I1FTH REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I908 



159 



SOME ITEMS CONCERNING A NEW AND AN OLD 

 COAST LINE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN 



BY GEORGE H. HUDSON 



The summer of 1908 brought the waters of Lake Champlain 

 to a remarkably low level. The Plattsburg Press for October 26, 

 1908 contained the following item: 



The water in Lake Champlain has reached the lowest mark. 

 The previous, low water mark was made in 1881, but Saturday 

 [October 24, 1908] this mark was passed by a quarter of an inch. 

 Since 1827 it has been the custom of the navigators on the lake 

 to keep a record of the low water reached during the year. In 

 1827 a low mark was evidently reached, for there is an old bench 

 mark standing at Shelbourne harbor made at that time. October 

 16, 1 88 1 all records were passed. At that time the steamers of 

 the Champlain Transportation Company were running to Ticon- 

 deroga. Pilot E. S. Rockwell of the Ticoiidcroga was on the 

 lake at the time and says that the steamers had to be run into 

 the mud at the Ticonderoga dock in order to have the gang plank 

 reach from the boat to the dock. Pilot Rockwell said that the 

 water was so low that there was only one cut by which the steamers 

 could enter Plattsburg harbor. 



On November 16, 1908, the same paper recorded the water level 

 as " two inches below the lowest mark." 



In 1905, in a moderately sheltered position and at a level where 

 wave action had kept the rock clean but had failed to cut farther 

 back into the soil covering, a copper bolt was driven into the rock 

 surface of Yalcour island to be used as a basis for contour work. 

 On October 10, 1908, the water level of Lake Champlain was 

 3.107 meters below this bolt and on November 7, 1908, it was 

 3.186 meters below it. A plank with a painted scale 9 feet long 

 is attached to the steamboat landing at the Plattsburg dock, and 

 on November 28, 1908, the water was 8.9 inches below the foot 

 of this plank and the bottom of the scale. As the water at the 

 time of the spring freshets sometimes completely covers the docks 

 and may rise to or over the 9 foot mark, we may place the dis- 

 tance in level between exceptionally high and exceptionally low 

 water at about 10 feet, and this is but slightly exceeded in the 

 elevation of the bare rock shores of Yalcour island where these 

 are due to the annual washing of the waves. Of this exposed 

 surface the upper foot or two may not be covered for some seasons 



