The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-05-11

elaborate upon new metnods or 10 suggest al
length vast improvements In the present system Of
suppyhave succeeded only in displaying their utter
ignorance OF existing facts; although in justice to
others, it may be admitted that they have some
times deviatcd into something IKE accuracy OF
statement.
In the frst place, they.do not seem TO understand
THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTRY
through which the Croton River ana its many trib-
utaries now; nor have they considered all the
causes which at dicrcnt seasons tend 10 diminish
the supply OF water Their projects, therefore, are
based more upon hypothesis than upon Statistical!
or philosophical facts.
The eastern branch OF the Croton River takes its
rise in the town of Pawlng, Duchess county,
thirty miles nom the Croton Reservoir proper, or
Croton Dam in Westchestcr County. Here also
rises the Ten Mile River, which runs northward and
emptes into the Housatonic. The East Branch
flows south, nearly 30, and forms juno
ton with the West Branch near Croton
Fa,s, In Westchester county. From its source
to the junction It's is serpeutne, its current
IL sluggish, and the soil on either side is of marshy
nature. This marsh country varies in width from
onc-lourth to three-fourths OF mile at different
points, ana is At all times and seasons nothing more
than filthy laboratory, in which Nature forever
evolves aud minges her most noXious gases, anu
from which she sends them forth the pure
water and into the pure air on their errand of
disease and death.
FOUNTAIN OF POISON
In the town or Patterson, in Putnam county, Is
Patterson Swamp, fountain of stencil ami poison,
which deserves more than passing notice IL
covers area OF about one thou.
sand two hundred acres and near the
line dividing Putnam and Duchess counties
receives the linpid waters of the East Branch,
and
doing them out in meagre drops thoroughly
impregnatcd with The odor and the poison of
its mass OF wcedy corruption. When the soanty
volume Of water that is allowed to pcrcolate
through Patterson Swamp reaches the outlet it is
impeded in its course by numerous sand bars,
behind which the water lies almost m0tioncss. In
the summer season the loss by evaporation is very
great, and as only the pure water is taken up the
residue Is all the more poisonous in proportion 10
its volume. To the southwest OF Patterson Swamp
ia Hinckey Pond, whose outlet is sluggish stream
called, very appropriately "Muddy Brook" The
swamp ,1r which Hinckley Pond is a parD is fed not
only by the East Branch, but by nine other streams
flowing in from all directions through region OF
country whose soil is OF vegetable formation. In
the dry season. under the action of the suns rays
this soil the appearance and character OF
sponge, and absorbs at least One-third of the sup
ply OF water that reaches 1t. Between the sun and
| the spongy banks the greedy, thirsty Dogs and
| swamps through which these streams pass, the
quantity OF water which. under favorable clrcuIn-
stances, should reach any given point south OF the
! swamp-that is, before being increased by streams
| flowing through firm Soils diminished almost
sixty per cent; and what is left after this excessive
| reduction II the very
sUBLIMATIoN OF ALL THE FOUL ESSENCES
I that oozc and eXhac from malariOua swamp and
| morass Fortunately for the health Of the million
people who drink Croton water, the poison that is
I swept down from Patterson Swamp and the
\ SlODlpmcUt
1 great extent by numerous streams that now into
the East Branch after 1t leaves the pestilenta re-
/ gion Of Patterson when its current increases in
rapidity until 1t reaches Midtown. Here the flow IL
obstructed by two mill dams, and at Sodom, or
/ Southeast Centre by another. This last, although
the pond created by IL is narrow, is yet an impor-
tant aid in impeding the free ow of the water for
extends fully three quarters OF q mile
One hundred and sixty rods above this dam the
outlet of Peach Pond-whch might be made a
valuable feeder TO the Chromosomes into the East
| Branch. From the dam to the point where Bor-
denis condensed milk factory stands-a distance OF
one mile-the stream winds its way through an ex-
tensive tract of low meadow land. Here You find
another dam throwing the water back hall the way
formed by the dam is really of no service except t.
feed the clouds and to nourlsh the low meadow
banks which enclose 1t. In the heated term nc
water flows this dam, and here the Eas
Branch would actually lose Its identity were IL moi
for the small leakage which serves to cover its be-
ana to mark IL as water course. TWO hundred
rods below Borden's factory
WATERS OF LAKE. TONETrA,
| near BrcwSter'S station, come WhnuefIHg III
having meandered lazily through long mile q
sunken marshes, and Shiny, spongy beds OF peat
Here, on several occasions, so yielding Is the soil
the track OF the Harlem Railroad has been literally
swallowed up in the quagmire for the distance OF
from forty to one hundred yards. To prove that
the absorption OF water by the porous soil is al
least as great as have estimated it, let remark
that in the OF 1869 the quantity OF water in
the main channel EAST Branch) was positively less
| than the quantity received from Peach Pond alone
two miles above. And you will remember that
Peach Pond is not the only tributary OF the East
| Branch north of the point have Indicated What
has become OF the water poured down from the
| hills by more than a dozen streams that could be
the East Branch when at it's best? answer that
| the sun, acting upon an almost motionless water
surface, has taken up into the clouds much more
than his proper share, and that the greedy sponge
beds OF fen, morass, bog and marsh have drunk up
the remainder only dribbng 1t ont in its poisoned
state when their multtudnous pores are saturated
and room must be made for the reception OF fresh
SOUTH FROM BREwsrER's STATION
about three miles, we find Croton Falls at which
| point the East and West branches of the Croton
form junction. Between Brewster's and the Falls
the current OF the East Branch increases in rapdty
ana is checked only by two small dams.
The West Branch, from its source to the junction
with the East Branch to form the Croton proper,
varied character. II Is fed by numberless springs
and spring lakes, which supply it with pure water
but it also draws literally upon many
marshes in its course, and the poison. better d.
| luted, perhaps, than that which miDgles with the
waters of the East Branch. slowly. but surely.
finds Its way to the Croton, and thence to the
stomachs OF the people of New York. While the
impurities of marsh and fen and bog come down
with but little dimnutiOn In their original quantity
or degree Of mortiferous foulness the volume OF
water that reaches Croton Falls by the West
Branch Is singularly small-smaer indeed, than
that empted into the Branch by any one Of its
largest tributaries unaffected by absorbent marsh
or bibulous quagmire.
i VEST BRANCH
rises in White Lake, In the highlands Of Putnam
county White Lake Is q lovely body OF purest
water and its flow Is superior to that OF any other
lake in Putnam county Properly managed, IL
could be made q most valuable contributor TO the
water supply; but recently huge earthen embank-
meDt has been constructed across the outlet about
half mile below the lake, and this throws the
water back into low marshy basin, from which 1t
IL drawn as the milling interests require There is
\ quite good current below the embankment and
this Is augmented. within distance OF three quar-.
tiers OF q mile by q clear stream from Duchess
/ county. Now for one mile the West Branch eddes
and gurges through soggy, marshy land, losing
what purity 1t has left after contact with the
swamps above, and exchanging for it the noxiOus
! ingredients of nameless poisons. Within short
1 distance is the new reservoir, now partly con-
4