Stream Pollution 57 



have been secured, but it may confidently be asserted that they 

 would not have modified the general picture. They would doubt- 

 less have added to the strength of the evidence presented, but on 

 the other hand, no considerable area could have been covered with 

 the time and assistance available. 



At the eastern end of Lake Erie a number of short streams with 

 relatively little flow run from a height of land westward or slightly 

 north of west into the lake. They are for the state in general 

 exceedingly important, since in the spring the lake fish resort to 

 them for spawning purposes and upon them depends to some extent 

 at least the supply of the lake fish. I was able to pay a visit to two of 

 these. On one of them, a very small stream known as Rush creek, 

 is located a steel plant. Above the plant the stream is apparently 

 in good condition and favorable for the development of aquatic 

 life. Other conditions were observed some distance below and 

 relatively close to the lake. Here the waters, at the time of the 

 visit, were entirely barren of the ordinary life of such streams, so 

 far as the eye could determine. A deposit and growth on the 

 bottom gave the entire bed of the creek a rusty aspect. Some 

 organisms were present in considerable amounts, but they were 

 those characteristic of waters affording an unnatural chemical 

 environment, and conditions clearly indicated that normal fresh 

 water life had been wiped out. No information was sought or 

 obtained as to the amount or character of wastes introduced or 

 other facts concerned therewith. 



Cattaraugus creek is a considerably larger stream having several 

 branches and draining a large area along the southern section of 

 the Erie-Niagara watershed. It was examined at Gowanda, where 

 are located a large tannery and a glue plant. The amount of 

 waste produced is apparently rather large with reference to the flow 

 of the stream and heretofore it seems to have been discharged 

 without any treatment into the waters of the creek. At the time 

 of the visit one could see considerable areas of the bottom of the 

 stream covered with waste material in which lime and organic 

 substances were prominent. The conditions near the plants were 

 extremely unfavorable for the development of the general types of 

 fresh water organisms. In various places were seen patches of those 

 organisms which inhabit highly polluted waters and these condi- 

 tions extended for some distance down stream. Works for the 

 treatment of the wastes discharged from each of these factories 

 are in process of construction and there is reason to believe that 



