The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 2

Author: Haddock, John A., b. 1823-
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Albany, N. Y., Weed-Parsons printing company
Number of Pages: 1098

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In Austria the conditions have been ag- gravated by an unsound financial system and by an effort to reform it, undertaken at an unfortunate time, and not as yet entirely successful. The connection of Russia with the rest of Europe is less intimate, and Russia might, perhaps, have profited some- what by the misfortunes of her neighbors at this time had she been in a condition to do so. But the disastrous failures of the crops in the preceding year, the resulting famine and the following pestilence, the burden of her own great military establishment, and various arbitrary regulations that have hampered her commercial enterprise, have made Russia also a great sufferer from " hard times." Further off still, in British India, an artificial stimulation of industrial enterprise, arrested by the collapse of a de- based monetary system, has plunged the people of that land into unusual distress.

Under such conditions England, the cen- tral clearing house of the world's business, could not escape the universal depression. Investments have failed in the East and in the West ; the wrecks left by the bursting of the South American bubble have not yet been cleared away ; trade has everywhere been lessened by the poverty of England's best customers, and the long strike of the coal miners paralyzed every branch of in-

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

dustry, and left nothing but poverty in its train. Alarmed by threatened naval su- premacy in the Mediterranean, England sees that her influence there can only be contin- ued by enormous expenditures for new ships-of-war.

The United States, closely united with England in finance and commerce, must under any circumstences have shared in the general depression of 1893. But with us there were special causes which converted mere " hard times " into what may be de- nominated a panic. The artificial stimula- tion of our industries prepared the way for the collapse that came with the farcical fail- ure of confidence in our national currency. In this country, more than in any other, the government has practically assumed not only the regulation of commerce, but a monopoly of the most important functions of banking, so that our commercial credit is more than elsewhere dependent upon the condition of the public treasury. The result of a gradual substitution of silver for gold as a basis of the national currency had long been foreseen, but the critical point was reached just when the general conditions throughout the world presented the most imminent danger, and at the time when the turning point was reached there ensued a needless panic more severe and far reaching than any which this generation at least has known, and from whose effects the country is just beginning to emerge.

Such is the record of 1893. Happily it is a record that we may now regard as closed, not merely because we shall write a new date in our books, but because the signs of revival are everywhere apparent. Here and there the silent factories are starting up again, not a few of them with the confes- sion that they are behind with their orders and must work hard to make up for lost time. The integrity of our currency is absolutely assured (indeed it should not have been questioned); the economic policy of the government is virtually decided - a policy that will stimulate industry and make pos- sible the wide extension of our commerce. There are difficulties remaining as the fruit of past mistakes, but they are not beyond the power of Congress and the people to correct with reasonable certainty and promptness.

The one thing needed in closing the ac- count of 1893 is that all true Americans should with it close the prejudices and par- tisan animosities that have contributed so much to increase the sufferings of the people, and come together with the new year in true devotion to our common national honor and prosperity. The country needs at such a time the honest help of every honest man, not so much to promote his private interests or personal views, but to build up mutual trust and a feeling of restful security. " Hard times" were never yet cured by bickering and scolding. If we but drop our minor differences and go forward with a genuine spirit of American loyalty and

courage, the gloomy record of 1893 will soon be forgotten.

LONDON, Jan. 3, 1894 .- In a review of English trade in 1893, the " Times " asserts that the year has been a more trying one than any in the decade. It recalls the lock- out of the Lancashire districts, the strike of the dock laborers at Hull, the lock-out on the Midland coal-fields and the attendant strikes in the coal-fields of South Wales and Scotland. All these dislocated trade, which was further disturbed by the long series of bank failures in Australia and the depression in American railway stocks, and by home- investment troubles. These depleted in- comes and forced economy upon a large number of English people. In addition, manufacturers and traders had to meet in- creasing foreign competition. The Kidder- minster carpet trade and the screw-making industry at Birmingham, as well as the Leicester shoe trade, have felt the effects of American competition, while the lace- makers at Nottingham have felt the com- petition of the continent. Sheffield has had to endure German competition in cutlery, the Yorkshire woolen trade felt the effects of the American financial crisis as well as the wide-spread industrial depression at home, and English steel-makers have suf- fered from the effects of over-production.

Since the lock-out terminated, in the spring, the Lancashire cotton trade has been benefited by cheap supplies of raw material and by a good and steady demand from India. The lock-out and the silver troubles have, however, absorbed the ad- vantages enjoyed during the latter part of 1893 by the cotton trade. On the other hand, the building and engineering trades have been in a generally satisfactory condi- tion, and the silverware industry at Shef- field has received a fillip by the fall in the price of silver.

The inherent conditions of trade have been generally sound, and remain so. What is now lacking is confidence and stability of affairs abroad. In America, affairs are clearing, and there is likely to be a revival of trade. If uncertainty in Brazil and Ar- gentina were removed, the deferred ship- ments to those countries would stimulate industry in England. The Indian financial situation may be the retarding element, and remain so until the price of silver becomes more specific. With abundant supplies of raw materials at almost bottom prices, and a steadily enlarging demand, the prospect for 1894 is more promising than was the prospect for 1893. The cycle of depression which followed the Baring collapse in 1890, is now showing signs of exhaustion.

With these articles before him, the his- torical student of the next hundred years will be able to get a fair idea of the condi- tion of the commercial and financial world on the 1st of January, 1894, when our record ends.

J. A. H.

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

THE WATERWAYS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.

BY HON. LOTUS INGALLS.

Commencing on the north side of the county, the Indian river first attacts the ob- server's attention. Rising in Lewis county, easterly of Natural Bridge in Wilna, it enters Jefferson county at the Bridge, cross- ing a corner of the town, and again enters Lewis county for a distance of 10 or 12 miles, and re-enters Jefferson in the town of Wilna near the Antwerp line - through which town it runs in a very crooked man- ner, making several large bends - as if heading for the St. Lawrence; but, correct- ing itself, concludes to water more country by turning westward for a distance, then southward - making an immense bow. Entering the town of Philadelphia on its northern border, it crosses the town south- westerly, enters the town of LeRay in the same direction, evidently inclining towards the valley of Black river, but again chang- ing its purpose when within a mile of Evans Mills, it turns abruptly on its heel and re- traces its course northward, entering the town of Theresa on a northward by western trend, serving as outlet for several small lakes in its course - finally emptying_its darkish waters into the Oswegatchie. The color of the waters of all these rivers that rise in the Adirondack region, is of a brown- ish cast, but soft, and classed by chemists as among the very best. The junction of the Indian and the Oswegatchie is not far from where they find their final resting place in the mighty St Lawrence.

The Indian river has a good fall at Natural Bridge, a moderate one at Sterlingbush, one at Antwerp village, also one at Philadelphia, another two miles above Theresa, and two more (one of them of over 50 feet) at Theresa village -- affording good mill privileges at all these points. But in dry summers and in long, severe winters, the water supply is not adequate to the demands upon it for continuous work. Below Theresa village the river is navigable for steamers of light draught, and such are used there for busi- ness as well as pleasure. Maskolunge are caught in the river and lakes below the high falls, and mullet and suckers at the time of spring freshets. Bullheads and suckers are abundant above the high falls. The river has several tributaries, but they are scarcely entitled to historical mention, except as they serve the important uses of agriculture.

BLACK RIVER. - This is the most important stream of the county, and gave its generic name to this region of thecountry. It rises in the Adirondacks, northeast of Boonville, and after reaching Jefferson county runs rather directly and centrally through it from east to west, though the territory of the county is larger north of the river than south of it.

Between Carthage, just above which im- portant village this river enters the county, and Dexter, below which it enters the ex- treme northeastern end of Lake Ontario, Black river falls 480 feet, and is an almost continuous series of rapids, with several precipitous falls, varying from 2 to 15 feet in height, affording about 25 miles of con- tinuous water power of rare excellence and usefulness. The bed and banks of the river are of limestone, affording firm foundations for dams and manufactories.

Black River Bay, into which the river discharges its waters, is accounted the finest and safest harbor on Lake Ontario, not sur- passed by any on the entire chain of water- ways between Sackets Harbor and Duluth on Lake Superior. The harbor is absolutely safe from heavy winds, being completely land-locked, and covers an area of 60 square miles, with a depth of water sufficient to float large steamers or sailing craft. It was this depth of water that led the government to build (at Sackets Harbor) the 110-gun frigate, the "New Orleans," near the close of the war of 1812 with England. This ship was never launched, but would have been had the war continued another year.

The waters of Black river are dark and soft. Its principal tributaries are the Bea- ver, Moose and Deer rivers, receiving, of course, many lesser streams on its way to the lake. Many of the lakes of the Adiron- dack region find outlets into the head waters of Black river or some of its main tribu- taries. It is not a stream in which fish are plentiful-even the proverbial "oldest in- habitant" can scarcely recall the day on which he saw anybody fishing in its waters. But it is said there are more fish in it now than formerly. Black River Bay, however, at certain seasons of the year, furnishes ample supplies of pike and pickerel.

BLACK RIVER FLOODS. - Like most large streams this river is more or less subject to floods. It usually has two stages of high water in the spring - the first occurring when the early spring thaw dissolves the snows on the low lands and the cleared fields in its valley; and the second flood is due two to three weeks later, when still warmer weather melts the deep snows on the higher wooded ranges of the Adirondacks, where the river and its main tributaries have their rise. Out of one of these floods grew a memorable law suit between the mill and factory owners on Black river and the State of New York.

THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1869. - This was an occurrence of more than passing interest, happening on the lower part of the river on the morning of April 22, 1869. It was oc- casioned by the breaking away of the For-

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

estport dam, built by the State in creating a great reservoir to supply the lack of water in a dry time; but more especially to make up for the water diverted by the State from Black river to supply the canal of that name and feed the 60-mile level on the Erie canal from the "Feeder," which enters that canal at Rome. This greatest of floods ever known here, damaged to a greater or less degree nearly every mill owner on the stream from Forestport to Dexter, of whom there were over 300 in number. The cir- cumstances were peculiar; there was the usual spring flood prevailing at the time, which had reached its climax on the 21st of April, and had begun to recede, when sud- denly (in the night of the 21st, at Lyons Falls, and in the early morning at Water- town), the water rose prodigiously and with great rapidity. The water was high from the natural causes when the Forestport dam gave way. between 4 and 5 P. M. on the 21st, and that fact gave occasion for the State to excuse itself from paying damage, on the plea that it was providential; holding tena- cionsly to the questionable allegation that the mischief could not have been dne to the water from the reservoir, for after the dam gave way there was not time enough for that deluge to have reached Carthage, Great Bend, Felts Mills, Black River, Watertown, Brownville and Dexter, soon enough to in- flict the damage at the several hours and places it was claimed to have been done. This point proved to be the chief contention in the numerous suits brought against the State for damages. The plea of the State was that it was not possible for the waters of the reservoir to pass down the rapids ahove Lyons Falls, then through the 37-mile level to Carthage, and thence on to Water- town, in 12 or 14 hours-between 4 to 5 P. M. of April 21st, at the Forestport dam, and 5 to 8 o'clock the next morning at Water- town. This was at first rather a stunning plea to the complainants. But where else could the water have come from ? The nor- mal flood had reached its climax and hegan to recede, when suddenly there came a rise of 8 to 10 feet in the briefest period, like a tidal wave, and with herculean force.

The books upon hydraulics and hydrosta- tics were appealed to, and they solved the conundrum readily. Expert testimony was then introduced to show that the rise of water at Carthage (the lower end of the 37- mile level) was much quicker than if it had traversed that distance in the usual way- establishing the fact that the rise at Car- thage was by what they denominated a " wave of translation," which would inevi- tably soon occur on there falling into the upper end of the level 12,000,000 tons of water. It was estimated that 600,000,000 cubic feet of water poured over Lyons Falls into the upper end of that long level within the space of two hours. This enormons weight must mechanically make room for itself somewhere, and it could only do that

by pressing the whole unbroken body of water below it (in the channel of the river) further down stream, as that was the direc- tion of least resistance-very much as if the river bed were a huge pipe thirty- seven miles long. The river, again, was likened to an open trough filled with water; pouring water into it at one end would raise it at the other end instantly without the added water flowing through the mass. Witnesses vari- ously described it as a "wave of transla- tion " and as an "impulse," something like a passage of slow electricity. One witness testified that the pouring in of such a body of water at the upper end of the level in so brief a time would cause the water to level up at the lower end long before the added water could flow to that point. This extra water would make a river twenty-five miles long, 500 feet wide, and six feet deep, hav- ing a weight of 12,000,000 tons. The ex- perience of eminent engineers and the dicta of the text-books successfully established the genuineness of the theory that the volume of water pouring into the upper end of the level was a force of herculean energy con- tinuously applied, and when the pulsation or " wave of translation," reached the end of the level at Carthage, it would be kept up as long as the force was applied, which would be until the reservoir had emptied itself.

SOME STRANGE DECISIONS. - The taking of testimony in these important cases, and the interesting incidents at the trial, ran through two years. Elijah Brooks, Beman Brock way and William Wasson were the canal appraisers, who rendered a decision only the day before some of their terms ex- pired. This gave occasion for the State to ask for a new trial before new appraisers, which request the Legislature granted, and so the cases were tried before a new board. Their decision demonstrated to the public, " the glorious uncertainties of law"- for some of the sufferers, with mills on opposite sides of the same finme, and the damage done in the same hour, were denied the right to recover, while neighbors on the other side of the flume, were awarded dam- ages. This was the case as between Knowl- ton Bros. and Gilderoy Lord, located oppo- site each other (at Watertown)-the former recovering, while the latter got nothing. At Brownville, three men owned each a part of the same continuons flume. It was carried away bodily. One of these men re- ceived damages, but the other two were defeated.

In justification of such apparent incon- sistencies, the appraisers are said to have found that the normal flood, just passing its climax, tore away the end of the Coburn dam at Carthage, setting free the waters of the level above, and that those waters did the earlier damage below Carthage; while the breaking of the Forestport dam and the rush of the reservoir waters did not reach

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

the lower part of the river until an hour or two later - holding that the State was not liable for damage done by the flood which followed the breaking of the Carthage dam, but might be for that caused by the burst- ing of the Forestport dam. This is given by them as an explanation of the very strange and apparently inconsistent decis- ions they made. But the " vulgar " public is prone to believe that these commissioners were not above Lord Bacon in resisting temptation, and that peculiar influences modified their decision.

The amount of damages claimed by more than 300 suitors, aggregated nearly $800,000 and the amount awarded was not far from $450,000, scattered from Forestport to Dex- ter. It must have cost the State not far from $600,000 for having a political super- intendent, who resided twenty-five miles away from his post of duty-for if he had resided near the Forestport dam and hoisted the waste-gates in season, no damage would have resulted.

It appears to the editor of this History that if the counsel for the complainants had also alluded to the incompressibility of water, they could have made their conten- tion more readily comprehended. This me- chanical quality of water is none too well understood. You can compress (make smaller) iron or any other metal in a nor- mal condition, but water, a fluid, limpid, simple substance, declines to shrink in size in the least degree under the heaviest pres- sure.

In this connection we may mention that a serious earthquaking disturbance under the sea near Callao, in Chili, produced a tidal wave that was observed at San Fran- cisco (over 2,500 miles distant) within three hours.

A SUBLIME SIGHT .- This great flood will long be remembered by the inhabitants of the river regions. Thousands of people flocked to the banks of Black river on the forenoon of April 22d, to gaze upon the sub- lime spectacle. One of the most imposing sights of the many presented by that raging flood was to be seen between the Knowl- tons' paper-mill and Lord's factory, where a volume of water like an improvised Niag- ara poured through, half as high as the buildings. It was curious how it walled it- self up in such a way, explainable only by the velocity of the current and the tremen- dous force behind it. It was an inspiring and a thrilling sight, not soon effaced from the beholder's memory. But Black river, when left unvexed by abnormal interfer- ence, has ever been a blessing to the people of its vicinage, and in spite of the State's deliberate robbery of its water, still brings healthful prosperity to the central part of the county, where her power has been har- nessed to the varied machines that lighten yet greatly magnify man's intelligent labors

and so developed industries, thrift and wealth among an intelligent and prosperous people, who surely join us in the wish that her volume may never be less.

SANDY CREEK. - The next important stream, as we pass southward, is Sandy Creek. sometimes called the Big Sandy, though it is not very large in a dry time. The bed of the stream is broad enough for a much larger volume of water. This creek rises in the south part of the town of Champion, two brooks uniting there to form the Sandy. Its first waterfall is at Tylerville (or South Rutland, as the post- office there is named). A grist-mill and saw-mill were erected here in the early days, and are yet used to do the work of that vicinity. Thence this stream flows southwesterly through Rodman, Adams and Ellisburgh, emptying into Lake Ontario at Woodville. Its utilized falls are at Tyler- ville, Whitesville (otherwise known as East * Rodman), at Zoar (or Unionville), at Rod- man village, Adams, Belleville and Wood- ville - making a serviceable stream for the people of its neighborhood, especially in the spring and fall, when an abundant supply of water for milling purpose courses down its rocky bed. The land bordering on Sandy creek is very fertile and productive, constituting some of the best farni lands in Jefferson county. The people along its banks are prosperous much above the average.

SOUTH SANDY CREEK .- This is the princi- pal water course in the extreme south part of the county, passing through the towns of Worth, Lorraine, and centrally through the large and wealthy town of Elisburgh, and empties into Lake Ontario, and into the same bay as Sandy Creek - hence it is sometimes called the South Branch of Sandy Creek, though both streams are of nearly the same size.

This stream has some romantic gorges. It has cut its channel through the soft slate rock of its upper region, from 100 to 200 feet in depth, with a valley from 4 to 10 rods wide. The bottom lands, and sometimes the adjacent sides of the bluffs, are grown up to timber, or have been cleared and sown to grass for pasturage or culture. Across these bottom lands the stream has cut a zig-zag channel from bluff to bluff, causing a per- pendicular cliff of quite imposing grandeur where it strikes the banks - illustrating, in a smaller way, that erosive action of water ways so magnificently manifest in the cañons of the Yellowstone in the great National Park of Colorado.

The South Sandy rises in the wooded region easterly from the town of Worth, re- ceiving several tributaries in its descent to the lake. It has but few mill privileges, for in the summer and winter seasons the creek maintains only a small flow.

Other streams in Jefferson county are Chaumont river, Perch river, both slow

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

streams or estuaries : Stony creek in Hen- derson, and Mill creek in Houndsfield. The " Gulf Stream " in Rodman (a tributary to Sandy creek), celebrated for its deep gorges, has cut through the shale rock froni 50 to 200 feet in depth. Jefferson county abounds in small streams, some of them containing trout (notably Cold creek in Watertown), and as many springs, which have proved very serviceable to farmers in watering stock and for dairying purposes, and have been an important factor in maintaining the superior reputation of the butter and cheese marketed from Jefferson.

One spring, in particular, is worthy of mention. Bursting from a hillside on the Cooper farm, in Le Ray, it discharges at least 1,000 gallons of the clearest cold water each hour, summer and winter, and un- doubtedly much enhances the value of the farm on which it is developed.

So far as the writer is informed, the largest medicinal spring in the county is the sulphur spring in the town of Hounds- field, 5 miles east of Sackets Harbor. The water is beautifully clear, and strongly inpregnated with sulphur, proving a great regulator to the secretions of the sys- tem. It is peculiar in this : when boiled, the sulphur taste and odor entirely disap-

pear. The Haddock family, on whose sandy farm this spring was located, used the water for many years in cooking.

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The growth of a century: as illustrated in the history of Jefferson county, New York, from 1793-1894, Part 2

Author: Haddock, John A., b. 1823- Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Albany, N. Y., Weed-Parsons printing company Number of Pages: 1098

Author: Haddock, John A., b. 1823-
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Albany, N. Y., Weed-Parsons printing company
Number of Pages: 1098