Evening star., 1909-06-26
NOT RIVER BUT F|0RD
Tide in the Hudson Goes Up as
Far as Troy.
WONDER OF THE INDIANS
Declared That the Stream Flowed
Both Ways.
GREAT HEIGHT OF THE BANKS
Often Spoken of as the American
Rhine. But Is Far Superior in
Grandeur to German Waterway.
BY WILLIAM T.. CURTIS. /.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald


Chicago Record Herald.
NEW YORK, June %. 1909.
The Hudson river is remarkable in
several respects. In the first place it
is not a river, but ford. and for $50
miles between Troy and New York bay
the shore line is practically the same,
and the bottom, with the exception OF
a few islands. is below the level of
the sea The Indians spoke of the Hud-
son with wonder as river that flowed
both ways. and this is actually true. for
the tide rises at Albany two and eight
tenths feet and the current moves very
slowly upward and downward. accord
ing to the time of day, without regard
10 the inflow from the various feeders
from the mountains on either side and
the upper branches that find their
source among the forests of the Adiron-
dacks. This phenomenon is described
by Mr.. Wallace Bruce as follows:
THE tide in the aIudson river is the
continuation of the tide wave which
comes up from the ocean through New
momentum 100 miles, growing. of
course. constantly smaller until it is
finally stopped by the dam at Troy
The crest of the wave, or top nigh water
is ten hours going from New York TO
Troy steamer employing the same
time (ten hours) for the journey and
starting at high water from New York
would carry n flood tide and highest
water all the way and have an up-r1ver
current of about three miles an hour
helping her. On the other hand, the
same steamer. starting six hours later
or at low tide, would have dead low
water and an ebb tide current of about
three miles an hour against her the en-.
tire distance. The average rise and 1alt
of the tide in New York is five and one
half feet and in Troy about two feet.
John Burroughs. the famous natural
ist who has spent nearly all his life on
the Hudson. speaking on this same sub
ject. says: "The Hudson is a very large
river for its size--that is. for the guam
tity of water 1T discharges into the sea.
II is huge trough. with very slight
incline. through which the current
moves very slowly, and would be kept
full from the ocean If its supplies from
the mountains were cut off. Any OBJ
iect upon it drifting with the current
progresses southwark no more than
eight miles in twentyfour hours The
ehb tide will carry 1t about twelve m1les
and the food will set 1T back from seven
TO nine miles. drop or water al AZ.
bany, therefore. will be nearly three
weeks in reaching New York. so 1T VIII
get thoroughly picked some days
earlier"
Brackish Water at Poughkeepsie.
. The salt water does mot rise any
farther than Poughkeepsie. where there
IS q. brackish taste If you dip a drink
from the Hudson. and it becomes per-
fectly clear and sweet at Rockland,
where the big icehouses begin to ap-
pear on both banks and defsce the land
srapes in a most atrociOus manner.
Before the advent of Hendrix Hudson
an Indian in his canoe could start from
the ocean at New York harbor. and. with
two or three short portages reach the
ST Lawrence and follow that mighty
stream down to the Atlantic again: or, by
taking the Mohawk, with short carry
at Rome, could proceed down WOOD
creek, Oneida lake and the OsWego river
to Lake Ontario, and thence. either way,
to the ocean, or to the remotest regions
Of Lake Superior; and. with another
small portage. could cross the low divide
just west of Duluth and follow the Mis-
sissippi to the gulf This cruise can
be made even today, without the slight
est difficulty.
The geological history of the Hudson
has been said to be of as great interest
to the scientist as that of Palestine to
the theologian. Prof. Newberry says
that in preglacial times the Hudson
was a very rapid stream, much larger
than now, and drained the great lakes.
The ST. Lawrence also found It's way
through the channel of the present Mo-
hawk between the Palisades and emptied
into the Atlantic some eighty miles south
of Staten Island. This theory is con-
firmed by the soundings of the coast
survey, which discovered the original
bed of the Hudson on the floor of the
sea far out where the ocean Is 800
feet in depth. The bed of this great
stream, Prof. Newberry says, was orig
inally formed by great upiift and after
ward deepened by erosion.
Filling Up the Channel.
Opposite the city of New York, and
under the Palisades, the water is seven
ty-f1ve or eighty feet deep. In the mar
row places farther up stream it is also
very deep, but sometimes, when 1t spreads
out to width of five miles, it naturally
must be more shallow. and channels
have been dredged for steamers to reach
the docks of several of the towns upon
both banks. The federal government has
spent large amount of money in keep
ing channel of fourteen feet open as
far as Troy. 1t costs a good deal to
maintain it. and shipmasters complain
that the lower river is being gradually
ties of refuse from barges and canal
boats, and ashes from the furnaces of the
steamboats,. The worst offenders are said
to be the barge men who carry bricks
from the kilns on the upper shores of the
river to the city of New York On their
return trips they clean out their barges
and dump the broken brick and dust
overheard. From four to six hundred OF
these barges pass up and down the Hud-
son every twenty-four hours; hence you
can realize the amount of such rubbish
that is dumped into the river And the
worst harm done is to arrest the flow of
mud and natural silt that is brought
down with the rain floods from the noun