266 THE HYDROGRAPHY OF CECIL COUNTY 



OCTORARO CREEK. 



Measurements were made at the wagon bridge in the village of 

 Rowlandsville. There was no place at this station for fastening a 

 permanent gage rod on account of the danger of being carried away 

 by floods, so that as in the case of many such stations a wire gage 

 was suspended from the bridge with a sash weight at the lower end, 

 which could be lowered to the water surface and afterwards raised 

 nearly to the bridge floor, so that it would not be disturbed by high 

 waters. A scale board 14 feet long, painted white and graduated 

 with small nails to feet and tenths of feet, was fastened to the floor 

 timber of the bridge in such a way that when the weight was raised 

 the height could be read directly from the position of the index on 

 the graduated scale board. 



The initial point for making soundings was at the end of the hand- 

 rail on the lower side of the bridge from the left bank of the stream. 

 A bench mark was established and verified with Wye level. It con- 

 sists of a cross cut in the top of capstone on the lower side of bridge 

 abutment on the left bank of the stream, and is 17.67 feet above the 

 datum of the gage. A great many measurements of discharge were 

 made at this station by Mr. E. G. Paul and Mr. Hugh W. Caldwell, 

 the first measurement being made November 21, 1896, and the regular 

 record of gage heights was begun on that day. In October,. 1899, 

 however, the records were stopped, so that computations here given 

 extended only through the month of September, 1899. 



The following tables give the daily records for the periods during 

 which the observations were made. 





