HYDROLOGY OF NEW YORK 



769 



Ontario; thence through Lake Ontario to Oswego; thence up 

 Oswego and Oneida rivers to Oneida lake, and through Oneida 

 lake; thence across the divide to Mohawk river, and down that 

 river to the Hudson at Troy ; thence down the Hudson. This he 

 designates as the Oswego route. From Oswego to Hudson river 

 it is, in effect, the Oswego-Mohawk-Hudson route, already de- 

 scribed. 



2) To follow either the line of Erie canal from Lake Erie to 

 the Hudson, or this line so modified as to provide for a con- 

 tinuously descending canal from Lake Erie to the Hudson. This 

 he designates as the Erie canal route. 



3) This route coincides with the first from Lake Erie to Lake 

 Ontario, but runs thence through Lake Ontario to St Lawrence 

 river and down said river to some point near Ogdensburg; it then 

 crosses the State of New York to Lake Champlain and up that 

 lake to Whitehall; and thence follows in general the route of the 

 Champlain canal to Hudson river at Troy. 



There is also discussed a fourth route — the St Lawrence-Cham- 

 plain — all of which, except a small portion, is within the United 

 States. This route would be via Niagara Falls, Lake Ontario, the 

 St Lawrence, Caughnawaga. and Richelieu rivers. Lake Cham- 

 plain, and the Hudson. 



The opinion is expressed that the best route for the contem- 

 plated ship canal is that via Niagara river. Lake Ontario, Oswego 

 and Oneida rivers, Oneida lake, and Mohawk and Hudson rivers, 

 and that to build such a canal by any of the possible routes men- 

 tioned would, at a rough estimate, cost $200, 000,000, the exact 

 figure depending very largely upon the action of the State of 

 New York in regard to the State canals, feeders, reservoirs, etc.; 

 and that to maintain the canal and to keep it in repair, including 

 the maintenance of river channels, reservoirs, and feeders, would 

 cost, at a rough estimate, $2,000,000 a year. The statement is 

 made that a ship canal would be of no special military value, 

 and that its construction is not worthy of being undertaken by 

 the general government because the probable benefits to be derived 

 from it would not be commensurate with the cost. 



Major Symons further expresses the opinion that Erie canal, 

 when enlarged under the present plans of the State of New York, 

 may give, if State restrictions are removed, commercial advan- 

 tages practically equal to those to be derived from the proposed 



