HYDROLOGY OF NEW YORK 



849 



and that the New York Central & Hudson River Railway Com- 

 pany was pumping regularly about 300,000 gallons per day from 

 a single deep well at this point. In order to obtain authentic 

 information, application was made to the railroad officials, from 

 whom it was learned that said well was adjacent to the creek and 

 had a depth of not more than ten feet; also that the bottom of 

 the well did not reach the rocky strata below, and that the entire 

 pumpage did not exceed 100,000 gallons per day ; and during the 

 summer months they had difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply 

 for their engines, and that their well affected another well in the 

 vicinity, which would indicate that the supply was limited. It 

 was also stated that both the railroad officials and several brew- 

 ing companies in Rochester had made a thorough study of the 

 availability of this point as a source for obtaining a large supply 

 of water, and the adverse reports of a number of experts led to 

 the abandonment of the enterprise. It was obvious, therefore, 

 that little confidence could be placed in well or springs in this 

 locality for municipal purposes. 



This view is likewise shared by an experienced well-driller who 

 has sunk more than one hundred deep wells in the vicinity of 

 Rochester, and who asserts that the yield of the Gates well is 

 without precedent in this county. No guarantee can be given 

 that a sufficient quantity of water will be found at any depth, 

 or from any number of wells within such distance of each other 

 as would admit of their being coupled together and controlled 

 by a single pumping engine. It may be remarked that Coldwater 

 is about 25 feet above the level of the Erie canal aqueduct in 

 Rochester and about six miles west of the City Hall. 



The Snow springs. These springs are situated on the farm of 

 John Snow, on both sides of the Buffalo road, and about seven 

 miles west of the center of the city of Rochester. The surface 

 of the ground in the locality is stated at 60 feet above the level 

 of the canal aqueduct. It was thought that by properly developing 

 all of these springs a combined flow of from 100,000 to 200,000 

 gallons per day could be obtained during the dry season. The 

 water was said to be of excellent quality and entirely free from 

 sulphur, but the quantity available was altogether too small to 



