HISTORY OF THE CANAL SYSTEM

OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

TOGETHER WITH BRIEF HISTORIES OF THE CANALS

OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA

VOLUME I

BY NOBLE E. WHITFORD

1905

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CHAPTER IV.

LATER IMPROVEMENTS OF THE ERIE.

From the completion of the first enlargement in 1862 to the beginning of the second enlargement in 1895.

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As we have just seen, under the provisions of chapter 169 of the laws of 1862, the Legislature declared the enlargement of the canals completed. The improvement which, with some interruptions, had been carried on since its beginning in 1836, and which we now call the "First Enlargement," was officially declared closed – as being the only way left open to the State to determine the end of the expenditures and frequent changes of plans theretofore made under the guise of "completing the enlargement." The ever-increasing demands of a growing traffic and the protracted period of executing the improvements had added much that was not contemplated in the original project. By the terms of this act, all outstanding contracts were to be completed prior to September 1, 1862, and all accounts therefor closed as soon as possible thereafter; no work could be done nor material furnished after that date, under pretense of completing or enlarging the canals, and all powers of the contracting board in regard to the enlargement should then cease. The engineering force was reduced to one engineer and one assistant engineer upon each division, though, if necessary, temporary engineers might be employed on some specific work. Engineers were required to file a bond and oath of office, and their services were confined strictly to repairs and maintenance of the "completed" canals. The work then in progress under the act of April 9, 1860, on the Champlain canal and Glen Falls feeder was especially exempted from the provisions of the act.

By the system then in vogue, repairs were let by contract, for a gross sum, to maintain the canals in a navigable condition. This was deemed highly objectionable by the State Engineer. Temporary repairs and makeshifts were introduced, where permanent repairs should be made, and numerous claims for masonry work, done outside of the contract, were made. A change to the unit system of paying for repairs, as in construction, was advocated.

The Civil war was then at full tide. Pennsylvania was invaded and New York escaped a similar disaster only by the quick rushing of many thousands of its troops to the aid of its sister State. The blockade of the lower Mississippi by the Confederate force had turned the traffic in western grain to find an outlet to the eastward. The suspension of specie payments, draft riots and the depletion of the working forces of the state by enlistment added to the complications of the period, and all had a bearing upon the policy concerning canal affairs. In view, also, of the loss of trade with the southern states, the Executive of the State called attention to the necessity of providing for the accession of commerce from the West, which then constituted eighty per cent of the traffic of the canals.

From the canal auditor’s report for the fiscal year 1862, we learn that the revenues, other than from taxation, were $4,854,989.67. The expenses of ordinary repair and maintenance were $773,388.32. The total canal-stock debt on September 30, 1862, was $23,981,610.25, on which the annual interest was $1,381,970.76. The sinking fund for redemption of this debt amounted to $3,532,784.32. There were five thousand five hundred and sixty-eight boats in use on the canals, of which eight hundred and fifty were registered as new. The total tonnage for the year was 5,598,785, an increase of 1,091,150 tons over 1861.

In the ensuing year, 1863, the tolls fell off during the latter part of the season about half a million dollars, owing to the breaking of the Mississippi blockade. The total receipts were $5,118,501.35, and ordinary repairs and salaries cost $770,882.52.

The gross receipts from canals for the year 1864 were $4,346,265.52, and the expenses of repairs and maintenance were $1,028,909.46. Increased prices, of course, increased the cost of repairs and maintenance, and it was felt that this must continue until the resumption of specie payment. The interest-bearing canal-stock debt on October 1, 1864, was $21,127,810.25, on which the interest per annum was $1,206,262.76. The sinking-fund balance for its payment was $4,841,130.49. The gross tonnage on the canals for the year was 4,852,941. Three hundred and ninety-nine boats, old and new, were registered.

In 1865 a change was made in the rank of engineers on canal work. Pursuant to chapter 169 of the laws of 1862, each of the three divisions had been in charge of "one engineer and an assistant engineer," from September 1, 1862, to April 17, 1865. At this time, by virtue of chapter 477, Laws of 1865, the act of 1862 was so amended that these engineers should rank as division and resident engineers, their appointment being invested in the canal board, and their duties being prescribed by the State Engineer and Surveyor. During the year further progress was made in the removal of the objectionable benches and at the close of the year only about fifty miles remained, all of which was in the eastern division. According to the State Engineer, the absolute necessity of providing an additional supply of water for the Jordan and Port Byron levels was by this time fully realized. The appropriation of a part, or the whole, of the waters of Owasco creek would enable navigation to be more continually maintained.

At lock No. 39, in Little Falls, a new form of gate called the submerged or "tumble-gate" was tried with gratifying success. This form of gate became quite popular later, wherever circumstances would permit its introduction to displace the ordinary swing or miter-gate, the advantages being the lowered coat of construction and operation and a substantial increase in the length of the lock-chamber without lengthening the walls. It superseded the upper pair of gates, opening up-stream by dropping flat, below the breast wall, the boats passing over it. A wooden quoin-post, with iron journals, fitted into sockets in the walls. The post turned within a hollow quoin, laid horizontally. The gate was loaded with stones to sink quickly, and was operated by chains and gearing at the side. The hollow quoin rested upon an open timber framework in place of the usual miter-sill wall. A platform extended from the hollow quoin to the breast wall, through which horizontal valves permitted the water to drop through the platform and pass to the lock-chamber. It was claimed that its operation caused less commotion in filling the lock, boats rising steadily and upon an even keel; also that one man, operating a single set of machines, would suffice for either single or double locks.

For the fiscal year 1865 the canal revenues amounted to $3,577,465.45, while the expenses for ordinary repairs and maintenance rose to $1,927,373.59. The canal debt was $19,424,585.49, upon which the interest charges were $1,105,249.28. The great cost of the breaks of 1865, which necessarily called for large outlays in addition to the ordinary expenses, was chiefly the cause of the immense increase for repairs and maintenance. The tolls received amounted to $3,839,955, while the entire tonnage amounted to 4,729,654. The number of boats registered during the year was two hundred.

It is, perhaps, needless to add that the Niagara ship canal has never been built. The project originated under cover of its necessity as a measure for national defence. In 1863 President Lincoln had appointed Charles B. Stuart, C. E., to make report and estimates for a gunboat canal of twelve feet depth, and this report was published as H. doc. 51, 38^th Cong. 1^st sess. 1864. No action was taken until 1867, when surveys were made for the United States by James S. Lawrence, C. E., and Stephen S. Gooding, C. E. Six different lines were surveyed; three from Lewiston on the Niagara river, and three from Lake Ontario; all being for a depth of fourteen feet. These were published, with maps and profiles, in the report of the Chief of Engineers, U.S.A., pages 217 to 287, 1868, and again as part of H. rp. 1,430, 51^st Cong. 1^st sess. 1890.

For the year 1866 the total canal tonnage was 5,775,220. The canal revenues were $4,309,746.12, while the expenditures were $1,434,989.73. The debt was reduced to $18,166,600, upon which the annual interest charge was $1,035,330. The sinking-fund balances, applicable to the payment of the debt, were $2,563,623.23. The season of navigation was from May 1 to December 12, or two hundred and twenty-six days. At the close of the season there still remained sixty-nine miles of wall benches in the eastern division, producing a congestion of traffic at the locality needing the most space of any, especially near the close of the season. It will be observed that a discrepancy in the remaining mileage of wall benches is here apparent. Similar inconsistencies will be noticed in the accounts of subsequent years, which are taken from the contemporaneous reports.

The magnitude which the question of transporting freight through the state had assumed was the subject of earnest discussion by the Governor in his message covering this period, and indeed by the State Engineer and other canal officials. The imperative demands, by outside interests, to the General Government for better facilities for the transportation of their products to the seaboard, and the arguments, which the friends of the canal had hastened to interpose in their defense, seem to have created the official impression that the canals of the state had but narrowly escaped being placed at the mercy of foreign corporations, as competitors, by the contemplated construction of the ship canals. The immediate improvement of traffic facilities upon the Erie canal was, therefore, urged by the authorities, with the added impetus of the argument that it had become a measure of self-protection. It was considered that the canals, as then constructed, were adequate to carry a traffic of four million tons each way during an average season, while so far no demand had at any time been made upon them for more than three-fourths of this amount. By the enlargement of one tier of locks to a chamber-length of two hundred and twenty feet by a width of twenty-five feet at the lower water-surface, boats of six-foot draught could be passed, carrying cargoes of five hundred tons. With an equal distribution of traffic throughout the season, the capacity would be increased to at least five million tons each way, and the cost of transportation reduced from two and sixteen hundredths to one and forty-four hundredths mills per ton-mile – based upon horse-power being used. In the opinion of the State Engineer, the probable substitution of steam-power would doubtless reduce the cost of transportation nearly fifty percent. The surveys and estimates of 1863-4, which were considered reliable, were used as a basis for these deductions, and by certain modifications in lock masonry and construction, in the interest of economy, the total estimate for enlarging the locks was placed at about ten million dollars. This did not include the item of deepening the prism one foot, which, in view of its existing limited width, was considered as of at least doubtful utility. Neither was the sum of $1,794,110, the amount necessary to remove the old wall benches, a measure requisite to improve the working capacity of the canals even without lock enlargement – included in this estimate.

On January 31 the Albany Evening Journal editorially said that immense, long-continued and wide-reaching frauds were matters of general report and belief. It advocated taking the canals out of the hands of those responsible for the frauds, saying that everyone was aware of the condition of things, though no one had, so far, been able to trace the matter to its source.

The work of the Convention, except that relating to the reconstruction of the judiciary system, which was its crowning feature, was swept away by the failure of the people to ratify the proposed Constitution, when it was referred to them at the November election in 1869. Judge Lincoln considers that this action was largely instrumental in causing the formation of the legislative Constitutional Commission of 1872, which will be referred to later. A brief synopsis of the changes that the Convention proposed in relation to canal administration may clarify our view of the situation at that time, inasmuch as it shows how radical were the measures, which were deemed necessary by the delegates. The Constitution proposed to abolish the canal board, the contracting board and the offices of canal commissioner, canal appraiser and in effect also that of State Engineer, no provision being made for his election among the State officers; to vest all canal administration, except financial, in a superintendent of public works; to make the comptroller, treasurer and attorney-general the commissioners of the canal fund, and to create a court of claims and a solicitor of claims. Provision was also made for paying the canal debt and for not rejecting any bid for informality until the bidder had been given an opportunity to correct his error. The Convention considered the subject of canal enlargement, but without approval. The purpose of the delegates seems to have been an endeavor to concentrate authority and responsibility in canal management. The rejection of the Constitution may indicate that the people were not in accord with so sweeping a change, and that their position toward canal affairs influenced the final result. However, several of the recommendations, but in a modified form, were later made a part of the Constitution by independent amendments.

Much complaint was made in 1867 concerning the extreme scarcity of water. The De Ruyter reservoir had proved entirely inadequate to supply the needs of the long level during dry seasons or during the plethora of traffic in the fall months or in consequence of breaks. Oneida and Cowassalon creeks were considered available for reservoirs, and Fish and Oriskany creeks could be utilized as feeders at moderate cost. It was suggested that the plan of pumping water from Oneida lake into the canals be also examined. The commissioner of the middle division made a special report concerning the scarcity of water. Insufficient water at Syracuse in the long level delayed lockages and impeded navigation; at no time was there water enough to permit lockages to the full capacity of one hundred and eighty boats per day. The Jordan level could be relieved from Owasco lake. On the western division the supply from Lake Erie was not enough at times.

Three plans were proposed to obviate the delays in lockages at the Port Byron and Syracuse locks – those having an upward lift to the east – as follows: first, to restrict the model and tonnage of boats, as the trouble was mostly, with the heavy, blunt-nosed, western grain boats, built to the full lock capacity and being unable, except slowly, to get the water behind them in the restricted lock-chamber ; second, the use of local steam-power to aid in hauling them through; and third, the addition of another lock at each of these troublesome points.

The dilapidated condition of the lateral canals (except the Black River canal) was becoming a subject of serious alarm. As all were exempted from sale or lease by constitutional prohibition, the State was under obligations to preserve their usefulness, yet none of them were in good navigable condition, and all were interrupted by structural decay, lack of water, land-slides and other troubles, resulting from the want of systematic and needed repairs.

State Engineer Goodsell, reviewing the situation in 1867, strongly advocated the necessity of a revision of the existing system of construction and supervision. Conflicting statutes led to interferences with the commissioner’s department. The repairs and maintenance of the canals should, in his opinion, be placed under the supervision of the Engineer’s department, which should originate plans and detailed bills, supervise construction and make final estimates for payment by the commissioner. Necessary funds for defraying travel and expense should, of course, be allowed. An exclusive canal system of free telegraph lines was also recommended between collectors’ offices in order to secure prompt knowledge of conditions and prepare to meet them.

The season of navigation in 1867 opened on May 6 and closed December 20, a period of two hundred and twenty-nine days. There were registered five hundred and twenty boats during the season, as against four hundred and twenty-five during the year 1866. The total tonnage carried by canal was 5,688,325, valued at $278,956,712. The canal revenues were $4,050,357.79 and the expenses of repair and maintenance were $1,220,192.65. The canal debt was reduced to $15,722,900, bearing $910,645 interest annually, from which might be deducted sinking-fund balances amounting to $3,214,940.10. During the year there had also been a redemption and purchases of unmatured stock to the extent of $2,497,000.

During the year a new method of steam propulsion was tested and its results were favorably commented upon by the department. Unlike the methods by towing propellers, screw and side-wheel paddle propellers and endless chains, which had already been tried, this plan provided for applying the power directly from the engine to an adjustable wheel under the center of the boat, which rolled along the bottom of the canal, propelling the boat by its weight and friction, upon the same principle as a locomotive driving-wheel. In case of very deep water a screw propeller was used. No unusual swell was created and it was claimed that twice the speed of horses could be obtained with less expense.

Also, a remedy was sought for the delay and expense of weighing cargoes, the Legislature of 1866 having made a small appropriation for the purpose. Amsden’s hydrostatic scale, which had been under notice for many years, or since 1841, received a favorable report from the committee in charge and the canal board authorized its limited employment. By its use, the weights of the boat, both light and with its cargo, were ascertained by the amount of water displaced, as registered on a graduated tube placed amidships. The Engineer’s department, however, was opposed to its extended use, mainly for the reason that increased opportunity for fraud was presented by reason of its not being under the control of sworn officials of the State.

The final maps and surveys of the enlarged Erie canal – known as the "blue line" maps, - showing correct position of canal lands and true location of enlarged canal, were about completed during the year. These surveys had been in progress for several years, having been made as the engineers had opportunity after any portion was finished, even before the so-called completion in 1862.

In response to the demands of those who urged that cheaper tolls meant increased business for the canals, concurrent resolutions were also adopted, reducing by about fifty percent the tolls on iron castings and a score of heavy commodities. The experiment was later admitted to be a failure. The freights billed through to Chicago and the West by way of the lakes were placed on board lake steamers, which were either owned or subsidized by the railroads, and the lake rates were promptly raised from two to four dollars per ton, thus nullifying the effect of the change in tolls.

The canal opened for navigation on May 6, 1869, and closed December 10, a period of two hundred and eighteen days. The canal revenues for the fiscal year were $4,161,280.10, while the expenses were $1,278,507.52. The net receipts were applied in two parts, thus: to the sinking fund under section two of the Constitution, $1,500,000; and the remainder, $1,382,772.58, to the sinking fund under section three. The canal debt was $12,564,780, and if the various sinking-fund balances were applied, the net debt would be reduced to $9,351,758.65, a net reduction for the year of $880,968.92. There were then in service 6,870 boats, as stated by the auditor. The canals were over stocked with boats. If all were employed, their tonnage would exceed the capacity of the canals by three million tons. This condition made the business of the carriers unremunerative. According to the auditor, the business of the year exhibited a falling off of $410,528.55, attributable mainly to a late opening of navigation, a short corn crop, a short supply of coal, unremunerative markets for wheat and flour and a reduction of tolls. The tons of total movement were 5,859,080, of the value of $249,281,284.

In their subsequent annual reports covering the period of 1869, both the Governor and the auditor recommended further reduction of tolls; the State Engineer’s department advocated the use of steam-dredges for the purpose of bottoming out the prism. The contract repair system was largely blamed for the accumulated deposits of mud and silt in the bottom. The general change from wood to iron bridges, which had of late become the policy of the canal authorities, was considered as an important factor in the aggregate of expenditures.

By this time the flood of objections to the contract system of repairs had reached its culminating point. By the terms of chapter 55, Laws of 1870, the contracting board and the system of canal repairs by contract were abolished, except that outstanding contracts were not invalidated. Contractors might, at their option, surrender their existing contracts, which the canal board must cancel, or the board itself might, upon the recommendation of the commissioners, annul any existing contract. The canal board was to settle with contractors so surrendering, also to determine the future method or system of repairing the canals, appoint canal patrolmen and make rules to carry out the provisions of the act. By its terms, the canal commissioners were specifically exempted from its operations and were left with their full power and control otherwise provided by law.

By legislative enactments, various methods of steam propulsion were authorized during the year (1870). Chapter 576 granted to Addison M. Farwell and associates the exclusive right to introduce and operate, for towing purposes, a system of chains or cables, laid upon the bottom of the canal. This was known as the European or Belgian system, and had been successfully operated on various foreign canals. But at the close of the season, the commissioners asserted that no action seemed to have been taken by the beneficiaries of these concessions. Chapter 655 authorized Norman W. Kingsley and Charles H. Gardner to construct and operate, under their patents, a system of chains, cables or rails suspended over the canal. Another form of detached boat-scale (Reim’s), for ascertaining the weight of boats, was authorized by chapter 656. All of these improvements were to be under the supervision of the canal board. Some experiments in steam propulsion, however, were made by private enterprise during the year, the canal boat Geo. S. Barnard, capacity two hundred tons, propelled by steam, making an experimental trip up the Hudson river and through the Erie canal to Schenectady and return. The results of the trial proved that steam could be applied to ordinary canal-boats to propel them three miles an hour, or twice the speed of the loaded boats propelled by horses, without any injurious action on the canal banks. The State Engineer thought that the direct solution of the question of the practicability and economy of navigating the canals by steam-power could be more speedily and satisfactorily ascertained by placing the matter in the hands of the canal board. In his annual report for 1870, he reiterated his recommendation of the previous year, in asking that an appropriation of not less than $20,000 be made and that authority be given the canal board to have such experiments and examinations made as would determine the best methods of applying steam to canal navigation. Heretofore the experiments had been entirely at the risk and expense of the inventors, most of whom had not been fully acquainted with the principles involved in the navigation of contracted or artificial channels. As will be noted a little later, this request brought a response from the next Legislature, which offered a prize that finally resulted in the introduction of successful steam propulsion on the canals.

Chapter 767 authorized the deepening and improving of the canal at Black Rock harbor, Buffalo, to the extent of $80,000. The surface width from Buffalo to the Buffalo and Niagara Falls railroad bridge was one hundred and fifty feet; thence to below Ferry street there was only a restricted channel of seventy feet, with a broad channel between that and the Niagara river to the lower end of the harbor, where several large mills were located, using water from the harbor. Without great care water was liable to be used also directly from the canal. Moreover, most of the water required to maintain the canal from Buffalo east to Montezuma, nearly one hundred and fifty miles, passed through this seventy-foot channel, thus creating a strong current, which the loaded, west-bound boats could stem with difficulty. It was proposed to set back the dividing bank, giving a channel one hundred and fifty feet wide, at an expense of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Tumble-gates, invented by George Heath, were put into locks Nos. 44 and 45, and Mr. Heath was also authorized to expend $4,000 in experiments for utilizing the feed-water, passed through the culvert between the locks, by appliances for operating the lower gates and for aiding boats to draw in and out in shorter time. The experiment was made at lock No. 37, at Little Falls. Speaking of the tumble-gates, the State Engineer said that, as the capacity of a canal was measured by its facilities for lockage and as the new gates, after having been tested for the past two or three years, had proved so successful, their general introduction, at least upon the Erie canal, was desirable. The details of their construction have been referred to already. These experiments marked the beginning of the machinery that was later installed and has been used so successfully ever since. The power utilized had formerly gone to waste.

Navigation opened May 10, 1870, and closed December 8, remaining open two hundred and thirteen days. The tons of total movement on the canals for the season were 6,173,769, of the value of $231,836,176. The revenues were $3,107,138.90 and the expenses were given as $1,945,635.92. The outstanding canal debt, on September 30, was $12,564,780 and the sinking-fund balances to meet it were $2,149,884.61. The canal auditor called attention to the recent prevailing practice of providing for all extraordinary expenditures in a single bill, instead of separate local bills, as had been the custom previously. The insertion of items of appropriation for local purposes secured the mutual support of interested legislators and facilitated its passage. During that year, such appropriations for improvements, new work and extraordinary repairs had amounted to $4,168,151.21, a sum nearly equal to the entire cost of the original Erie canal.

At the close of the season there appeared to have been still remaining some thirty-six miles of old wall benches in the eastern division; the Jordan, Syracuse and long levels still contained some uncompleted sections, and between Lyons and Newark only about one-third of this form of improvement had been accomplished. It was alleged that wherever they had been removed at least twenty percent had been added to the efficiency of the canal.

By the State Engineer, the division engineers, forwarders, boatmen and others whose interest brought them into contact with the canal, the change in method of repair under the new system, resulting in comparative freedom from breaks and other interruptions to navigation, was considered a marked improvement, after a season’s trial of the new plan. The auditor, however, deprecated the increased cost of maintenance and repairs. In view of the neglected condition of the canals under the old system, however, it may be said that additional expense for a few years was to be expected.

The question of accelerated speed, and consequently cheaper transportation, was at this period given a large share of attention by those interested in the success of the canals. Steam voyages had been made, and with success, but so far at a cost which was prohibitive in comparison with the expense of animal towage. The Belgian system, the trial of which had been authorized by legislative concession in 1870, was exhibited on a section of the canal between Albany and West Troy near the close of the season of 1871, but its results were not considered entirely satisfactory. The suggestions of the State Engineer in regard to placing in the hands of canal officials the subject of introducing steam, as a motor power, upon the principal canals of the State, were to a certain extent carried out by legislative enactment. Chapter 868, Laws of 1871, provided for a commission of ten eminent and practical men to test and examine inventions and "devices" submitted to them for propulsion other than by animal power. George B. McClellan, Horatio Seymour, Erastus C. Prosser, David Dow, George Geddes, Van R. Richmond, Willis S. Nelson, George W. Chapman, William W. Wright and John D. Fay were named as such commissioners. The tests and experiments were to continue throughout 1871 and also 1872, if necessary. They were to be conducted at the expense of the parties offering devices and were to be made with boats carrying two hundred tons of cargo and making an average speed of at least three miles per hour. Because the Belgian system had been otherwise provided for, that system and all other systems of bank propulsion were excluded. The commissioners were empowered, at their discretion, to make certificates of comparative degrees of perfection as to methods employed and results attained. Certificate number one, if the only one issued, on presentation to the Comptroller, would draw a prize of $50,000. If two certificates were issued, they would draw, respectively, $35,000 and $15,000. If three were issued, then $30,000, $15,000 and $5,000, respectively. The commissioners might also grant a further certificate of successful operation and probable general adoption, which certificate would draw a further sum of $50,000, if only one was issued. If more, then the division was to be in the same proportions as in the case of the first-named certificates.

The commissioners organized at Albany in July, 1871, by electing Hon. Van R. Richmond as chairman; David M. Greene, of Troy, was appointed engineer of the commission. Horatio Seymour having declined to serve, the Governor appointed Daniel Crouse, of Utica, to fill the vacancy. To aid inventors, the commission, by resolution, informed them that the chief desideratum was to establish the economy of steam or other motor power as compared with animal power and that former experiments had not failed because of the injury done to banks by reason of the swell from boats or wheels, the commissioners judging that no inherent difficulty was to be expected from that source, with boats carrying two hundred tons of cargo at three miles an hour. The steamer A. H. H. Dawson was the only competing boat that made its appearance on the canal during the season of 1871. While an average speed of three miles per hour was not made, that speed was made at various points.

Other systems of propulsion were also to be given a trial. By chapter 911, Laws of 1871, James Richmond and William S. Farnell were authorized to introduce the "American" system of cable towage, under the usual non-competitive conditions. By chapter 903, of the same year, the Kingsley-Gardner concession was given three years to introduce their system, or forfeit their rights and privileges.

The Assembly made inquiry on February 6, 1871, as to the necessity and expediency of enlarging certain locks on the western division to accommodate boats of two hundred feet in length by twenty-five feet in width. The canal board promptly reported adversely to such enlargement, upon the ground that the canal then had twice the capacity to meet the demands of transportation; that if the locks on the western division were enlarged, the locks on the entire canal must be similarly enlarged; and that such enlargement would cost fifty million dollars. Under an Assembly resolution of February 10, the canal board reported that seven different kinds of boat scales had been under consideration. They recommended "Reim’s Champion Scales" for use if desired, but did not advise the discontinuance of the use of weigh-locks at that time.

The machinery at lock No. 37 proved quite successful. The feed-water was applied to a water-wheel located in a well at the head of the lock. It readily furnished power to open and close both the tumble-gate and the lower miter-gates and to draw boats into and out of the lock with marked ease and rapidity. By the ordinary method, with miter-gates, Mr. Heath computed that it would require 29,631 cubic feet of water for a lockage; using the tumble-gate and the other devices, 10,815 cubic feet, or a saving of about two-thirds of the water; and in lock-tenders’ wages for a season at one lock, the saving was estimated to be $450.

In the month of August a scarcity of water was felt from the increased traffic and consequent loss of water by lockage. Oriskany creek was temporarily diverted as a feeder and by October was in use, furnishing some 4,500 cubic feet per minute. The diversion cost about $32,000. Later the work was permanently appropriated by the State. The feeder was fifty-three miles long; the dam, two hundred and fourteen feet long and eight feet high; the prism, twenty-six feet at water-line, fourteen feet at bottom and four feet deep. Complaints of a scarcity of water were heard at other points along the canal.

Governor Hoffman, speaking of the year 1871, said that the surplus revenues of the canal during that year were nearly double those of the previous year, while the expenditures were materially reduced. To the sinking fund for the payment of the canal debt was carried $981,588.68. The Comptroller’s report, covering the same period, strongly advocated still lower tolls. By the canal auditor’s financial statement, the receipts for the fiscal year were $2,842,549.94 and the expenses, $1,658,617.25, the interest-bearing canal debt being then reduced to $11,966,420. The tons of total movement were 6,467,888, valued at $238,767,691. Navigation opened April 24 and closed December 1, two hundred and twenty days. One hundred and ninety-four boats were registered. About thirty-six miles of old wall benches still remained on the eastern division at the close of the season.

So much complaint had been made of the amount and manner of expenditures upon the canals, with adverse criticism of their management, that on March 11, 1872, the canal board, by formal resolution, requested the Legislature to make a full and searching investigation into the whole question of canal management and finances, both past and present, for the purpose, as the resolution stated of stopping extravagances and adopting an economical policy for their future management.

The Legislature, by the passage of chapter 884, provided for a Constitutional Commission of thirty-two members to consider and propose such amendments to the State Constitution at the legislative session of 1873, as they should deem necessary. This was rendered necessary, as we have previously seen, by the failure of the people to ratify the Constitution provided by the Convention of 1867.

By reason of low water in Lake Erie at times during the season of 1872, boats were compelled to go by way of Niagara river to Tonawanda, taking the canal there. This was not only a dangerous practice, but resulted in a substantial loss of tolls between Buffalo and Tonawanda. The extensive improvements then in progress at Black Rock harbor were expected to obviate this difficulty.

At the close of the season the State Engineer reported the following condition of old wall benches: in the eastern division, under contract for removal, tow-path side, 27.87 miles, and berme side, 31.23 miles; not under contract, tow-path side, 8.83 miles, berme side, 5.06 miles; in the middle division, tow-path side, 6.85 miles, berme side, 13.01 miles, this being mostly on the troublesome Jordan level, which was charged with 4.75 miles on the tow-path side and 11 miles on the berme side. The western division had but 0.91 mile, which was under contract.

The canals were open for navigation only two hundred and two days, or from May 13 to December 1, 1872. The tons of total movement for the year were 6,673,370, of the value of $220,913,321 – the maximum tonnage of the canals thus far throughout their existence. The revenues for the fiscal year were $3,078,247.96, and the payments for ordinary repairs and collections were $1,875,676.61. The canal debt, on September 30, amounted to. $11,396,680, and the aggregate sinking funds for its payment were $1,449,978.15, leaving a balance of $9,946,701.85 unprovided for.

During this season the Belgian or European system of cable towage made further progress, the company having laid a single cable from Buffalo to Lockport. More elaborate and extended tests of steam towage were also made in the contest for the prize offered by the State. Twelve steamers were placed upon the canal during the season, but only three succeeded in making the three round trips between New York and Buffalo, required by the rules of the commission. The first, the William Baxter, left West Troy on her first trip west, on August 29, 1872, and ended her third round trip, at the same point, on November 14. Her mean speed was 3.29 miles per hour and the average coal consumption 31.04 pounds per boat-mile. The second steamer was the William Newman, – mean speed, 2.727 miles per hour. The third steamer was the Port Byron, – mean speed, 2.685 miles per hour. The late date at which the preliminary trial trips were completed prevented the commission from carrying out the further tests which were deemed necessary in order to warrant a decision as to whether any of the boats had fully complied with the requirements of the law. The commission, therefore, at a meeting in February, 1873, resolved to ask the Legislature for a continuance of the offer of rewards, and an extension of one year in the time for competition. The second annual report of the commission on steam towage was made to the Legislature on February 24, 1873, and is published as Senate Document No. 71, of that year.

The Legislature of 1873 also "assented" to the proposed action of the canal board in reducing the toll rates, not to exceed fifty percent below the toll sheet of 1852, with liberty to change the same at the discretion of the board, during the ensuing season of navigation. A committee of the United States Senate was in session during the year, considering the subject of "Transportation Routes to the Seaboard." By concurrent resolution, a joint committee of five Senators and nine Assemblymen was appointed to represent the interests of New York State before this committee.

Navigation upon the canals opened May 15, 1873, the opening being retarded to enable the completion of certain repairs. The official closing was on December 5, a period of two hundred and five days, which was still further shortened, as navigation practically ceased after November 20, over a thousand boats being frozen in, very few of which reached tide-water. The season was one of the shortest on record, yet the receipts for tolls were nearly as much as in the preceding year. The tons of total movement for the season were 6,364,782, valued at $191,715,500. The number of boats registered, old and new, was 433. The receipts from tolls for the season were $2,976,718. The revenues for the fiscal year ending September 30, were $3,082,452.04, of which toll receipts represented $3,021,603.67 and the expenses for ordinary repairs and collections were $1,459,165.24, leaving a surplus of $1,623,286.80. The total canal debt at this date was $11,352,880, with sinking-fund balances of $1,530,241.21, leaving a net indebtedness of $10,256,655.54, which includes sinking-fund deficiency under article 7, section 3 of $434,016.75.

The increasing disposition to build boats of the utmost size that would pass in the lock-chambers resulted in an increased detention in lockages, by reason of the inability of boats of such dimensions to force their way quickly through the restricted passage. This was especially true in the case of heavily laden boats locking upward to the east, as at locks Nos. 47, 48 and 49. The experiment of widening the lock-chamber to twenty feet had been tried at these locks with the natural result that the time of lockage had been reduced by about one-half. Commissioner R. W. Stroud, of the middle division, therefore urged that the two remaining Erie locks having an upward lift eastward should be similarly widened and tumble-gates introduced, the estimate cost of which improvement he placed at $70,000.

The Legislature having extended the term of the steam towage commissioners for another year, six boats were brought to their attention during 1873, and public trial was held between Syracuse and Utica, of which due notice was given. Of the performances of these boats, that of the steamer William Baxter was conspicuous, not only for the speed attained, but for the extraordinarily low rate of coal consumed – only 14.82 pounds per mile. By reason of certain difficulties in complying with the stringent provisions of the law authorizing the experiments and tests, the commissioners finally submitted the whole matter of awards to the Legislature of 1874, with a draft of a proposed law that would do justice to the several competitors. The Legislature, accordingly, directed the Comptroller to pay to William Baxter, upon the presentation of the certificate of the State Engineer, the sum of $35,000, if he placed upon the canal during 1874 seven steamboats in all respects like his boat the City of New York; to David P. Dobbins, in like manner, the sum of $15,000, if he placed upon the canal three boats like his William Newman, and to Theodore Davis the sum of $5,000, if he placed , upon the canal one boat like his Central City.

During the session of 1874 various legislative inquiries were made concerning existing conditions on the canals. In reply to one of these questions, made January 7, the State Engineer furnished an estimate of the remaining wall benches and the cost to remove them. For the eastern division, there were upon the tow-path side 33.63 miles and upon the berme side 32.13 miles. These would cost $645,948 to remove. Of these, there were 11.94 miles of tow-path and 3.62 miles of berme benches under contract for removal. Deducting these there still remained 21.69 miles of tow-path and 28.51 of berme benches, for the removal of which $485,140 would be required. In the middle division there also remained 1.29 miles of tow-path and 14.38 miles of berme benches, the estimate for which was $226,000. The total mileage to be removed was computed at 65.87 and its cost of removal, $711,140. Replying on February 4, to an inquiry as to the cost and revenues of feeders and dams, the canal auditor made the remarkable statement that the canal feeders and dams, from 1846 to date, had cost the State $1,600,599.81, and that the amount received for water rentals for this period of about twenty-seven years was only $59,421.60, or a little over $2,000 a year.

As previously stated, the Legislature of 1874 omitted to approve the constitutional amendments relating to the abolition of the office of canal commissioner and the appointment of a superintendent of public works, but the amendments providing that no extra compensation should be allowed to any contractor, and forever prohibiting the disposal of the Erie, Champlain, Oswego and Cayuga and Seneca canals, and permitting the sale of the others, by inference, and also limiting the expenditures for repairs in any one year to the gross receipts for the previous year, were approved and, at the following November election, were ratified by the people by a substantial majority, to become effective on January 1, 1875.

The State Engineer, at about this time, called attention to the fact that as yet no really practical tests had been made to ascertain the tractive force required for moving boats under various conditions of width and depth of prism, of draught, model and tonnage of boats, either singly or in trains, and of direction and velocity of current. A small appropriation of $2,500 was suggested to cover the expense of such contemplated tests.

During the season of 1874 the Baxter Steam Canal Boat Company was organized, and operated seven boats, becoming the first organized company of its kind upon the canals. It was considered that had the offer of the State to inventors been couched in broader terms, with fewer restrictions, the results would have been better and perhaps have opened the way to utilizing the several thousand horse-drawn boats then in existence. The New York Steam Towage Company had also during 1872, as stated, laid a single cable from Buffalo to Lockport and with two special steamers had been experimenting for two years. As a result, it was claimed that a single tow, carrying 1,400 tons of freight, was drawn by this system at a rate of three miles per hour, at as low a cost as any 200-ton steamboat.

Under existing laws it had been the practice for the State Engineer to prepare the plans for work, after which the canal board authorized the letting of contracts, and subsequent proceedings were entirely within the control of the commissioners. The State Engineer, while subjected to frequent criticisms, as in the case of unbalanced bids, had no voice in the matter. In his annual report for 1874, State Engineer Sweet asserted that the law should be so changed that the incumbent of that office should be associated with, and his approval should be an essential element in, the awarding of contracts. In his opinion, another objectionable feature of existing laws should be remedied. The requirement that the appointment of subordinate engineers should be subject to the approval of the commissioner in charge of the work on which they were employed, frequently led to the selection of objectionable and incompetent men. It was urged that such appointments be made by the Engineer’s department, which was obliged to bear the responsibility for their conduct.

Navigation upon the canals opened on May 5 and closed December 5, in 1874. At the close of the fiscal year the aggregate canal debt was $10,230,430, while the sinking-fund balances were $1,561,018.99, leaving a net indebtedness of $8,669,411.01. The tolls for the fiscal year were $2,921,721.74, a falling off of $99,881.93. The gross receipts were $2,947,972.91, a decrease of $134,479.13. The expenses for the year were $1,469,466.83, an increase of $10,301.59. The total tonnage for the navigable season of 1874 was 5,804,588, valued at $196,674,322, on which the tolls were $2,637,071. The completion of the double lock at Lyons during the winter of 1874-5 is noteworthy as opening the entire length of the Erie canal to double locks. About seven miles of wall benches were removed on the eastern division during the season, according to the report of the canal commissioner.

Because the subject has not been introduced year by year, it must not be assumed that all causes of dissatisfaction with the system of canal management had ceased after the investigation of 1867-8. Nor had the change from the system of repairs by contract in 1870 given the expected relief. New York City was but then emerging from an era of gigantic swindling, in which men of both parties had been bought and used as tools, infamous deals had been made for corporate monopolies and courts and legislatures had been bought up and compelled to aid the schemes for plunder. With their metropolis recently freed from the grasp of William M. Tweed, the "boss" of a corrupt "ring" or "machine," the people of the state were becoming aroused by the repeated cries for general reform, including changes in canal management, to which the same term of "ring" was applied. There appeared to no settled policy of canal management at this time. Both systems – by contract and by commissioners – had been tried and found wanting. It was a case of "many men of many minds." Advocates of either system were not slow to bitterly criticise and condemn the other.

In the Governor’s opinion, to perfect the existing canal was the best policy. This done, its capacity was considered to be ample for the traffic of the time. The tolls then charged should be retained, as improvement funds. No rash changes should be made in altering gates or lengthening chambers of locks. The lateral canals were a heavy expense and for that reason the income of the Erie should be increased, by improvements, before discarding the existing income by further reduction of tolls. "What the Erie canal wants," said the Governor, "is more water in the prism." He recommended that its depth throughout be made seven feet, an honest seven feet, as he expressed it. As the first step toward this end, he advised that provision be made to enable the State Engineer to obtain an accurate survey of the Erie, including "cross-sections as often as every four rods of its length." This recommendation agreed with the suggestion of the State Engineer, as already noted. The Legislature did not respond to this request till the following year.

The Governor also suggested a special commission to examine and advise as to which of the laterals it would be best to dispose of, and which should be retained as feeders, but the Legislature saw fit to charge the State Engineer and the canal commissioners with this duty.

On March 19 the canal board submitted a revised toll sheet for the coming season, making sweeping reductions; among them one-third the tolls on grain and about the same on lumber. This reduction met with legislative approval. The Legislature also passed the constitutional amendment changing the control of the canals from commissioner to a Superintendent of Public Works, and recommended the same to the Legislature of 1876, thus forwarding the proposal of the Constitutional Commission of 1872, which had failed to come before the people with the other amendments in 1874, because the Legislature of that year had failed to approve the measure.

But this was not the only investigation of canal matters. A commission of four persons was authorized by concurrent resolution of the Senate and Assembly on March 26 and 31, respectively, to be appointed by the Governor, with the approval of the Senate, to especially examine into the matters embraced within the scope of the Governor’s special message of March 19. These commissioners were directed to cover at least the period from 1868 to 1875, inclusive, and they might go back further if they so desired. They were instructed to report to the Governor and to the Legislature at its next session the testimony and their recommendations, and to furnish a copy of the testimony to the Attorney-General. The commissioners appointed under this resolution were John Bigelow, Daniel Magone, Jr., Alexander E. Orr and John D. Van Buren, Jr. Evidently the Governor considered that the exigencies of the occasion demanded this unusual procedure of having an investigating commission appointed by the Chief Executive, especially with a joint legislative committee named for the same purpose.

Before considering the work of this commission, it is well to observe the trend of public sentiment at this time – how, from almost a frenzy of enthusiasm for all forms of canal-building in the early days of their existence the feeling had variously fluctuated until now it had reached the point of extreme disaffection for all canals. In his special message the Governor well said: "Unfortunately the abuses now practiced against our canals and their commerce are exciting strong prejudices against the great public works rather than against the wrong-doers and the wrong-doing which tend to destroy them." It is well to remember another circumstance in connection with this investigation – that politics played a conspicuous part. Indeed, it is known that the Speaker of the Assembly at that time, Jeremiah McGuire, of the same political affiliations as the Governor, openly charged Mr. Tilden with prosecuting this investigation in order to gain political capital. This condition will be found more or less true of all canal investigations. The temporarily dominant party has been so persistently assailed for its management of canal affairs, that the truth in these attacks can scarcely be separated from the falsehood.

The report severely criticised the method of letting contracts, declaring that the requirement of large guarantee funds had discouraged bidders of small means and confined the work almost exclusively to large capitalists; that the acceptance of unbalanced bids had a tendency to preclude honest bidders and that the failure to enforce the forfeiture of deposits had worked to the injury of the State. The discrepancies between quantities in preliminary and final estimates were censured, as were the long established customs of computing excavation for walls and structures at a uniform slope of one on one and of allowing a price for embankment of material obtained from excavation, when it was necessarily handled twice, even if it had not been moved the specified two hundred feet. The report deprecated the use of vertical instead of slope walls, declaring that the latter would have been usually as serviceable and much cheaper. It also charged that the specifications, especially in masonry work, had not been enforced, greatly to the loss of the State. The facilities offered to contractors for legislative relief were condemned. If the canal board had failed to cancel a contract which proved disadvantageous to the contractor, he had often appealed to the Legislature, which usually had allowed awards to cover his losses.

Navigation opened May 18, 1875, and was closed (by ice) November 30, the Hudson river being closed on November 29. A communication from Mr. William Baxter, concerning the progress of steam canal towing in 1875, develops the fact that with the short season of navigation between May 18 and November 25, (as given by him), and the interruptions caused by two breaks of six and sixteen days, respectively, the navigable period was reduced to one hundred and sixty-nine days. The results given by the steamboats were considered satisfactory, but better port facilities and a thorough bottoming out were asked for. The communication was embodied in the State Engineer’s report for the year. According to this report, about twelve miles of wall benches were removed on the eastern division during the year, leaving 51.51 miles remaining.

The tons of total movement during the year were 4,859,858, valued at $145,008,575. The aggregate canal debt, September 30, was $10,086,660, and the aggregate sinking funds, $1,448,345.51, leaving a balance unprovided for of $8,638,314.49. The rate of interest on the canal debt was then six percent. The canal receipts for the fiscal year were $1,925,995.63. The expenditures for ordinary repairs and collections were $1,414,456.94. The net revenues of the canals for this year were less than for any year since 1828, and the gross receipts were lighter than for any year since 1836. These unfavorable financial results may be attributed, in a measure, to the general depression in business, but chiefly to the ruinous competition which prevailed between the rival trunk lines.

It was with difficulty that the canal commissioner of the eastern division had been able to open the canal for navigation in the spring. The Legislature of 1874 had made a large appropriation for removing wall benches, but the funds would not be available until taxes were paid in 1875. In order to gain a year’s time, contracts were let and the work was being executed during the winter of 1874-5, the contractors receiving certificates in lieu of money. The publication of the Governor’s canal message, the agitation of the press upon the subject, the wholesale imputation of fraud against all canal work, and especially against certificates, so impaired public confidence that the contractors were unable to dispose of their certificates to banks and capitalists, and they stopped work, after several miles of old walls had been torn out. This condition continued until within four or five weeks of the advertised time for opening the canals, when finally, after exhausting other resources, the Legislature was appealed to and furnished relief by making some of the repair fund applicable. By extraordinary efforts the work was then pushed to completion in time for the opening.

In view of the revelations of extravagance and misconduct, as shown by the reports of the investigating commission, the Governor’s annual message in 1876 recommended retrenchment in canal management, a thorough scrutiny of all expenditures, and some disposition of the unprofitable laterals. It also commended the action of the Legislature in approving the constitutional amendment to create a Superintendent of Public Works.

The Legislature of 1876 earnestly undertook the work of reform, as recommended by the Governor, both in canal affairs and otherwise. The constitutional amendment to abolish the office of canal commissioner and to create a Superintendent of Public Works – to be appointed by the Governor, with the consent of the Senate – was again approved, and at the following November election was adopted by the people by a large majority. The canal board was given the powers of investigation and redress in matters pertaining to the canals, including those of the past (chapter 388). The State Engineer was empowered to appoint the regular engineers of his department, and to employ additional engineers, when necessary, with the consent of the canal board, and all of these men were required to take the constitutional oath of office (chapter 385). Despite the adverse report of the canal commissioners, an appropriation of $400,000 was made for deepening the Erie and Oswego canals to a full seven feet, and another of $15,000 for a survey to ascertain the condition of the Erie. This act also directed the canal board to terminate such of the contracts for extraordinary repairs as in its opinion were not necessary, providing $400,000 to settle these contracts and repealing all former appropriations for this class of work that were still in force (chapter 425). The report of the State Engineer and the canal commissioners, relative to the disposition to be made of the lateral canals, not having proved satisfactory, the Legislature appointed a special commission for this purpose (chapter 382). As this subject is considered in a chapter by itself further references to it will be omitted from this portion of the volume. Improvement in steam propulsion was encouraged by an act (chapter 387) authorizing the setting apart of a portion of the canal in which Hugh Stevenson and Enos W. Pelonbet might experiment with their systems.

Thus the Governor’s reforms were carried into effect. There followed a policy of retrenchment and of little activity in improvements, which was not broken till necessity compelled the lengthening of locks in an attempt to enable the canal to cope with increasing competition. Concerning the general results of this period, the verdict of the standard historians of the state may be safely taken. It is a matter of history that, though comparatively few convictions resulted from many arrests, the power of the "ring" was broken and reformation followed. Tilden’s reform spirit left its mark upon the public conscience, throughout municipality, state and nation. The responsibility of officials was viewed differently and there was a more rigid accountability of public expenditures.

Navigation opened May 4, 1876, and closed December 1. The tons of total movement diminished to 4,172,129, valued at $113,090,379. The canal commissioners reported it a season of excellent navigation at reduced expenses for maintenance, but of continued business depression.

During the year a careful survey of the Erie canal was made by the State Engineer, in accordance with the Governor’s recommendation and the resulting law. This was the survey which, eighteen years later, although obviously of too remote a period to be of much use, had to be depended upon as the chief source of information for making the first estimate for what was later known as the "Nine-million improvement," when the Constitutional Convention of 1894 required such an estimate from the State Engineer within twelve days. The canal commissioners, in 1876, reported that this survey showed that there was no need to use the money which had been appropriated to give the canal a depth of seven feet. Mr. John D. Van Buren, Jr., the State Engineer, taking office in January, 1876, had been a member of the investigating commission, and he brought to his department the spirit of reform, instituting a mathematical examination, which the engineer were required to pass. That, of course, was before the day of State civil service regulations.

The history of the Erie canal for the next few years presents more of economic than of engineering interest. The people of the state had become aroused to the necessity of a careful and economical control of canal expenditures and the administration of Governor Robinson stood pledged to the exercise of rigid economy in the expenses of maintenance. Moreover, a constitutional provision limited the annual expenditures to the gross amount received during the previous year.

Not anticipating this traffic improvement, however, the toll-sheet, which was fixed by the Legislature in each year, had been made unusually low, and the canal revenues did not keep pace with improved conditions, being the lowest in forty-five years. A quarter-mill tax was therefore recommended to supply the deficiency. Only the Erie again showed in 1877 a small net surplus over expenses, the amount being $84,840.88 in this year.

A Senate resolution of inquiry as to the expense of lengthening canal-locks forty feet, brought out an adverse report from the Engineer’s department. The difficulty and expense of making the proposed change at Lockport were urged as the chief reasons.

The question of steam versus horse-power propulsion had been anxiously studied for several years, but so far, in the opinion of the State Engineer, the attempts to substitute steam had not displaced animal power. Statutory permission was given to test various methods of steam towage, among which the Stevenson system (chapter 366, Laws of 1877) and the Baker single-rail system (chapter 371, Laws of 1877) were included. State Engineer J. D. Van Buren, Jr., in his report presents some interesting facts and conclusions. An important series of dynamometrical tests were made to determine the tractive force required to move boats through the water of the canal at different speeds.

The average weight of a first-class, horse-propelled, grain boat was then about sixty-five tons; its cargo of grain weighed about two hundred and thirty tons. It was found that an average loaded boat on the canal, at an average speed of about 1.55 miles per hour, developed a tractive pull of about three hundred and thirteen pounds. This was considered as the maximum amount of work which an ordinary pair of canal horses could continuously perform. With similar conditions of boat and speed it was found that steam towage, by means of an ordinary screw-propelled tug, with about three hundred feet of hawser attached, developed a much larger resistance, increasing with the speed. This was owing to the rapid current thrown back by the propeller in the confined waterway of the canal.

The average rate of speed of a horse-drawn boat was shown by comparison of numerous records to be 1.55 miles per hour. There was a slight difference in speed between east-bound and west-bound boats owing to the fact that there is a mean easterly current in the canal of about one-fourth of a mile per hour. Four horses were used to a boat – in pairs – working alternately in six-hour shifts. It was further deduced that the average work thrown upon each canal horse was 20,034 foot-pounds per minute, equal to six-tenths horse-power, or for a whole day of twelve hours (six hours on and six hours off), 14,424,480 foot-pounds. From this it could be seen that canal horses were overtaxed and the condition in which they were kept at that time was not only poor economy but a disgrace to civilization.

The average time of a horse-drawn boat for a round trip from Buffalo to New York and return was thirty days. In an average season of two hundred and ten days there were seven round trips. The cost of carriage of a bushel of wheat by horse-drawn boat, exclusive of tolls and terminal charges, from Buffalo to New York was computed at 5.69 cents. In 1862 the average tonnage of a boat was one hundred and sixty-seven tons and the average time from Buffalo to Troy was eight and one-half days as against ten days in 1877. It was considered questionable whether in view of all circumstances boats were not then above the most economical size.

As among the first efforts at steam propulsion the following may be of interest:

The Baxter boat was ninety-six feet long by seventeen feet beam, with nine feet depth of hold. Displacement, two hundred and sixty-four tons. Capacity, about two hundred and seven tons. With two hundred tons cargo it should draw five feet and ten inches of water, and was propelled by a pair of three-bladed screws, one on each side of the stern, revolving toward each other. An upright boiler and engines completed the equipment. The estimated cost per bushel of wheat from Buffalo to New York by this method was 5.76 cents.

The Belgian cable-towing system consisted of a wire cable laid in the bottom of the canal. A clip drum was mounted upon the deck of a tow-boat over which the cable was lifted and passed. The drum being operated by steam drew the tug and its attached "trailers" through the canal at a speed of about two and one-half miles per hour. The estimated cost per bushel of wheat by this method from Buffalo to New York was 4.79 cents. But the installation of equipment including tugs and cable was estimated at $3,450,000, and the annual cost of maintenance about $1,600,000.

The Frick or Pennsylvania system of coupled boats, either horse-propelled, or by steam-power on the rear boat, was considered an improvement in the way of economy. The speed was computed at about two and one-half miles per hour by steam and the cost of freight per bushel from Buffalo to New York – four hundred and ninety-five miles – at 4.72 cents.

The average canal freight rates per bushel of wheat from Buffalo to New York for the season of 1877, to September 1, was 7.39 cents; for the balance of the season, 9.53 cents.

On February 8, 1878, under the new constitutional amendment, the control of the canals passed from the canal commissioners to the Superintendent of Public Works.

The expenditures under the new system of control were decreased nearly fifty percent under the corresponding period of the previous year. Although the rates for tolls remained comparatively low, both the tonnage and the amount received were largely increased. The net income of the Erie canal for the fiscal year, after deducting all repairs, charges and payments, was $321,403.18.

At one time during this season the rate was four and one-half cents per bushel as against the lowest rate of eight cents in 1874 from Buffalo to New York. It was claimed that this increase in tonnage was caused by low rates and was the controlling factor in opening a larger foreign trade for our products, which resulted in the turning of the balance of trade in our favor to the amount of $250,000,000.

The Comptroller stated that the only debt remaining upon the State was the canal debt, which on September 30, 1877, was represented by outstanding obligations amounting to $9,900,360, exclusive of the sinking fund applicable thereto of $1,270,343.71.

The commerce of the Erie canal was at this time gravely threatened by the approaching completion of extensive improvements, at a cost of over $30,000,000, in the Welland and St. Lawrence system of Canadian canals. These improvements would permit the passage of boats drawing thirteen and one-half feet of water over the lock miter-sills and enable vessels of two thousand tons to load direct for Europe at the docks of Cleveland, Toledo and Chicago.

Under the constitutional limitation and the amount of canal receipts applicable to the payment for repairs and maintenance, rigid economy was necessarily the continued policy of canal management in 1879. To use a homely expression, the canals were said to be "living from hand to mouth." Although the open season was shortened to two hundred and twelve days the tonnage was increased by about 200,000 tons. The receipts for tolls were less because the rates were fixed at the lowest point in the history of the canals.

A deficiency canal tax of three-tenths mill was levied by chapter 27; and it was made a misdemeanor to bribe a lock tender by chapter 403 of the laws of this year.

To the free list were added butter, cheese, flax seed, oil meal and oil cake.

The auditor complained that the railway lines continued in their efforts to divert from the canal and absorb east-bound traffic, to name ruinously low rates during the season of canal navigation, being able to recoup their losses during the winter.

The requirement that the canal should be self-supporting and still confine expenses within the amount received for tolls, left no margin or fund for extraordinary repairs, and in case of disaster by flood or otherwise the canal was in constant danger of being closed without warning to traffic. These conditions operated to discourage boat-building and boating interests. It was authoritatively stated that the canal as it was at this period was entirely capable of passing double the tonnage thus far transported.

In the report of the Superintendent of Public Works the opinion was expressed that the immense exportation of American cereals for the preceding three years was not due to their cheapness here but to successive failures of crops in foreign countries.

He also intimated that if the same principles of business management and economy, which had made the railroads their successful competitors, were applied to the canals, all fear of losing their share of the carrying trade would vanish. In view of the fact that Montreal is one hundred and forty-seven miles nearer Chicago by way of the Canadian canals than is New York by way of the Erie, the State Engineer again in this year called attention to the danger of Canadian competition.

A glance at the history of the Erie canal during 1880 presents comparatively little of interest to record. The net canal debt, after applying sinking-fund balances, was $6,936,879.83, at the close of the fiscal year. In November the canals were unexpectedly and suddenly closed by an ice blockade in which about a thousand boats were caught in transit. Three-quarters of this number were grain-boats whose cargoes aggregated 6,000,000 bushels. Yet, notwithstanding this drawback, the season of two hundred and twenty days witnessed a further increase in traffic.

The gross receipts of the Erie canal were $1,120,660.13. It may be noted, however, that it required two-thirds of this sum to pay the expenses of maintenance and collection, the net