768 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



tario by the way of the St Lawrence river, and the American 

 seaboard reached from Lake Ontario by way of either the 

 Oswego-Mohawk-Hudson route or the St Lawrence-Champlain- 

 Hudson route. The Deep Waterways Commission was not au- 

 thorized to make any considerable expenditure for surveys, and 

 hence the conclusions announced are to some degree tentative. 

 In view of the uncertainty as to final cost, it is recommended that 

 the alternative routes from Lake Ontario to the Hudson be sub- 

 ject to complete survey in order to obtain a full development of 

 the governing economic considerations, as well as to determine 

 their relative availability. 



The commission also recommends a moderate control of the 

 level of Lake Erie and of Niagara river above Tonawanda by dam, 

 but leaves the practical details undetermined in the absence of a 

 full understanding of the physical conditions. 



The credit for systematizing the information belongs almost 

 entirely to Lyman E. Cooley. In his special report on the 

 technical work of the Deep Waterways Commission he has de- 

 fined clearly the main elements of the problem and produced a 

 report which will be an important reference so long as deep 

 waterways are a live topic in the United States. 



The report of Major Thomas W. Symons. The river and harbor 

 act of June 3, 1896^ directs the Secretary of War to cause to be 

 made accurate examinations and estimates of the cost of con- 

 structing a ship canal by the most practicable route, wholly within 

 the United States, from the Great Lakes to the navigable waters 

 of the Hudson river, of sufficient capacity to transport the ton- 

 nage of the lakes to the sea. Under the provisions of this act 

 a report was submitted by Major Thomas W. Syinons, of the 

 Corps of Engineers, dated June 23, 1897. 1 



Major Symons states that there are three possible routes for 

 the ship canal, entirely within (lie territory of the United Stales, 

 from the Great Lakes to the navigable waters of the Hudson, 

 as follows: 



1 i From Lake Erie via the upper Niagara river to the vicinity 

 of Tonawanda or La Salic; thence by canal, with locks, either to 

 the lower Niagara at or near Lewiston, or to some point on Lake 



Report Chief of Engineers for the year ending June 30, 1897. 



