes Folly Beacon. The Western end 
of the line is the spindle on the beacon. The Eastern end of 
the line is the point which is 747 feet from the center of the post, 
measured directly towards the beacon. 
