LITERARY NOTICES. 



129 



which a fall of ten per cent, from the pre- 

 vious average price occurred after 1874." 

 Of cotton, he says: " In 1860 and 1861 the 

 average consumption of cotton in Great 

 Britain was 1,040 million pounds, against 

 1,229 million pounds in 1878. The price 

 is slightly lower now than it was even in 

 1860-61. When we consider the enor- 

 mous competition for cotton, and the Brit- 

 ish plant provided for working up nearly 

 200 million pounds per annum, nothing but 

 the want of the American market for fin- 

 ished goods can have kept the price of cot- 

 ton down to such a very low figure as that 

 prevailing, almost lower than it ever touched 

 before. . . . One consequence" of this is 

 that " the American cotton-grower has lat- 

 terly got the minimum instead of the maxi- 

 mum price for his article." Mr. Tylor finds 

 that this fall in price also applies to petro- 

 leum, and he humorously observes that 

 the British Government " ought to make a 

 strong remonstrance on this subject. We 

 are at the same time indebted to the United 

 States for their cheap grain, cotton, and pe- 

 troleum, sold at the cost of production to 

 us, in consequence of this unjust tariff." 

 The view of the subject advanced by Mr. 

 Tylor is well worth the attention of our 

 legislators and economists, and, if borne 

 out by fuller inquiry, will constitute another 

 of those facts which increasing experience 

 is adding to our knowledge, showing the 

 folly of tariff restrictions. 



Report of the Department of Public 

 Works of the City of New York. For 

 the Quarter ending June 30, 1879. 

 With a Special Report on the Subject 

 of Water Supply. 



The feature of this report that gives it 

 an interest to the general public of New 

 York is the very full and elaborate state- 

 ment of the condition of the water-supply 

 of the city. The Commissioner, Mr. Camp- 

 bell, points out in it that the present means 

 of furnishing water are and have been for 

 some years inadequate, and that there is 

 danger, in case of any unusual demand, or a 

 continued drought such as occurred in 1877, 

 of the city suffering from an insufficient 

 supply. The present supply is obtained, as 

 is well known, from the Croton River, 

 through the aqueduct of that name. This 

 VOL. xvii. 9 1 



was constructed to deliver sixty million gal- 

 lons daily, but for the past eight or nine 

 years it has been called upon to do a much 

 larger service. The present demand for 

 water is between ninety and one hundred 

 million gallons per day, with an increasing 

 demand of two millions per day for each 

 year. The present system is able to supply 

 this demand only by working much closer 

 to the limit than is advisable. When the 

 new reservoir at the middle branch of the 

 Croton and the dams and flumes to draw 

 upon all the available lakes and ponds in 

 the Croton basin are completed, there will 

 be a storage capacity of nine billion gallons, 

 which will be sufficient to fill the present 

 aqueduct to the extent of its capacity ; and, 

 to increase the supply, other conduits, either 

 from the Croton basin or elsewhere, will 

 have to be constructed. With a view of 

 determining what sources of supply were 

 available, surveys have been made of the 

 watershed of the Bronx and Byram Rivers, 

 and of that of the Ilousatonic River, the 

 results of which are given in the present 

 report. The surveys of the Bronx and By- 

 ram Rivers district show that tapping the 

 Bronx a few miles above White Plains, the 

 area drained, including the Rye ponds, is 

 13-33 square miles, and that the like area 

 for the Byram is 8 - 66 square miles, giving 

 a total of twenty-two square miles. The 

 waters of the Byram can be diverted into 

 the Bronx by means of a tunnel about 

 twenty-six hundred feet in length, and some 

 open cutting. By constructing proper res- 

 ervoirs and dams, Mr. G. W. Birdsall, the 

 engineer reporting on the proposed work, 

 estimated that thirty-five hundred million 

 gallons can be stored, and that an average 

 daily supply of twenty million gallons can 

 be obtained from this source. The esti- 

 mated cost of the work is something over 

 twenty-six hundred thousand dollars. This 

 source of supply will only suffice for a few 

 years, after which a further supply will be- 

 come necessary. With a view of determin- 

 ing its value as a source for such further 

 supply, the survey of the Housatonic dis- 

 trict was made. The work was in charge 

 of Mr. Horace Loomis, who has submitted 

 an excellent report upon the results of his 

 investigations. He found that the waters 

 of this river could be brought to the head of 



