﻿HYDROLOGY 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  813 
  

  

  will 
  increase 
  it 
  to 
  about 
  182,000,000. 
  This 
  estimate 
  provides 
  for 
  

   a 
  canal 
  12 
  feet 
  deep 
  via 
  the 
  Mohawk 
  and 
  Seneca 
  rivers, 
  as 
  well 
  

   as 
  by 
  the 
  interior 
  route, 
  through 
  Syracuse, 
  Clyde, 
  Lyons, 
  Newark, 
  

   Palmyra, 
  Rochester 
  and 
  Lockport 
  to 
  Buffalo. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  legislative 
  session 
  of 
  1903, 
  some 
  question 
  having 
  

   arisen 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  adequacy 
  of 
  the 
  estimates 
  made, 
  they 
  were 
  

   again 
  gone 
  over 
  and 
  finally 
  revised. 
  In 
  a 
  communication 
  to 
  the 
  

   Legislature 
  under 
  date 
  of 
  March 
  2, 
  1903, 
  the 
  State 
  Engineer 
  says 
  : 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  no 
  hesitation, 
  therefore, 
  in 
  asserting 
  that 
  the 
  estimates 
  

   of 
  cost 
  given 
  in 
  the 
  barge 
  canal 
  report 
  were 
  as 
  complete 
  and 
  

   accurate 
  as 
  any 
  estimates 
  ever 
  prepared 
  within 
  the 
  time 
  allotted 
  

   for 
  a 
  work 
  of 
  such 
  magnitude, 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  reliable 
  esti- 
  

   mates 
  of 
  the 
  cost 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  for 
  the 
  improvement 
  covered 
  by 
  the 
  

   report, 
  with 
  the 
  one 
  possible 
  exception 
  of 
  the 
  allowance 
  for 
  un- 
  

   foreseen 
  contingencies 
  and 
  expenses. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  an 
  undisputed 
  fact 
  that 
  during 
  the 
  past 
  few 
  years 
  the 
  

   prosperity 
  of 
  our 
  country 
  has 
  resulted 
  in 
  an 
  increase 
  in 
  the 
  con- 
  

   struction 
  of 
  public 
  works 
  of 
  all 
  descriptions, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  develop- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  native 
  resources 
  by 
  private 
  capital, 
  creating 
  such 
  a 
  de- 
  

   mand 
  for 
  labor 
  and 
  materials 
  that 
  both 
  have 
  advanced 
  in 
  price 
  

   within 
  the 
  past 
  two 
  years; 
  furthermore, 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  

   enlisting 
  in 
  an 
  enterprise 
  of 
  this 
  magnitude 
  would 
  have 
  a 
  tendency 
  

   to 
  increase 
  the 
  price 
  of 
  labor 
  and 
  materials 
  entering 
  into 
  its 
  

   construction. 
  

  

  The 
  State 
  Engineer 
  then 
  answers 
  several 
  questions 
  in 
  detail, 
  

   finally 
  ending 
  with 
  the 
  conclusion 
  that 
  in 
  1903 
  the 
  barge 
  canal 
  

   would 
  cost 
  roundly 
  $101,000,000. 
  He 
  states 
  that 
  water 
  supply 
  

   is 
  based 
  on 
  a 
  business 
  of 
  10,000,000 
  tons 
  of 
  freight 
  per 
  canal 
  

   season, 
  and 
  that 
  if 
  the 
  business 
  of 
  the 
  enlarged 
  canals 
  should 
  

   increase 
  to 
  double 
  this 
  quantity, 
  or 
  to 
  20,000,000 
  tons 
  per 
  canal 
  

   season, 
  there 
  should 
  be 
  added 
  to 
  the 
  estimate 
  $1,330,000. 
  

  

  The 
  original 
  water 
  supply 
  included 
  a 
  feeder 
  from 
  Fish 
  creek 
  

   to 
  near 
  Fort 
  Bull, 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  the 
  Salmon 
  

   river 
  reservoir, 
  already 
  described. 
  The 
  water 
  from 
  this 
  reser- 
  

   voir 
  may 
  be 
  turned 
  into 
  Mad 
  river, 
  a 
  tributary 
  of 
  Fish 
  creek, 
  

   without 
  serious 
  expense. 
  On 
  this 
  plan 
  the 
  total 
  cost 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  

   supply 
  for 
  a 
  traffic 
  of 
  10,000,000 
  tons 
  per 
  year 
  would 
  not 
  exceed 
  

   $3,000,000. 
  Aside 
  from 
  the 
  supply 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  Erie 
  canal 
  

   from 
  Butternut, 
  Limestone, 
  Chittenango, 
  Cowaselon 
  creeks, 
  etc. 
  

   the 
  additional 
  supply 
  was 
  to 
  be 
  obtained 
  from 
  a 
  single 
  large 
  

  

  