﻿HYDROLOGY 
  OP 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  

  

  727 
  

  

  constructing 
  wooden 
  locks 
  proved 
  a 
  severe 
  loss 
  to 
  the 
  company, 
  

   as 
  all 
  the 
  original 
  locks 
  at 
  Little 
  Falls, 
  German 
  Flats, 
  and 
  Rome 
  

   rotted 
  away 
  in 
  about 
  six 
  years. 
  The 
  facilities 
  afforded 
  by 
  these 
  

   companies 
  were 
  undoubtedly 
  inadequate 
  to 
  the 
  demands 
  of 
  the 
  

   rapidly 
  growing 
  western 
  section, 
  and 
  accordingly 
  an 
  active 
  agi- 
  

   tation 
  finally 
  began 
  for 
  some 
  more 
  extended 
  means 
  of 
  com- 
  

   munication. 
  

  

  The 
  early 
  work 
  was, 
  as 
  we 
  have 
  seen, 
  entirely 
  in 
  the 
  direction 
  

   of 
  the 
  improvement 
  of 
  natural 
  channels, 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  artificial 
  

   channels 
  for 
  the 
  whole 
  route 
  from 
  the 
  Hudson 
  river 
  to 
  Seneca 
  lake 
  

  

  Capacity 
  .240 
  Tons. 
  

  

  Fig. 
  46 
  Enlarged 
  lock 
  used 
  on 
  Erie 
  canal. 
  

  

  being 
  only 
  15 
  miles. 
  About 
  1803, 
  however, 
  the 
  project 
  for 
  an 
  

   artificial 
  canal 
  connecting 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  with 
  tidewater 
  in 
  the 
  Hud- 
  

   son 
  was 
  broached 
  by 
  Gouverneur 
  Morris, 
  whose 
  name 
  should 
  not 
  

   be 
  overlooked 
  in 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  early 
  canal 
  history. 
  In 
  1803 
  

   Morris 
  and 
  Simeon 
  DeWitt 
  passed 
  an 
  evening 
  in 
  Schenectady 
  

   and 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  conversation, 
  as 
  detailed 
  by 
  DeWitt, 
  

   Morris 
  mentioned 
  the 
  project 
  of 
  " 
  tapping 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  " 
  and 
  lead- 
  

   ing 
  its 
  waters 
  in 
  an 
  artificial 
  river 
  directly 
  across 
  the 
  country 
  

   to 
  the 
  Hudson 
  river. 
  

  

  DeWitt 
  considered 
  that 
  the 
  intermediate 
  hills 
  and 
  valleys 
  

   would 
  be 
  insurmountable 
  objects, 
  but 
  Morris's 
  answer 
  was 
  that 
  

   the 
  object 
  would 
  justify 
  labor 
  and 
  expense. 
  

  

  DeWitt 
  had 
  then 
  long 
  been 
  Surveyor-General 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  and 
  

   was 
  well 
  acquainted 
  with 
  its 
  topography 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  bounds 
  of 
  

   the 
  military 
  tract, 
  but 
  had 
  no 
  special 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  

   west 
  of 
  the 
  military 
  lands, 
  and 
  he 
  naturally 
  supposed 
  that 
  the 
  

   rivers 
  ran 
  in 
  deep 
  valleys 
  to 
  Lake 
  Ontario 
  and 
  between 
  them 
  

   were 
  ranges 
  of 
  hills. 
  In 
  a 
  paper 
  on 
  The 
  Origin 
  and 
  History 
  

   of 
  the 
  Measures 
  that 
  Led 
  to 
  the 
  Construction 
  of 
  the 
  Erie 
  Canal, 
  

  

  