New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-04-05
ADAMS ON THE STENn.
THE STATE ENGINEER TESTIFIES AT
THE CANAL COMMISSIONS
FIRST MEETING.


He OUTLINES TIE PLANS AND EXTENT OF TIE
WORK on THE ERIE. cHAMPLAlN AND
oswEco CANALS HIS TESTIMONY TO
BE CONTINUED MORROW.
Icy TELEGRAPH To- TIE TEIHrXrl
Albany, April 4--The Commission api'oih'eo
" Governor Black TO ascertain with what
.onesty and wisdom the Sa.OJOOuI recently eA-
,ended on canal Improvements has Oeeh eN-
pended formally began to-day lis investigations
Four Of the Commissioners. George Chh'on' ol
Buffalo; Smith VI. Weed, Of Plaitsburg; William
McEchron Of Clcns Falls and Frank BraIharu'
of New-York were on hand. while three mem
hers. Franklin Edison. A. Foster Higgins ana
Darwin r. James. Of New-York. were absent
With calv $4,000 at their disposal, as was
pointed out by one of them today. the Comm's-
sioners starte ont to Investigate work on "Ihch
between 100000 and $4,000 has been spent IN
engineering operations alone. Moreover Inc
Commission must ascertain whether state En-
gineer Adams is probably correct in MS es'-
mate that the work CO canal Improvement can
be completed for S.,C00,0O0.
State Engineer Adams was the sole witness
to-day He came 10 the Assembly parloT, where
his evidence was taken. loaded down win maps
showing the location and extent of each canal
Oswego canals He was questioned by O. +.
Blackmar. the counsel Of the Commission WIZ
was assisted by f. p North. the engineer of the
Commission. Mr. Adams in reply to q-esl'ohS
stated that the object Of the canal Improvement
was N deepen the Erie and Oswego canals 10
an average depth of nine feet and the Cham
Main Canal to a depth Of seven feet: to lengthen
and deepen the locks, and 10 build vertical WallS
ubera necessary He then exhibited his maps
which indicated the extent OF eacn canal con-
tract and gave the name or each i''Id0'oi'
with the price he was TO receive TOT MS "oiM'
Ont Of seventy-two locks on the Erie Canai' ne
stated that forty-two had been heightened Prev
&c 70 tho beginning of the canal improvement
work and two since that period leaving t"eh'!
eight still to be heightened. The average oep'h
Of the Erie Canal previous to It's improvement
WIS only seven feet From Buffalo TO Lock-
port however. il varied from o}2 feet III Bula'o
70 Is feet in Tonawanda Creek. From LocKport
N Rochester IT was feet in depth. Directly
cat, NJ Rochester IL was less than feet IN
6enth On the Jordan level its depth did not
exceed I'll. feet The heightened locks and
aaueducts had a depth of only feet over the
metre stills The problem OF deepening the
canals involved obtaining a depth OF leet IN
the aoueducts and locks. He did not know the
nurnber Of culverts on the Erie Canal. but
would furnish the Commission with the IN
formation from the surveyors papers.
"What is the length Of the Erie Canal, and
how many miles OF it are under contract LOT I'M
provement?" inquired Mr.. Blackmar
THE Erie Canal" answered Mr.. Adams. lis
3,1 miles in length On March l there was
under contract for Improvement 299 "'-loo
miles That includes the completed Work ana
ell the contracts which have been made. FROM
Macedon east TO the Wayne County line 1t is not
under contract. This is distance 81 tnlr.y,
Ave miles The middle division ninety-seven
miles in length. is all under contract The east
ern division is under contract as faf east as
Little Falls Between lock 30 and lock "a. be.
tween lock 40 and lock 80 and between lock II
and the city OF Schenectady. 1t is not under con-
tract II is under contract from Schehectady
10 lock 49, No contracts have been let from
lock 10 east. Only two locks OF the Erie Canal
are under contract for leDgthening. LOCKS or
the middle division have been deepened TO OBJ
tain eight feet Of water. will furnish YOU to-
morrow with the details Of lock lengthening
contracts. We have made contacts for deepen-
ing the aqueducts. The contracts 10Y deepen
upon culverts and wastewers.
please describe your work on the ChaHlpldln
Canal" said Mr.. Backmar go.
THE Charnplain Canal" replied Mr.. Adams.
us sixty-ive miles long II extends from the
Erie Canal at Watcrvlet to Lake Champlain at
Whitehall. We aim 10 obtain depth or seven
feet on this canal. A considerable portion OF the
canal is six feet. the remainder Of il is five feet
and five and one-half feet in depth. For three
miles south Of Whitehall there is six feet Of
water then Tor TWO miles II Is Only HNc I'ct ~
dtrth. For eleven miles between locks Nos. 10
and 16 It is only six feet in depth. From lock
No. IA TO lock No. 13. half Of II is less than SIX
feet in depth. From lock No ~ 20 lock No. - a
distance Of sixteen miles. about two-thirds Of
the distance had been improved IN alternate
sections TO six feet in depth before this improve
ment began. From lock No I 70 lock No. 30 the
depth was less than six feet. There are twenty
nine miles Of this Champain Canal under con-
tract for imDrot erncnt. WaSteWerS and Gull
verts must be improved on this canal to give an
average depth OF seven feet Of water. The con-
tracts not continuous. the idea was TO i'm
prove those portions Of the Ohamplaln Canal
which were in the worst condition. The con-
tracts from Waterford to lock No. s. and
then they skip from lock No. : 10 lock No. II,
with the exception Of the Fort Miller aqueduct."
What is the length OF the Oswego Canal?"
Inquired Mr. Blackmar.
at is 3S3 miles long" replied Mr.. Adams.
land extends from Syracuse TO Oswego It's
normal depth is seven feet There were
nine locks lengthened this canal before the
improvement work began. The miles under con-
tract for Improvement this canal 13.2i.
and there To be put under contract
twenty four miles. In miles the Champlain
there are twenty-five yet to be put under con-
tract and thirty-fve under contract"
The Canal Commission here took
until tomorrow. when the State Engineer Will
continue his testimony.
Chairman Clinton announced that the
Rneers of the Commission would make a per-
sonal inspection Of the entire canal improve
ment next week and that the Commissioners
will personally inspect certain parts Of the
work This will enable the Commissioners 10 get
a footing on which to work inteliigently. After
this has been accomplished the Investigation OF
the canal accounts and contracts Will begin.