The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-14
EEWATER BOARD NOT BROKE
r,s yNOTGH MONEY ON HAND
FOR PRELIMINARY WORK.

nv me limo Metz Has the LeEiSlature's
ADprOvaI Of Long Term Bonds Matters
viii BE IN shape 20 Let Contracts
Tracing Odd Deeds In Ulster County.
Thu Board Of Water Supply has COM
49, a financial report which shows that
=. commission will not he delayed in It's
~-,.I,minary work Of pre- pairing for the
k.sngIna Of additional water supplies to
~ c,,v. even il Comptroller Metz Ii I'M
~ N sell the short term bonds provided
g. IN the act creating the commission.
IN Saturday last Mr.. Metz said that
.oausa Of the failure Of the last issue Of the
s~sntv wear water bonds he would not
s,,smpt 10 sell any more and added that
tha only remedy was to have the next session
"a Tho Legislature amend the act, extending
~. period OF the bonds 10 fifty years, the
- NJ the ordinary municipal bond. Mr..
SI.tz added that az he would be unable to
-. r,onev for the hoard until the act had
80 altered il would be necessary for the
.ommisslon to cease operations for several
months.
charles n. Chadwick, n OF the MEM
MRS Of the board, said yesterday that the
sntlook was not nearly so dark as Mr.. Metz
s.med TO think. The statement Of tho
S.sonvces OF the commissioners, he pointed
80 shovs that since jun IS, 1905, when the
Posrd was appointed, there has been re-
nsived from the sale Of bonds 81 ,o02 ,0CO;
and that after meeting all expenses and
nroydding for liabilities already incurred
r. board has a balance OF ts55, 793.
This sum, Mr.. Chadwick said, will allow
ahs hoard 10 90 ahead with all its prelimi-
Sary work, and by the time this is accom-
Slished the Legislature will be in session,
- It. - nop hn amand0d an IA In mAAt
fhe Comptroller's suggestions.
II was admitted by Mr.. Chadwick, how
aver. that the board would not be able to
ls, anv contracts for the construction OF the
water tunnel until the city was able to sell
acme Of the bonds to meet the Slol ,OOO,O0O
rxpenditure which it is estimated the prof.
ect will cost.
In explaining yesterday Just what work
A now being lone by the board, Mr.. Chad
wick said that surveys were being made
m the land which will have to be acquired
Tor the site of the big Ashokan reservoir
above Olive Bridge. Before the property
1rIrvevs can be made, the deeds OF the lar
owners have to be found and copied. Tn
1taff OF searchers has had many interesting
experiences in tracing the ownership OF the
nronerties needed by the board. In a re-
bort received yesterday by the board from
fhe chief of the staff of searchers, IL was
Raid that great difficulty was being found
IA tracing the legal ownership OF some OF
khe lands. The report said:
It is interesting to note that in some parts
NJ Ulster county the old Dutch family names
predominate and the percentage of foreign
born inhabitants is very small. A resident
n looked upon as a newcomer unless his
ancestors came into the country a century
or more ago. This was illustrated when one
resident, in speaking Of a neighbor. said
sWhy, he is a newcomer. ! remember when
bis grandfather settled here"
hpne tracts Of land are apparently without
owners, and others have doubtful claimants.
In these cases the money value OF the land
condemned can be deposited in trust by the
city until ownership is proved.
The engineers in their searches come
across old deeds. many OF which, though
quaint TO read. are far from amusing to run
out. One deed reads thence: n. W. so many
chains to a hickory sapling." which existed
In 1907. Another has "a chestnut stump.
rotten, so the deed says-1Oo years ago for
corner. Another reads thence, 10 chains
to the spook Kleft." which Is a large cleft
In q rocky clih. Another. is very considerable
Of his neighbor. for it reads thence along the
fence line as determined by my neiRhbor,
John Jones" Another Is generous. for it
specifies as one side Of the farm a good place
for building a fence"
A pile Of rocks IL a ~favorite corner. Many
deeds read az the needle pointed in 1890. &c..
y huo UukllEtIS hdNE W tAuNV ~ AhhAlC
Of the compass for many periods. One OF
the old deeds is very profane. for Ii says
thence along a coure 50 m any chains to
place called HELL" which turns out to be q
large swamp.
One Of the most interesting deeds yet dis
covered is that in possession OF Charles Har-
denbergh. Of the town Of Msrbletow n. Ulster
county. The land was decided to a great
ancestor OF MIR, Hardenbergh. he being q
lineal descendant Of old Johannes Harden
bergh. one of the earliest settlers in Ulster
county.
The deed IL dedicated to -all Christians
and other people" by the other people
probably meaning the Esopus Indians OF the
Algonquin tribe, related 10 the Six Nations
OF central New York. II was one OF the
laws Of the Dutch East India Company that
all land taken from the Indians should be paid
for. It was recorded, as noted on the back
OF the deed, in 1879 in the Book OF Indian
Deeds. which now has disappeared, TO the
Oraak 0rfaf nf Nha apVS,rarfana