WIDENING CITY GROWTH. 



Statistics show thai the population of all our Large cities is 

 increasing with the greatesl speed in the outer zones. In New 

 York City, perhaps the mosl congested in thi world, because of its 

 close water surroundings, we are also witnessing a new and marked 

 trend of city overflow to the suburbs; and with the completion of 

 new transportation facilities, as against the former ferry-boat and 

 bridge, a large portion of this will naturally be diverted to the 

 immediately adjacenl Westchester section. 



The Harlem Division of the New York Central & Hudson 

 River Railroad is being converted for four-track electric rapid- 

 transit service, while other transportation, water, electric light, 

 gas, and various service corporations and State realty interests 

 are already in extended operation, and projecting larger invest- 

 ments. Progressive municipal and community projects — highways, 

 schools, churches, etc., are seeking to keep pace with, and stimulate, 

 progress. 



Without attempting to give figures for the Borough of the 

 Bronx, the Commission on Bronx Valley sewer reports existing 

 property valuations of $30,000,000, and anticipates ultimate popu- 

 lation of 850,000 on the Bronx water-shed beyond the city limits. 



POLLUTION AND RIVER CONDITIONS. 



The Bronx is the most important stream in the metropolitan 

 district, with an increasing utilitarian and aesthetic value, important 

 in view of the constant increase of the city's population. A present 

 movement is on foot to obtain government aid to make the lower 

 tidal outlet of the river navigable to West Farms ; but the portion 

 under consideration, Mowing through the Zoological Park, Botani- 

 cal Gardens, and above, is a comparatively shallow stream, except 

 in freshet. The upper course lies through a most picturesque 

 valley and amid delightful surroundings, but in the vicinity of 

 Bronxville, .Mount Vernon, and below, to Bronx Park, its chan- 

 nel winds through old erosion bottoms, widening from 300 to 

 1,000 feet between the railroad and the line of the New York 

 aqueduct. 



With insufficient current to carry off the sewage and refuse 

 discharged into it, the stream is rapidly becoming an open sewer; 

 the low meadow and marsh lands, always wet and, at seasons, 



