NEW YORK 



421G NEW YORK STATE BARGE CANAL 



York, Jenkins 1 Greatest Street in the World and 

 Van Dyke's New New York. Henschel's Municipal 

 Consolidation: Historical Sketch of Greater New 

 York is a standard work on the city's govern- 

 ment. For its history consult Colton's Annals 

 of Old Manhattan; Earle's Colonial Days in Old 

 New York; Hemstreefs The Story of Manhattan 

 and Wilson's Xew York, Old and New. A classic 

 is Irving's Knickerbocker .v History of New York. 



NEW YORK, COLLEGE OF THE CITY OF, a free 

 college for men, maintained by the city of New 

 York. It was established by the board of edu- 

 cation upon the vote of the city, in 1848, as the 

 Free Academy. The purpose was to make it 

 possible for ambitious students without funds 

 to receive college training. In 1866 the school 

 was raised to collegiate rank and became the 

 College of the City of New York. High aca- 

 demic standards are maintained. Seven years 

 of instruction are offered; three are prepara- 

 tory and four are collegiate. The preparatory 

 courses are the same, as those given in the city 

 high schools. There are no professional or 

 graduate courses. Tuition, textbooks and ap- 

 paratus are free. Students must take pre- 

 scribed courses until they have completed the 

 sophomore year. 



In Townsend Harris Hall, the preparatory 

 department of the college, is conducted a night 

 school, largely attended by boys and men who 

 have been unable to complete their high school 

 work in the day schools. The teachers of the 

 city may also complete courses at the college, 

 which relieves them of taking certain examina- 

 tions given by the city board of education. In 

 1908 the college was moved to its present loca- 

 tion on University Heights. The magnificent 

 buildings and equipment there were furnished 

 by the city at a cost of $5,000,000. The annual 

 expenses are covered by an appropriation of 

 approximately $600,000, supplied by the city. 

 The faculty consists of about 225 members. 

 There are over 8,460 students enroled, includ- 

 ing those in the preparatory department and 

 in the evening schools. The library contains 

 nearly 62,660 volumes. 



NEW YORK, UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF, a 

 state department of public education in New 

 York. It includes all schools under the control 

 of the board of regents, the members of which 

 are a governing and examining body for the 

 secondary, higher and professional school sys- 

 tem of the state. This system is explained in 

 the article NEW YORK, subhead Education. 



NEW YORK STATE BARGE CANAL, a sys- 

 tem of waterways resulting from the improve- 

 ment and enlargement of four canals in opera- 



tion in the state of New York the Erie, the 

 Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga and 

 Seneca canals. After the close of the War of 

 Secession the state canals began to feel the ef- 

 fects of the rapid development of the railroad 

 systems ; their business declined, and for a long 

 time public interest in artificial waterways was 

 at a low ebb. There were, however, enough 

 advocates of canal improvement in the state 

 to make their influence felt, and the matter of 

 enlarging and improving the waterways was 

 considered in the legislative session of 1891. 

 The following year a commission was ap- 

 pointed which reported in favor of the project, 

 and in 1895 bonds were issued to cover the esti- 

 mated expense' of $9,000,000. 



It was decided to deepen the Erie and Os- 

 wego canals to nine feet, and the Champlain to 

 seven fe.et; the work was expected to increase 

 the capacity of boats one-third. The improve- 

 ments actually made, however, fell so far short 

 of what was necessary to create an efficient 

 waterway system that the whole subject was 

 thoroughly canvassed by a commission of ex- 

 perts. As a result a bond issue of $101,000,000 

 was authorized by the legislature and ratified 

 (November, 1903) by popular vote, and a com- 

 prehensive scheme of improvement agreed upon. 



Details of Construction. This plan provided 

 for 446 miles of improvement or new construc- 

 tion, and the canalization of 350 miles of lakes 

 and connecting rivers; the total length, there- 

 fore, of the system known as the Barge Canal 

 is 796 miles. Work was begun in 1907 and the 

 . entire canal was completed and ready for opera- 

 tion in 1917. Of the four waterways which 

 form the basis of the system the Erie Canal 

 (wh'ich see), connecting Buffalo, on Lake Eric, 

 with Troy and Albany on the Hudson River, 

 is the longest, with a total length of 339 miles. 

 The Champlain Canal, between Whitehall on 

 Lake Champlain, and Watervliet, near Troy, 

 is sixty-one miles long. Next in length is the 

 Oswego, between Oswego on Lake Ontario, and 

 Syracuse on the old Erie Canal. It is twenty- 

 three miles long. Finally, there is the Cayuga 

 and Seneca Canal, twenty-three miles in length, 

 extending from Montezuma, on the Seneca 

 River and the Erie Canal, to lakes Cayuga and 

 Senega. The relative position of these branches 

 of the Barge Canal is shown in the accompany- 

 ing illustration. Nearly half the area of New 

 York State is within twenty miles of the water- 

 ways. 



The channel of the Barge Canal is at no place 

 less than twelve feet deep; in earth sections 



