Section, act June 25, 1910, ch. 382, § 5, 36 Stat. 676, provided that the requirements of R.S. § 3744, section 16 of former Title 41, Public Contracts, should not apply to the lease of certain property or hire of vessels for use in connection with river and harbor improvements where the period of the lease or hire did not exceed three months. R.S. § 3744, which required contracts by the Secretaries of War, Navy, and Interior to be in writing and filed in the returns office of the Interior Department, was repealed by act Oct. 21, 1941, ch. 452, 55 Stat. 743.