HNGINEER’S REPORT. 
To the Commissioners of Shell-Fisheries of the State of Connecticut : 
GENTLEMEN: The area which comes within your jurisdiction and 
control is three hundred and thirty-five thousand acres, or five 
hundred and twenty square miles. It is for this expanse of water 
that surveys, maps, and lay-outs:are to be provided of a character 
such that any described or deeded portion of it shall be as safe of 
tenure and as capable of being buoyed out as a building-lot in a 
well-mapped city is safe and capable of definition. 
The magnitude of the work is apparent. But the problem is 
complicated by the presence of hundreds of existing claims for 
ground, the record titles of which, in too many instances, are such 
that only the presence of the original purchaser renders their 
interpretation possible. The making of surveys adequate to set- 
tle the contests constantly in progress as to the limits of the natu- 
ral beds is another feature of the work to be done. In some 
instances the limits of these beds might be fixed by taking evi- 
dence as to what territory is worked on, and, after making a rea- 
sonable allowance for extension, consider these limits as those of 
the beds. In other instances there are claims close to, or even 
alleged infringements upon, the natural beds. 
In view of the work before us, it was natural that we should 
look to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey for assist- 
ance. The response has been most generous. I was sent to 
Washington, and was kindly received by the superintendent, the 
late Captain C. P. Patterson. He made various inquiries concern- 
ing what was likely to come from the establishment of the Con- 
necticut Shell-Fishery Commission, and then sent for maps of the 
Sound. He remarked that the work this year must be tentative, 
and requested me to leave a memorandum of what we would like 
from the Coast Survey office. 1 then had the pleasure of examin- 
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