Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-12-18

profession NlluAh AAlt ltalAts tLAs III dAAAAADAl
TO his known ability to grapple with the I'M
portant question involved. on account Of his
long familiarity with the region to be explOr-
ed which has been his study more orless for
a period of forty wears. and especially from
the fact that having examined instrument
ally in previous surveys most oi the section
10 he considered, his thorough acquaintance
with the different water systems and their
relations to each other, fitted him eminent
" for the service required.
Prof Benedict accepted the position thus
offered, though he has reached a period OF
life when most men would shrink from the
labor involved His report, now well ad-
yanced will give full discussion to the seem
tifc questions which underlie the subject,
and accurate statistics Of the drainage area
of the lakes selected for reservoirs, with cal
citations Of rainfall and evaporation. made
with the utmost care from all the sources of
information available and applied to the
peculiar features of this elevated plateau.
The instrumental work the past season
was performed by two parties. one was
under the immediate direction OF W. u.
Cooper. ESD. to which was assigned the
triangulati1n of Long and f0rked Lakes.
the selection Of dams for these important
reservoirs, and the examination Of the Rae
quette Valley below Long Lake to the pro-
posed dam, and of the valley Of Cold River,
one Of its largest tributaries. Bacquctte
Lake was LAID down By AZ. Edwards. Esd.
Engineer Of the Sackctt's Harbor and sara
toga Railroad. and the Blue Mountain
Lakes, in SOL, by j. i. Harris. h-l-, -
that now the extent and boundaries of
these four great natural reseryolrs OF the
Timer Racquette are determined, and SD
H. ., lsa a IrI
Of this interesting region.
The examination Of lakes and pond, on
the upper sources of the Hudson, together
with parts Of the Racquette basin not IN
ciuded in the scope of the first party, was
assigned u second under the personal d.
rectiou Of Prof Benedict This party. in
pursuing il, work, travelled ~ land and
water about 500 mile, more than so OF
which was by boat over lakes and streams.
More than 80 lakes and ponds were visited
and cross sections for dams taken at 80.
OF these the more important were tat.ln,
Rich and Harris Lake. on the west branch
OF tie Hudson. Lakes Henderson and New
comb and Lake sanford with ponds ada
cent On the central or mountain branch. 10
be controlled by dam near the site Of the
Adirondack Iron Company old dam at the
lower work. The Chain lakes, partly IN
Essex and partly n Hamilton county. were
alsl visited and site examInelilrad dam which
Will control the waters Of SIX lakes AMI As
many ponds. Little Upper lake was also
explored and part Of the numerous ponds
which contribute their wapZs e. this large
and most beautiful reservoir and the differ
ence Of level taken between Little upper
and Stony Pond at the head Of the chain OF
ponds which empty into Log Lake by Big
Brook. The allotted time was NOT sufficient
TO extend like examinations to the Sacon-
daga and Schr)0n, but approximate stalls
ties have been gained from reliable sources
A. one prominent question - be deter
mined By the survey was the extent 20 which
the navigation Of the Hudson might be I'M
proved by drawing upon the waters stored
on This plateau. 1t was deemed essential, Is
the basis Of reliable calculations. o. deter
mine the exact low Of the river. Ia alli-
tion. therefore, to careful. observations made
by Mr. Greene, Deputy STATE Engineer, 20
Troy, the guaging OF the main channel,
above the junction oi tto Nlhawk and be-
vOni the effect Of tide. was accomplished
late in October. under the personal super
attendance of Prof Benedict. These vari-
Gus examinations established the following
conclusions
lst. That immense quantities Of water
can be safely stored, AT a comparatively low
per centaCe OF cost. on the upper Hudson,
most % which Is now worse than lost. a. il
runs 70 waste in SpTing-ire-lets which in
various ways are the cause % great damage,
annually
q. That this excess alone b. sufficient o.
maintain the deficiency Of she main riyc- az
low summer stages for one aargret a.- s. a.-
ter liberal discount for any losses IN IT'S pas
sage.
An incidental advantage of holding back
this excess Will be discussed in lle. kep II
a. tending TO diminish the immense 4l4uil-
tie- of debris annually washed down hT
SpIing-dlods and deposited where i- be-
comes most serious hindcrauce % navisl-
tion, which has long proved Troublesome
problem 10 the ab.est engineers and q great
cost 10 the State and also that thi- check
VIII be an advantage instead 90. hinder
ance % the operations OF lImner-meu, d
experience has proved a moderate and UNI
form flow more favorable than the rush OF
high floods. and that the river Will be main
tanned at Il more desirable stage by the sur
plus remaining alter thcrcScry1lrS arc h-.ed-
So much for the Hudson. 1. was part II
the proposed plan, to borrow, d needed from
the lakes at the head of lacqucttc basin.
part Of their enormous accumulation, yet
without robbing any other section Of its
natural privilege Nith0u; anticipating
the full statistics and methods which will
be given in the report. it Will he sufficient
Tor present general purposes to state, that
the examinations made prove the lakes In
the upper Iacquettc basin u have capl-
city more than six times that Of all the
Ifs.l Itfvnr rr-Nran
eastern division oe the Ere canal. OF IN
aggregate capacity Of more than l3GO0,
coo 600 cubic feet. Racquettc Lake with q
ten feet dam Will have capacity Of about
5000 ,O00 ,0O0 cable feet. Its drainage area
Is about 80 600 acres, and If made rc>cr-
v0ir, with proposed dam. VIII ensure d $
charge per minute. for ono hundred days,
OF over %. coo cubic feet, or more than the
total supply for the cast end OF the Rome
level of the Erie canal according % the
Canal Commissioner Report for 1913.
As by far the largest part of this cnor-
nous amount finds its way back to the llud-
son after serving the uses of the canal. the
proportion which the discharge OF these
reservoirs bears to the total d0w Of the main
river before the junction oil the Mohawk.
and the effect which. together with those
proposed on the upper Hudson itself. can
be produced on the dciiciencic- Of both
rivers at the low summer and autumn
stages as developed in the Report, il Is he
lieyed. will excite not only great intere-.
but also sgrprisc The estimates on the
proposed dams have not yet been completed,
but owing to the great natural advantages,
in many cases It l. safe TO infer that the
cost will be prop0rtionatoly far less than for
similar Improvements already made hY the
State.
These are some Of the general results
which may be considered as determined hy
the survey. What are the objections to
this project These may be stated, a5 fol-
lows:
l7t. Cost Of structures
%. Damages for lands flowed.
81 Interference with lumber interests
and mil powers on the Raequetto river,
if the proposed diversion of part Of its waters
Is made.
4lh. Marrius the beauty Of these noun
tain lakes By the erection OF dams.
Leaving the Report to deal with the first
three objections made, as it WilI fully, and il
is believed satisfactorily few words may lie
seasonable at this time upon the last Al
though this, it may be el9imel, arises from
considerations Of taste mainly,i is a sub
perhaps the strongest opposition. 10 any
lover Of the beautiful, the despoiiing
of such region is an evil that can be
justified only by the gravesi public needs,
and with nultitudes who havo found re-
creation and vigOr for years past amidst
the charms OF this remarkable region, it
seems little short of decoration to DESTROY
the beauty Of these lakes and rsnder them
desolate and hideous. lt must be admitted
that no change of this kind can be more
striking and repulsive than that from
mountain lake with noble forests ringing
its shores. and the foliage of lesser trees
and shrubs bending with grace to the wa
ter's edge, and then reflected with perlec,
line and eo:orIng in its depth, 20 such
lake after the l0w-line has been raised by q
dam dead forest trees cncircllng its shores
giving it an aspect Of utter desclation
and the once graceful evergreens, the bal
sam, spruce and cedar. bristling along its
banks or torn up by the winds and floating
in an unsightly iangle oys- 10 sarraeo.
- -. L.