FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 387 



(2.) Market value of pulp wood in flu- markets along the Beaver and Black River valleys. 



GEORGE C. SHERMAN testifies that pulp wood delivered at Watertown is worth $6.50 a 

 cord, and that pulp wood is worth more delivered by water than by rail. 



HON. MELVILLE W. VAN AMBER testifies that at Beaver Falls pulp wood, squared, is 

 worth $7.50 to $7 75 a cord. 



HON. G. H. P. GOULD testifies that at Castorland pulp wood is worth $5.00 to $5.25; and 

 at Felt's Mills is worth $6.50 to $7.00; and where it has been rossed (/. c, bark taken off) it is worth 

 $10 ; and it is worth more in water than if delivered by rail, for the reason that when it is soaked by 

 the water it can be ground one-third faster. 1 



AUGUSTUS KESSLER testifies that the value of pulp wood at Carthage is $5.25. 



There can be no doubt of the fact that all along the Beaver and Black Rivers, there is a large 

 market for the consumption of pulp wood ; and that it has a well-defined market value of about $6 a 

 cord. 



(3.) Consumption of merchantable soft wood. 



It is also a well-known fact that along the Beaver and Black Rivers large quantities of logs are 

 annually manufactured and converted into lumber, notably at the mills of the Beaver River Lumber 

 Company at Castorland, at the mills of Hon. M. W. Van Amber at Castorland, and at the mills of 

 Augustus Kessler at Carthage, all of which manufacture annually large quantities of lumber. 



HON. MELVILLE W. VAN AMBER testifies that the mills of the Beaver River Lumber 

 Company are quite extensive, havinj; an annual output of ten or twelve million feet a year, and that 

 his own mills have an output of about three million feet a year. 



AUGUSTUS KESSLER testifies that his mill at Carthage has an output of ten million feet 

 a year. The mill at Kessler, like the mills of Van Amber and the Beaver River Lumber Com- 

 pany, are supplied with logs by way of Beaver River. 



(4.) Value of merchantable soft wood in the markets along the Black and Beaver Rivers. 



HON. G. H. P. GOULD testifies that the value of spruce logs delivered in the Black River at 

 Carthage and vicinity before being sawed into lumber would be $9 to $9.50 per thousand feet, and 

 that the value at Castorland would be about the same. 



HON. MELVILLE W. VAN AMBER testifies that spruce logs are worth in the Beaver River 

 at Castorland $7 to $7.50 a thousand feet. 



AUGUSTUS KESSLER testifies that at Carthage, on the Black River, spruce logs are worth 

 about $7 a thousand, pine $10, and hemlock $5. 



There can be no dispute but that all along the Black and Beaver Rivers there is a demand for 

 pulp wood and merchantable soft wood timber, and that for such commodities there is a well 

 established market, with market values. 



Third. By reason of the Construction of the Reservoir the Timber and Pulp 

 Wood from the Lands of the claimant can not be taken to Market by Water. 



A brief history is now necessary of the condition of things out of which originated the Stillwater 

 reservoir, on the Beaver River. 



It is a well-known fact that the State some years ago took a large quantity of water from the 

 Black River for canal purposes, thus diverting such water from the Black River and running it through 

 the Erie Canal to the Hudson River, instead of to Lake Ontario through the Black River. The 

 Black River Canal Feeder, by which the diversion is made, can be seen by any one passing along 

 the Black River Railroad in the vicinity of Alder Creek station. 



This depletion of the water of the Black River became so serious as to greatly damage the owners 

 of water powers along the Black River. Something like eight millions of dollars are invested at 

 Watertown alone, in milling establishments run by the water power of the Black River. The useful- 

 ness of these mills was interfered with, causing damages to a large extent, and claims aggregating 

 several hundred thousand dollars were filed and lodged against the State because of this diversion of 

 the waters of the Black River. 



It was finally agreed between the State officials and the mill owners along the Black River that the 

 State should, by dams and reservoirs on the Beaver River, which is a tributary of the Black River, 



