FUTURE WATER SUPPLY OF THE ADIRONDACK MOUNTAIN REGION. 475 



Schoharie Creek is of the opposite character. On this stream, flood flows of 

 from 50 to 60 cubic feet per square mile per second are quite common, while the 

 extreme flow probably rises to 75 cubic feet per square mile per second, or five 

 times the ma.ximum observed on the Hudson River at Mechanic\"ille. 



We may now consider the relation of the proposed deep waterways, or other 

 enlarged canals, to the Adirondack region, just described. There are but two 

 possible routes, one from Lake Ontario through Oswego and Mohawk Valleys to tide 

 water in the Hudson River at Albany ; and the other, from Lake Ontario through 

 the St. Lawrence River to Lake St. Frances, and thence across the country to Lake 

 Champlain, and from the foot of that hd<e, at Whitehall, across the dividing ridge 

 to the Hudson River at Fort Miller, and through that river to tide water at Alban\-. 

 It is seen, therefore, that whiciiever route is taken for the deep waterways it neces- 

 sarily skirts the borders of the Adirondack region. If the first, the canal passes 

 along the southern border ; if the second, it passes along the northern and eastern 

 borders. In either case, the Adirondack region will necessarily become an impor- 

 tant manufacturing center. 



In order to define the present status of the deep waterways project the writer 

 will give briefly the steps which have thus far been taken. In March, 1895, Presi- 

 dent Cle\'eland appointed James B. Angell, of Michigan, John E. Russell, of 

 Massachusetts, and Lyman E. Cooley, of Illinois, Commissioners to make inquiry 

 and report concerning the feasibility of constructing such canals as would enable 

 vessels engaged in ocean commerce to pass between the Great Lakes and the 

 Atlantic Ocean, together with the most convenient location and probable cost of 

 such canals, etc. This Commission is known as the U. S. Deep Waterways Commis- 

 sion. Owing to a lack of appropriation for this purpose the Commission was unable 

 to make any surveys, but studied the question in its general scoj:>e, submitting an 

 able report to Congress, in January, 1897. In October, 1897, the Board of Engineers 

 on Deep Waterways, consisting of Col. Charles W. Raymond, cf New York, Alfred 

 Noble, of Chicago, and George Y. Wisner, of Jjetroit, was appointed to make the 

 detailed surveys and examinations recommended by the Deep Waterways Commis- 

 sion. These surveys and examinations were completed in 1900, and an elaborate 

 report ])ul)lished about December i, 1901. 



It is no part of the present paper to give in detail the work of this Board i,\ 

 Engineers an\- further than to call attention to the fact that whatever route ina_\- 

 be adojjted the .\dirondack region is certain to be benefited. Even though it be 

 the southern route, the northern and eastern boundaries will still ha\-e the benefit 

 of water communication by way of Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River. 



1 he estimated cost of the dee[) waterways for a 2i-foot channel, which the 



