IRVINGTON SMI Siffl; 
AN EXAMINATION 
AS TO LOCAL CAUSES OF FEVER AND AGUE ON THE 
EAST BANK OF THE HUDSON RIVER FROM 
DOBBS' FERRY TO TARRYTOWN, 
WITH 
RECOMMENDATIONS EOR IMPROVEMENT. 
by \ r 
GEO. E. Tr„ 
Consulting Engineer. 
Illustrated by a Topographical Sketch Map, 
By E. C. METCALF, 
Assistant. 
ALSO, 
SnecestioDS for the Sewaje of Irviogtoo Village. 
Ukw ^Jorh. 
1879. IRVINGTON SANITARY SURVEY. 
Cyrus W. Field, Esq., President, 
Dear Sir: 
I submit, herewith, a final report concerning the district 
with whose examination I have been entrusted, and a map 
showing such of its features as seem to me to have a bearing 
on its sanitary condition. This map is based upon one pub- 
lished by M. Dripps, which is a collation of surveys 
made by Messrs. Ward, Carpenter & Son, Tarrytown. Its 
general measurements are assumed to be correct; but the 
various topographical features here introduced are to be 
regarded only as a careful sketch, not as a survey founded 
on actual measurements. It is sufficiently accurate to serve 
the purpose of a minute memorandum, which is its only 
object. 
I republish, herewith, parts of my preliminary report, 
made after a hasty examination in June. 
PRELIMINARY REPORT. 
My observations were made chiefly with reference to fever and 
ague malaria. It must be stated at the outset that we are practically 
without knowledge as to the causation of this disease. There are, 
however, grounds for adopting a somewhat definite theory about it. 
It seems clear that, to a certain extent, the disease, which may 
originate in specially unhealthful places, propagates itself slowly 
through human agency. It is a well-kuown fact that it has gradu- 
ally spread from its earlier centers, and extended for a long distance 
into districts where it was previously unknown. Instances of this 
are too well known to need recounting. 
In like manner, districts where the disease formerly prevailed, and 
where it had originated spontaneously, have, by drainage, been made II 
perfectly healthy. For example, the fens of Lincolnshire, in En- 
gland, and marshy districts along the lower Thames, were formerly 
greatly scourged with fever and ague, and with malarial neuralgia- 
The extensive drainage operations carried on in these districts have 
had the effect of removing these ailments entirely from wide districts 
where they had formerly prevailed with the greatest severity. 
The investigations thus far made lead to the following belief con- 
cerning the point which chiefly interests you and your neighbors : 
assuming that fever and ague is indigenous, or that it has been 
brought to a locality by the movement of population, it seems clear 
that it propagates itself only under the influence of certain conditions 
of atmosphere wfliich are produced by undue soil moisture, by the 
excessive decomposition of vegetable matter, and by the stagnation of 
the air caused by dense planting and the absence of sunlight. 
Assuming, as I believe one may safely do, that fever and ague is 
not indigenous in the Irvington neighborhood, but has been brought 
to it, so far as it exists there, by the importation of cases of the dis. 
ease, we have to look for such local conditions as would foster it and 
lead to its reproduction and localization. 
So far as my examination warrants me in forming an opinion, I 
should say that there do exist, more or less throughout the whole 
district examined, sufficient resting places for the infection, associated 
with conditions which would naturally lead to its propagation. I 
think it may be safely assumed that a detailed examination of the 
ground would lead to the discovery of these unfavorable spots, and 
that it is possible to remove them. At the same time, it must be 
understood that this opinion is not based on positive knowledge, for 
such knowledge does not exist. All that it is safe to say is, that, 
judging from the previous experience of the world, proper efforts 
would, in all probability, result successfully. 
There are two leading items which have influence on this question: 
Drainage and Ventilation. 
Drain age. -Except along the river, and about certain ponds, some 
distance east from Broadway, there are few especially wet areas, but 
there are very many points where small bits of ground are too wet, 
and these are quite frequently so shaded from the sun as to be more 
than suspicious. Also, the prevailing passion for ponds, which often 
follow each other in quick succession along the lines of the brooks, 
is not without its bad influence. These ponds are often much too high 
with reference to the surface of the ground adjoining them ; they 
are subject to become filled with silt and leaves ; they are not always 
well supplied with fresh water, but are frequently fed with water 
from swamps about which it would be unsafe to live ; and the brooks 
supplying them receive a good deal of organic matter in the form of 
leaves, etc.; in addition to all this, the filtration from these ponds is 
sometimes a source of a springy condition of the ground lying below 
them. III 
There are still some small areas and some large ones which, in the 
interest of the whole neighborhood, ought to be thoroughly drained. 
I judge that about one-half, or nearly that of the whole shore from 
Tarrytown to Dobb's Ferry is swampy for a greater or less width, the 
small bays cut off by the railroad being imperfectly drained, receiv- 
ing much water from the upland, being subject to the rise and fall of 
the tide, and often having considerable stretches of their bottom entire^ 
ly uncovered. 
All of these conditions are unfavorable. 
Ventilation.-Perhaps ventilation is not precisely the word to 
express what is here meant, except in the sense that what is needed 
is an abundant supply of fresh air and sunlight. The decomposition 
of organic matter in or upon a damp soil takes on a very different 
character, according as it is freely exposed to the circulation of air 
and to the sun's heat, or is covered either by water, by fallen leaves, 
by underbrush, by dense planting or by anything which may seclude 
it from the most active oxidizing influences. 
It is an old but mistaken idea that it is hard to grow a tree and 
easy to cut one down. The reverse of this proposition is nearer the 
truth. Wherever prosperous humanity establishes itself, there seems 
to spring up, as if by magic, a cloud of leafage and a dense growth 
of all manner of arborescent vegetation, while every appeal, having 
for its purpose the restraining of this ground-cumbering growth, 
is met by the most persistent opposition. Not only will trees and 
bushes and shrubs multiply and shut out acres upon acres from the 
sun's rays and turn aside every breath of air, but the trees and bushes 
and shrubs accumulate until they destroy each other's beauty to that 
degree that plantations fifty years old have generally lost their dis- 
tinctive and picturesque character, and become a mass of cramped 
forest trees, without lower branches, or shrubberies in which no in- 
dividual plants can be seen ;-only a mass of uninterrupted surface 
leafage. Any one who will examine a country seat, which was noted 
for its fine planting fifty years ago, will find that unless it was especi- 
ally fortunate in having a skillful landscape gardener for its owner, 
it has lost its landscape beauty and has become more like a bit of 
primeval forest with bits of neglected undergrowth. 
With due deference to one's present fondness for ample planting, 
and to the general disposition not to sacrifice this year's beauty for 
next year's gain, I must say that, in my judgment, at least, one-half 
of the problem in question might be solved by a rigorous and vigor- 
ous use of the axe. I believe, too, that if this were judiciously 
done, not only the future, but the present, beauty of the whole region 
would be as much improved as would its healthfulness. 
If a further examination is made, it would be important to ex- 
amine the condition of the land immediately above the aqueduct, to 
determine the extent to which water from the lands up the hill is IV 
held back. It would also be well to inspect the upper part of Sunny- 
side brook. 
Incidental to the foregoing, is the general question of the sanitary 
drainage of the more thickly settled parts of Tarrytown, Irvington 
and Dobbs' Ferry. Unquestionably, those villages are generally sub- 
ject to the same sort of objections which prevail in villages through- 
out the country, and, to a certain extent, any effort to improve 
them in this respect would have a tendency to lessen any liability to 
fever and ague that may exist. 
The chief purpose of such drainage, however, would relate to the 
reduction of typhoid fever, diphtheria and other zymotic diseases. 
This is somewhat apart from the immediate question at hand, but it 
is a promising field for investigation. 
In addition to the conclusions set forth in the above, 
it seems desirable also to state the general considerations or 
theories upon which my recommendations for improve- 
ments are based, and to give somewhat fully the 
basis of my belief that the execution of the work herein 
recommended, in its entirety, together with such local 
treatment as may be required on individual places, will 
result in the removal of any existing local malarial con- 
ditions. It will not prevent such occasional cases as may 
result from the breaking up of any considerable amount 
of land-in the construction of roads, the alteration of 
grades, etc. Probably all districts which have once suf- 
fered from fever and ague, will always, no matter what 
their improvement may be, be subject to temporary out- 
breaks as the result of extensive disturbances of the soil. 
I have observed, since the beginning of the discussion 
concerning this work, a curious confusion of ideas as to 
the cause of malaria and the means for its prevention. 
In this case, as in others of an occult nature, the 
positiveness with which opinions are expressed and criti- 
cisms made, seems to be in inverse ratio to the possession 
of knowledge on the subject. More than once, ex-cathedra 
statements have been advanced by members of the medi- 
cal profession with a confidence that' should result only 
from knowledge which nowhere exists. 
For more than two thousand years, malarial diseases V 
have been known, and probably studied and discussed. 
The outcome of it all is, that at the present day we know 
absolutely nothing whatever about their ultimate origin, 
We have theories and speculation and well-founded 
hypotheses. Observations of conditions which have ex- 
isted and of effects which have coincided with them, as 
well as of ameliorations which have coincided with the 
change of conditions, lead to the belief that the removal 
of what we consider the causes will result in the removal 
of the effect. This much seems sufficiently reliable to 
justify the effort, in any case like the present, to remove 
the probable sources of malaria. Perhaps it would be safe 
to go farther and say that while we cannot recognize the 
manner in which the cause of the disease operates, nor 
the manner in which this cause is generated, nor, indeed, 
what the cause is, we do know by observation that it is 
very generally an accompaniment of certain conditions 
which, so far as the soil is concerned, we have it in our 
power to remove. 
Dr. Bartlett, in his work on the fevers of the United 
States, says : " The essential efficient producing cause of 
periodical fever-the poison whose action on the system 
gives rise to the disease-is a substance or agent which has 
received the name of malaria or marsh miasm,. The 
nature and composition of this poison are wholly unknown 
to us.. Like most other analagous agents, like the conta- 
gious principles of small-pox and of typhus, and like the 
epidemic poison of scarlatina and cholera, they are too 
subtle to be recognised by any of our senses, they are too 
fugitive to be caught by any of our contrivances. 
********* 
" Inscrutable, however, as the intimate nature of the 
substance or agent may be, there are some few of its 
laws and relations which are very well ascertained. One 
of these consists in its connection with low or wet or 
marshy localities. This connection is not invariable and 
exclusive ; that is, there are marshy localities which are VI 
not malarious, and there are malarious localities which are 
not marshy, but there is no doubt whatever that it gener 
ally exists." 
The best general statement of the case is that made by 
Dr. Metcalf in his report to the United States Sanitary 
Commission. He says that all hypotheses, even the most 
plausible are entirely unsupported by positive knowledge ; 
and continues: 
" This confession of ignorance still leaves us in posses- 
sion of certain knowledge concerning malaria from which 
much practical good may be derived. 
" 1st. It affects by preference low and moist localities. 
" 2d. It is almost never developed at a lower tempera- 
ture than sixty degrees Farenheit. 
" 3d. Its evolution or active agency is checked by a 
temperature of 32 degrees. 
" 4th. It is most abundant and most virulent as we ap- 
proach the equator and the sea coast. 
" 5th. It has an affinity for dense foliage, which has the 
power of accumulating it when lying in the course of 
winds blowing from malarious localities. 
" 6th. Forests or even woods have the power of ob- 
structing and preventing its transmission under these cir- 
cumstances. 
" 7th. By atmospheric currents it is capable of being 
transported to considerable distances-probably as far as 
five miles. 
"8th. It maybe developed in previously healthy places 
by turning up the soil, as in making excavations for foun- 
dations of houses, tracks for railroads, and beds for canals. 
" 9th. In certain cases it seems to be attracted and ab- 
sorbed by bodies of water lying in the course of such 
winds as waft it from the miasmatic source. 
" 10th. Experience alone can enable us to decide as to 
the presence or absence of malaria in any given locality. 
Dr. Chadwick says: " In considering the circumstances, 
external to the residence, which affect the sanitary con- VII 
dition of the population, the importance of a general land 
drainage is developed by the inquiries as to the cause of 
the prevalent disease to be of a magnitude of which no 
conception had been formed at the commencement of the 
investigation. Its importance is manifested by the severe 
consequences of its neglect in every part of the country, 
as well as by its advantages in the increasing salubrity 
and productiveness wherever the drainage has been skill- 
ful and effectual." 
La Roche calls attention to the fact that "deposits of 
organic matter which are entirely covered with water (as 
at the bottom of a pond) are not productive of malaria; 
that this condition of saturation is infinitely preferable to 
imperfect drainage. That swamps which are shaded from 
the sun's heat by trees are not supposed to produce dis- 
ease ; and that marshes which are exposed to constant 
winds are not especially deleterious to persons living in 
their immediate vicinity." 
Dr. Whitley closes his report to the Board of Health 
of Great Britain, 1864. " It would appear from the fore- 
going inquiry that intermittent and remittent fevers and 
their consequences, can no longer be regarded as seriously 
affecting the health of the population in many of the dis- 
tricts in which those diseases were formerly of a formida- 
ble character. Thus in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Cam- 
bridgeshire, counties in which these diseases were both 
frequent and severe, all the evidence except that furn- 
ished by the Peterborough Infirmary, and in a somewhat 
less degree in Spaulding, tends to show that they are at 
the present time comparatively rare and mild in form." 
He makes the admission as regards England generally 
that " the diseases which have been made the subject of 
the present inquiry have been steadily decreasing, both in 
frequency and severity for several years, and this decrease 
is attributed in nearly every case mainly to one cause, im- 
proved land drainage. 
Colin, Contes Rendus, volume 77, page 1,075, says: that VIII 
if vegetable decomposition were the only cause of malaria 
its severe appearance would not be postponed until July, 
because already in June, vegetable decomposition is gen- 
erally sufficient to produce offensive odors; that however 
foul swamp or pond water may be, the danger is less than 
after the water has disappeared leaving the soil bare ; and 
that the drinking of swamp water has no specific action in 
producing malarial diseases. It is only a cause banale 
which diminishes the power of resisting morbid influences. 
Dr. J. J. Woodward, Camp Diseases, referring to a state- 
ment of Dr. Watson, King's College, London, that " vege- 
table decomposition, although coinciding with the appear- 
ance of malaria, has no necessary genetic relation with 
it" says, that in any case, so far as the United States are 
concerned, vegetable decomposition "is one of the most 
important of the determining conditions." 
Parke, in his Manual of Practical Hygiene, Second Edi- 
tion, page 207, says that alluvial soils are worse than 
peaty soils, and that while the regular overflowing of 
land with salt water seems to be a source of safety, the 
occasional invasion of salt water, or its admixture with 
fresh water overflows, is pernicious and aggravates all the 
malarial conditions. He also says: 
"Vegetation produces also a great effect on the move- 
ment of air; its velocity is checked, and sometimes in thick 
clusters of trees, or underwood, the air is almost stagnant, 
and if moist and decaying vegetation be a concordant con- 
dition of such stagnation, the most fatal forms of malari- 
ous diseases are produced. Vegetation may thus do harm 
by obstructing the movement of air. On the other hand 
it may guard against currents of impure air; the protec- 
tive influence of a belt of trees is most striking. 
* * * * Brushwood is almost always bad and 
should be removed. Trees should be removed with judg- 
ment. A decided pernicious interference with the move- 
ment of air should be almost the only reason for remov. 
ing them." IX 
Professor Dunglison says : " Our knowledge of all this 
matter seems to be limited to the fact that in particular 
climates and under certain unknown and inappreciable 
circumstances, the bottoms of our stagnant pools, mill 
ponds, marshes, etc., become miasmatic-a knowledge 
which we acquire by lamentable experience, and by that 
alone." 
Referring to the prevalence of malaria along the shores 
of the Mediterranean, Dr. Johnson, Editor of the British 
Medical Review, says : " Ever since the days of Sir John 
Pringle, indeed, it has been admitted that the admixture 
of salt water with fresh, augments the disposition to the 
putrefactive process, both in animaland vegetable matter." 
Referring to the influence of the malarial agent when 
carried a long distance by wind, and, of course, greatly 
diluted, Macculloch says : " If the produce of 100 acres, 
more or less, can, in dilution of one thousand to ten thou - 
sand times, excite diseases, then must, in the inverse ratio, 
the produce of the thousandth, or the ten thousandth 
portion of that space be capable of producing the same 
effect." Also: 
" The amount of the organic matter acted on by moisture 
in the soil may be so diffused as to present at no point 
a marshy appearance, while at the same time the health 
of the whole neighborhood may suffer without an adequate 
appreciation of the cause." 
Concerning the period of the year at which works may 
be most safely executed, I quote the following from Dr. 
Macy's excellent lecture on Malaria : " On Paint Creek, 
in Ohio, a mill pond was generally drained on the first of 
June, and the rains of that month washed away the mud, 
etc., accumulated during the year. So long as this was 
done early in the season, and the dam immediately re- 
built, no serious results seemed to follow, and the inhabi- 
tants of Washington, the adjoining village, suffered but 
little from intermittents. One season, however, the drain- 
ing was postponed until July, and no rains followed to X 
wash out the basin; there immediately followed an epi- 
demic of autumnal fever which prevailed most on the side 
of the village next the pond. More than one-fourth part 
of the inhabitants suffered direct attacks from this epi- 
demic, and about three per cent, of the entire population 
died of the fever." 
One might continue to cite authorities almost endlessly. 
The foregoing seem sufficient to indicate the chief facts 
upon which our theories are based, and to indicate how 
far we are from the possession of absolute knowledge 
concerning this subject. 
It is proper that I should formulate the hypothesis 
upon which I have based the following recommendation. 
My belief is as follows: 
That the invasion of salt water to low lands along the 
river leads to an aggravation of the marsh miasm produced 
therein. 
That accumulations of organic matter along the course 
of running streams, whether caused by slight obstructions 
of the channel, or by dams, may be decidedly deleterious. 
That no body of water, large or small, may safely be 
retained, of which the level is subject to variation, for the 
reason that this variation exposes to the air the organic 
matter deposited along the water's edge, and generally in 
a state of saturation. 
That while this is emphatically true concerning the 
actual exposure of organic deposits, it is relatively true 
with regard to deposits covered by so little water as to 
bring them within the influence of the sun's rays. 
That even the obvious wetting of the ground by 
springs, by the exuding of water through the banks or 
dams of ponds, or by the too great width of the bottom of 
the ravine over which a brook runs, may be injurious. 
That the accumulation of leaves, branches of trees, etc., 
in shaded spots may lead to danger. 
That the stagnation of air is even worse than the stag- 
nation of water, for the reason that the stagnant air / FIV/NGT'ON 
SAN/rAFtY SUAAEA 
1878 XI 
is generally accompanied by the presence of decomposing 
organic matter, which is sufficiently damp for the worst 
results. 
That while the heat of the sun may be a source of 
evil in the case of the saturated edges of a pond, and of 
accumulations of decomposing matter under shallow 
water, its influence upon the surface of dry ground can 
only be beneficial. 
That drainage should in all cases be so complete that 
there can be no water of saturation in the soil nearer than 
two feet from the surface, except immediately after heavy 
rains. 
On one point set forth in my preliminary report I find 
myself at variance with the authorities, i. e., that fever 
and ague may propagate itself through human agency. 
My reasons for holding to this theory are that, long after all 
work of construction had been completed the disease has 
followed along the lines of railroads, with a development 
somewhat proportionate to the frequency of personal com- 
munication, and that almost universally it first appears in 
a new neighborhood in a very sporadic way, and gradually 
becomes intensified, until after a few years it takes on an 
epidemic character. 
Dr. Henry Bronson, in his admirable " History of Inter- 
mittent Fever in the New Haven Region," communicated 
to the Connecticut Medical Society at its Annual Con- 
vention of 1872, shows that a gradual spread of the dis- 
ease from the sites of scattered cases was general, if not 
universal, in the country examined by him. The follow- 
ing expressions, quoted from this paper, indicate condi- 
tions everywhere prevailing: 
" It was not only more concentrated in its early seats, 
but its power of locomotion was greatly increased." 
" It could not climb West Rock or Mt. Carmel range, 
perhaps because there were no inhabited houses to be used 
as stepping stones." 
" Persons having * * frequent intercourse with the XII 
city are liable to contract the disease on the way, espec- 
ially when * * * they return home in the evening. 
In attempting to account for the malady in new or unu- 
sual, or unsuspected localities, this fact will, of course, not 
be forgotten." 
Referring to " the old idea of Contagion," Dr. Bronson 
says: " It must be admitted that authority is opposed to 
this idea, but I do not think the question yet settled. If 
I mistake not it will again come up for decision-come 
up when opinion swings round, and the profession gets 
weary of current theories of ague-genesis." 
" Out of a family of seven persons * * * six were 
attacked. The first case, however, was that of a child who 
attended the school at Allingtown. on which fact Mr. 
Leet, (the father) lays stress." 
"From the same starting point the scourge (in 1870) 
traveled eastward across Dixwell, Ashmun, Canal, and 
Prospect streets, and appeared on Hillhouse avenue, and 
the high grounds of Sachem's ridge, the last, one hundred 
and thirty feet above the plain below." In the same para- 
graph he speaks of it as " the advancing enemy." 
On the subject of the disease as connected with low, wet 
grounds, etc., he says: " This connection, if not uniform, 
is in this latitute not often wanting, especially in the first 
year of the disease ; " and again : 
"The world has had abundant opportunity to know 
that effectual and permanent drainage will, in temperate 
latitudes, often, if not always, mitigate or remove the 
marsh fever pest. Though the disease may break out 
and even become rife in places unprovided with bogs, 
mill ponds, and the like ; though capricious in its move- 
ments, erratic and scandalously inconsistent, going where 
it should not, and refusing to go where it should; it can- 
not be denied that in its migrations, when free to choose, 
it prefers the bogs, etc. It has a natural affinity for them, 
searches them out, and finds near them a congenial home." 
There is no proof that this disease may not, in a more XIII 
sluggish way, be communicated as typhoid fever is, by 
some agency produced by the body of the patient, which, 
under favoring local conditions, acquires the power of 
affecting a fresh subject. In the absence of such proof, 
this theory is at least as sound as that of General Epi- 
demic Influences-a sort of vague wave of mysterious in- 
fection which sweeps over wide regions, and establishes 
malarial conditions where there exists no assignable new 
local cause. This seems to me to imply much less than a 
scientific method of reasoning. That unrecognized, but 
purely physical influences, do, now and again, awaken 
latent sources of malaria over wide regions is undoubtedly 
true; but, though thus far unrecognized, these influences 
are doubtless discoverable, and we can surely detect in 
advance the spots where the latent sources await them, 
and can so change the local conditions as to avert the visi- 
tation. 
An apparent inconsistency will be observed in my 
treatment of the tree question. In certain cases it is 
recommended to remove nearly all trees from the vicinity 
of damp land. In others, the growth of willows, or other 
luxuriant vegetation is recommended for wet land; it is 
generally recommended that trees be not allowed to stand 
too thickly in the vicinity of houses, or pleasure grounds; 
and it is also recommended that belts of trees, and even of 
undergrowth, be encouraged along the borders of distant 
ponds and other remote sources of malaria. The idea is 
this: Land as dry as all land in the immediate vi- 
cinity of a house, or a pleasure ground should be, is not 
likely, if exposed to sun and wind, to produce malaria ; 
it may be necessary to leave remote wet tracts, 
comparatively undrained, in which case a growth 
of a vigorous vegetation over and around them 
will, as has been shown by experience, modify, probably, 
the production of malaria, and certainly its diffusion. 
While it is deemed especially important that there be a 
free circulation of air about all dwelling houses and pri- XIV 
vate grounds, which circulation is interfered with by a 
profuse tree-growth, it is often desirable to fence off the 
extreme borders of our district by a barrier of forest 
growth, which will hinder the transmission of malaria 
produced beyond it. 
Aside from the specific directions given under different 
headings in the following report, it is to be remarked in a 
general way, and as applying more or less to the whole 
district under consideration, that each owner should see to 
it, that there remains upon his property no spot of land 
which is unduly wet; that all ravines which are 
springy, or through which there are at times rills of water 
running, should be so opened to the sun, and to the circu- 
lation of air, that the atmosphere within them may be as 
dry and fresh as that of the hills beside them. While 
there can be no objection to rows and avenues of trees 
trimmed sufficiently high for the free movement of air over 
the ground under their branches, the bordering of avenues, 
with rows of low-branched evergreens, is very apt to be 
carried to a dangerous extreme. I should by no means 
recommend the least interference with the beauty of suit- 
able evergreen plantations ; but it is unfortunately true 
of nearly all of the older places, that evergreens planted 
so closely as to produce an early effect have been left 
standing till they have, in a great measure, lost their char- 
acteristic beauty. As a rule, clumps of evergreens, if 
standing on dry ground, may generally be left undis- 
turbed. The removal of a single one would destroy the 
beauty of the whole, and it becomes a question whether 
the whole, or none, should be cut away. Large planta- 
tions of those trees should at least be mutilated to the ex- 
tent of removing their lower branches high enough to give 
a free sweep of air over the ground under them. Clumps 
of shrubbery too large, and too close for the ground under 
them, to be cleared of their leaves in the fall, had better 
be done away with, especially unless at a considerable 
distance from the house. XV 
As a general principle, it may be stated, with reference 
to trees, that they interfere with the best sanitary condi- 
tions if they are so close, or so low-branched as to prevent 
the growth of grass beneath them-a modified exception 
being made in the case of evergreens. 
To give specific directions for the removal of planta- 
tions, or individual trees, is a more delicate task than I 
care to undertake, and touches too nearly the sentimental 
side of most men, and of more women, to be in any case 
an agreeable one. I have indicated what I believe to be 
the sanitary requirements. Except where the ground 
is unduly wet, in a district so sparsely settled as 
that under consideration, any mischief caused by retaining 
dense plantations will be chiefly injurious to the proprietor, 
who is himself responsible for them. 
Concerning ponds, I feel it more incumbent upon me to 
disregard the sentimental consideration. In the whole 
course of my examination I have seen very few of these 
ornamental appendages which I did not consider totally 
and absolutely bad, and I have not hesitated, even where 
they lie in the course of rapid streams, to recommend 
their remorseless destruction. I desire to make the 
same recommendation, with all the added emphasis of 
which I am capable, concerning filthy pools and fountain 
basins which have no such natural water supply. 
Respectfully, 
GEO. E. WARING, Jr. 
Newport, R. I., Dec. 80th, 1878. IRVINGTON, SANITARY SURVEY, 
BY 
GEO. E. WARING, JR. 
Consulting Engineer. 
Section 1. 
THE WILLSEA BROOK. 
The first brook in the tract with the examination of 
which I have been charged (beginning at the South) is 
known as the " Willsea," or " Cortland Palmer " brook, 
which takes its rise in the woodland at the east end of 
Cyrus W. Field's property and in the property lying to 
the south of this. These sources being remote from 
habitations, and, as I believe, amply protected by forest 
growth, need not be considered here. The streams issuing 
from them, and their extension through the Cortland 
Palmer farm, through lands east of Broadway, and 
through the ravine bounding the estate of James Wilde, 
Jr., is, in my opinion, a very important factor in the prob- 
lem with which we have to deal. I make no account of 
the character of the swampy lands in which these waters 
originate, for the reason that there is no evidence leading 
even to the presumption that streams flowing from 
marshes overgrown by forests have, by reason thereof, any 
specially pernicious effect on either the soil or the air. 
I am satisfied that we shall attain our end if we confine 
our attention to the brook and its branches after they 
begin to run through open ground. 
The eastermost branch of this stream, after leaving the 
woodland at the east of the Cortland Palmer farm, flows 2 
through a rough bushy pasture in a channel which is 
much obstructed by accumulated vegetation, by stones, 
and by other obstacles. It will be necessary to rectify the 
course of this stream, straightening it as far as possible, 
reducing its level so that its banks shall be at least three 
feet higher than its bed, giving it a permanent channel, 
and conducting directly to it by open ditches the water of 
the various small springs and swampy patches which 
appear in this field. This is all that will be necessary 
until we approach the pond connected with the slaughter- 
ing establishment of Loan Bros. 
Without entering into a detailed argument as to the 
pernicious effect of animal fouling upon a stream that runs 
through so long a course past many residences, it will be 
sufficient to say that such fouling is absolutely inconsistent 
with the health requirements of the community; and 1 
deem it of the first and utmost importance that this whole 
establishment be removed, and its site thoroughly purified. 
Were it possible to carry on the business without water- 
or without the escape of polluted water beyond the prem- 
ises-it would, perhaps, be safe at least for some years to 
come, to permit it to continue. In fact, however, the con- 
siderable use of water, and the flowing away of polluted 
water are indispensable accompaniments of the industry. 
The whole condition at this point is unqualifiedly and 
dangerously bad, and I call the attention of the health 
authorities to this as one of the most important objects to 
which they can give their immediate attention. 
I recommend that the slaughtering and rendering build- 
ings be removed, or that they be devoted to some other 
and inoffensive use; that the dam forming the pond be 
opened for such a width and for such a depth that the 
bottom of the pond may not only be laid dry, but that it 
may be traversed by a straight water-course having its 
bed at least three feet below the level of the present deposit 
at the bottom of the pond-after this shall have settled by 
drainage. The method of the construction of this ditch 3 
through the level ground, should be the same as that in- 
dicated for the swampy field east of Stymus's property. 
The spring south-east of this pond should be thoroughly 
drained by a deep ditch leading to the main channel above 
described. Below the line of the present dam an open 
ditch, at least three feet deep, should be substitute^ for 
the present covered one. 
The swampy field lying north-west of the Loan Brothers' 
establishment is almost level throughout nearly its whole 
extent. It receives, near its north-east corner, the outlet 
of Cyrus W. Field's ponds, through a brook which needs 
attention at its northern end to a distance of five or ten feet 
north of Mr. Field's south boundary. The swamp is also 
fed by a stream flowing from the forest east of it, the course 
of which is not especially well defined from its point of 
entrance to its junction with the main brook. The present 
courses of the streams in this swamp need have no influence 
upon the final improvement. They are shallow, irregular, 
sluggish, obstructed and overgrown with bushes. 
Beginning at the bridge in the south west corner of the 
field, where the road crosses the brook, and following up 
the stream for a distance of about 35 feet, we come to a 
low place which is suitable as a starting point for our 
work. From this point (east of the eastern bank of the 
brook) three straight ditches should diverge ; one running 
in a north-easterly direction and striking the present 
brook, 150 feet south of Field's line; another running 
straight to the point where the present brook, from the 
forest to the east, and that from the Loan Brothers' 
pond come together to make the main brook ; and a third, 
clearing the high lands at the south, and running straight 
to the present brook, about 250 feet below the Loan 
Brothers' dam. These new ditches should be made 
according to the instructions given for the ditches through 
the swampy field east of Stymus's property. The earth 
excavated in making them should be used, so far as need- 
ed, in filling up the present course of the brook through 4 
the field, excepting the three branches leading to Field's 
ponds, to the forest to the east and to Loan Brothers' pond, 
and excepting the continuation of the old brook from the 
point of junction of the three ditches to its point of exit from 
the field. If more earth is excavated than will be required 
for this purpose, the remainder should be strewn over 
the field, or used to fill up its lower spots. Special care 
should be taken that none of it is suffered to remain 
along the side of the new channels, where frequent shallow 
gutters should be made to hasten the escape from the sur- 
face of the ground of its standing water. In various 
places, about the boundary of this swamp, there are springs 
and small marshy tracts which should be connected with 
one or other of the new ditches by straight and suffi- 
ciently deep ditches. This work being finished, the whole 
field should be absolutely cleared of all low growing 
shrubs, etc., wherever it was originally wet or marshy in 
its character. 
The present bridge should be replaced by a securely 
built structure having an opening of not less than eight 
feet between its walls, and having its water-way formed in 
the same manner and on the same slope with the banks of 
the ditch from the swamp. 
Below this bridge and as far as the swamp at the head 
of the pond near the Cortland Palmer farm house, the fall 
is considerable, the ground is irregular in its character, 
there are many stones obstructing the course of the brook, 
and no inconsiderable amount of rubbish, and in places 
it is overgrown with bushes. It is not advisable to attempt 
any straightening of the general course of this part of the 
brook, but its minor irregularities should all be removed, 
as should all stones and rocks which give sudden changes 
to its direction. Its bed should be paved on a section 
such as is shown at the bottom of the ditch, a cross-section 
of which is given in the diagram. Its banks should be 
sloped to an easy grade so far as rocks and stones will 
allow, and should be firmly sodded. All springs and 5 
marshy places which find their natural outlet toward it, or 
whose waters may be led to it, should be connected with 
it by deep ditches. About 350 feet south-west of the 
bridge above referred to, and 100 feet north of the main 
course of the brook there is a considerable pond which 
should be emptied by a deep, straight, paved and sodded 
ditch leading to the brook through the lowest part of the 
land. On the hill 500 feet north of the brook and about 
500 feet north-west of the pond just described, there is 
a marshy pond hole high up on the hill. This should be 
emptied by carrying out, through the slope of the hill, a 
ditch with broadly sloping sides deep enough to drain the 
deepest point of the pond. After this ditch comes out to 
the surface at the south it may be continued by a small 
gutter, as the amount of water flowing through it at any 
season will be inconsiderable. All of the bushes along 
the present line of the brook and near any spring or 
marshy spot near it, or along the course of the ditches by 
which these are to be drained, should be removed. 
We come now to the field containing the pond which is 
near to the Cortland Palmer farm buildings. We have fol- 
lowed the course of the brook as far as the fence bounding 
this field on the east. From the point where the brook passes 
this fence a straight ditch should be dug as a new channel 
for it (paved and grass sloped as hereafter indicated), and 
leading directly to the point where the brook divides into 
two parts and follows two different channels through the 
marshy land at the head of the pond. From this point it 
should be continued, by as straight a course as the charac- 
ter of the ground will permit, to the point where the brook 
leaves the pond below the dam. That is to say. the pond 
should be abandoned and its present bed should be 
traversed by a paved and grass-sloped channel constructed 
as hereafter indicated. From the foot of the dam to the 
head of the former pond at the west side of the next fields 
the course of the brook should be treated in all respects 
as directed for that between the farm-yard pond and the 6 
bridge at the edge of the swamp. The dam of this pond 
has already broken away and its bed has been left bare. 
It should be traversed by a channel laid on the straightest 
practicable course, and treated in all respects as above 
directed. 
About the middle of this field the brook is entered by 
a branch leading from Field's pond, which runs through 
a deep ravine with a sufficient fall. The bottom of the 
valley has accumulated silt and rubbish until it is very 
marshy, and the stream is seriously obstructed. The line 
of the brook should be rectified ; its bed should be carried 
to a depth of at least three feet below the present bed of 
the ravine, the bottom paved with stone and the banks 
grassed as directed below; and should have its banks, and 
the marshy ground through which it runs entirely cleared 
of bushes. 
Below the old dam, above spoken of, it will only be 
necessary to straighten the course of the brook and regu- 
late its character as far as the fence to bring us to what I 
regard as the second great defect of this part of our terri- 
tory-the swampy field east of Stymus's property, which 
has for some years been overflowed in winter to make 
an ice pond. I believe the fouling of the waters of this 
brook, by the slaughtering and rendering establishment 
near its sources, to be dangerously bad-as a possible 
source of zymotic disease; but this large and aggravated 
marsh has doubtless more to do with the generation of 
fever and ague in this part of the village of Dobbs' Ferry 
than any other single district within its limits. Its influ- 
ence upon the health of those residing on the high land 
north east of it (Messrs. Stone, Lindley and Field) cannot, 
I think, fail to be pernicious. It is a large tract of 
ill-drained, and periodically flooded land, in the best pos- 
sible condition to serve as an active source of malaria. 
Indeed, I know no spot in the whole territory which, re- 
garded only with reference to fever and ague, I consider 
worse, and not many are so bad. 7 
Although the southern portion of Stymus's land is 
considerably better in appearance, and somewhat better in 
reality, it seems evident that it is very far from being 
wholesome, and that the influence exerted upon it by 
his pond is decidedly bad. I propose to consider both 
tracts together. 
The culvert under Broadway is sufficiently low to 
afford perfect drainage for the whole area; and we will 
take this as our starting point. It should be left to Mr. 
Stymus's discretion to regulate the borders of his present 
pond as he pleases, the wall being sound and good; it 
should be considered a matter of public interest that the 
pond itself be destroyed. To this end I recommend 
that the west wall of the pond be cut down for the whole 
width of the present overflow, to a level six inches higher 
than the floor of the culvert under Broadway at its 
eastern end; that the course of the brook between these 
two points be rectified as far as practicable; that its bot- 
tom be a stone-paved gutter, and that its banks be sloped 
substantially as directed for the main sw'amp. 
A channel should be furnished for the brook from this 
dam to the junction with the main brook of the branch 
coining from the north, the same to be constructed as 
hereafter directed ; the depth at its upper end to be four 
feet below the present surface of the swamp in that 
vicinity, and the grade between this end and the aban- 
doned dam to be, as nearly as practicable, uniform. 
The construction of the work from Broadway to this 
point-the present course of the brook in the swamp being 
followed-will be facilitated by temporarily damming back 
the three streams leading to it, and carrying their over- 
flow around the outside of the present pond by shallow 
surface gutters. 
From this point upward on the main brook, and on its 
southern branch, it will be better to abandon their pres- 
ent beds and strike out new courses through fresh land- 
better, because easier and cheaper, because work done in 8 
new land will be sounder, and because the accumulation 
of silt by the natural process of overflow, and by the 
cleaning out of the bed of the brook, have raised its banks 
along its course considerably higher than the adjoining 
land. 
In the accompanying diagram the double lines show 
the present courses of the brooks-not by actual measure- 
ment, but by careful sketching. The dotted lines indi- 
cate the direction that it is proposed to give to the new 
ditches. The dotted line 'A' shows the location of the 
ditch which is to take the place of the southern branch of 
the brook. The dotted line 'B' is a new ditch running 
through a low part of the field which it is necessary to 
drain. The double line 'CO ' is the north branch, which 
should follow the present course of the brook. The 
dotted line 'DD ' indicates the course of the ditch which 
is to serve as the main channel for the brook, from its 
point of entrance into the field to its best point of con- 
nection with the branch ' CC;' this course somewhat 9 
lengthens the line over which the waters of the main 
brook have to travel. But this is more than compen. 
sated for by the fact that it runs through lower land 
than the straight line, thus requiring less work, and that 
it obviates the necessity for making a separate drain 
through this land. It may be found advisable to allow 
this line 1 DD ' to follow the course of the old brook, for 
the upper 165 feet of its length. This is a ques- 
tion to be determined only by actual levels. Unless the 
saving of labor would be very material in following the 
line of the old brook, the new one is decidedly to be pre- 
ferred. 
The fall between the eastern boundary of the field and 
the point of junction may, if necessary, be very slight. It 
need not be more than three inches for the whole dis- 
tance, though, of course, if more fall can be had it will 
be better to take it. 
The north branch should be extended across the road 
leading to Stone's place, and to the well north of it- 
lowering the level of the water in this well. It should 
have deep branches extending east and west, along both 
sides of the road, as far as any indication of moisture is 
found at the bottom of the digging. 
The manner of construction of these ditches is of much 
consequence: properly done it will practically be done 
for all time; improperly done it will give endless 
trouble, and however secure it may appear at the outset, 10 
will, with a single year's neglect, tend to revert to the 
present unfortunate condition. The amount of water run- 
ning through this brook at ordinary seasons is inconsider- 
able ; I propose that it be provided for by furnishing a 
stone-paved gutter, eighteen inches wide and six inches 
deep, having a curved cross-section. The paving should 
be done with stones of nearly uniform size (or thickness), 
and they should be well bedded in clay and gravel, so as to 
reduce to the minimum the danger that the filling mate- 
rial will be washed out by the current. The smoother 
the water-way, the less the danger of such washing. 
With even tolerably good workmanship the amount of 
washing cannot be serious. In grading the bottom of the 
ditch to prepare for this paving, care should be taken to 
dig no lower than necessary, so that the stones may rest 
upon the unmoved earth, and be in no danger of being 
disturbed by the settlement of loose material under them. 
The center of this gutter should be, as nearly as a uniform 
grade will allow, four feet below the level of the ground 
at each side. From the edges of the gutter the banks 
should slope back on each side with a slope of two horizon- 
tal to one vertical. The extreme width at the top will be 
therefore, a little over one rod. The banks should be 
sloped to a true grade and should be sodded to the top, 
a sufficient proportion of the sods being pinned, especially 
the lower tier, to ensure their holding in place until they 
take root. In forming the slopes no point should be dug 
out beyond the desired grade, for any filling out to cor. 
rect errors will be a source of weakness tending to cause 
a slip of the sodding. Constructed in this way, there 
will be no danger of the caving in of the banks; the 
slopes may be mown quite down to the gutter, affording 
ample security against the growth of bushes and rushes ; 
and the ordinary flow of the brook will have a permanent 
and uniform channel through which to run. A great acces- 
sion to the stream in time of freshet will be amply pro- 
vided for by the grass-protected, valley-like channel above 
the gutter. 11 
Whenever watering places are needed for cattle they 
should be provided by carrying out side bays. These 
may be large enough for several animals to stand in them, 
but their bottoms should be so paved as to prevent them 
from becoming tramped to a miry condition. 
I submit this as the type that I recommend for all open 
ditch work wherever such may be necessary anywhere 
within the territory under consideration. 
Experience has shown that a ditch thus constructed is 
much better than any ditch with stone walled sides. 
Where it is not possible to give such a slope as is indi- 
cated to the banks, because of rocks, or stones, or high 
places through which the course passes, the banks should 
be made to conform as nearly as practicable to these 
directions, and the bed in all cases should have a paved 
channel. 
The ditches indicated for the drainage of this land are 
all that seem to me imperatively necessary to bring it into 
a healthy condition. It would be improved, in a sanitary 
point of view, by thorough tile drainage, and the expense 
of such improvement would be a good agricultural in- 
vestment. I do not, however, deem it so necessary on 
the score of health as to justify its being made com- 
pulsory upon the owners of the land. 
The south branch of the brook coming in from behind the 
village of Dobbs' Ferry I have not followed further than 
the southern boundary of this field, because my instruc- 
tions lead me no further. It is obvious from the general 
character of the valley to the south, that a simple exten- 
sion of the same improvement would be productive of 
goodres ults, and I should say that it is to be regarded as 
necessary to the nealth of houses near it. 
After passing Broadway the character of the brook 
and its surroundings changes at once and materially. 
Throughout nearly its whole course from Broadway to 
the Hudson river, it passes through a deep, thickly-shaded 
and steeply-descending ravine, the bed of which seems 12 
almost to be formed of boulders and blocks of stone 
which obstruct the course of the brook at almost every 
step. Fortunately, the fall is so rapid that a very slight 
rectification of the bottom will prevent any serious accu- 
mulation of rubbish which might dam back the stream ; 
and as the element of beauty is, after the health considera- 
tion, of the greatest importance in such a neighborhood 
as this, I am glad to feel satisfied that it is not necessary 
to give a smooth formal bed to the water-way throughout 
this part of its course. The only serious criticism that I 
have to make on this part of the brook is that its water- 
way is unnecessarily wide, and much ground not occupied 
by the actual stream is made wet by it. To obviate this 
the general course should be deepened at least one foot, 
the stone and earth taken out being thrown to each side 
and the rock channel being narrowed. This part of the 
work will require annual attention, for each heavy freshet 
running through such a ragged ravine will tend to restore 
the present condition of things. 
Between Broadway and the Croton aqueduct there is a 
pond which ought to be abandoned; the simple removal 
of its dam and the draining out of its accumulated deposits 
will be sufficient; further down the stream there is a 
well-built wing-wall dam of solid masonry acting as a 
feeder for a water-ram ; the pond which it forms is very 
small, and I see no reason for its removal. Its annual 
clearing out is quite essential. 
A short distance further down there was fomerly a pond, 
of which the broken dam is under a bridge; evidently 
this pond was entirely filled with silt, and since the break- 
ing away of the dam the brook has cut a deep and wide 
channel through it; the sides of this channel should be 
sloped and grassed, and its bottom should be stoned so as 
to prevent further washing as far as possible. Further 
down on the south side of the brook is a ram tank which 
leaks; it should be made tight. Its present outlet is 
through a short piece of iron pipe, delivering into a 13 
wooden trough, which leaks, and helps still more to 
moisten the ground in this part of the ravine, which is 
here of considerable width. The tank should be made 
tight, and its outlet should be carried by an iron pipe 
quite to the brcok. Still further down is a dam, the pond 
of which is nearly filled with silt, from which water runs 
through an elevated wooden trough to a water wheel in a 
building some distance below. This pond being full, 
and the water flowing around the dam beyond what is 
needed to work the wheel, it is evident that efficiency of 
the power would be as great if a cask were sunk into the 
course of the brook and a tight iron water-conductor were 
led from it to the water-wheel, the pond being abandoned. 
This change would obviate the present serious objection, 
that the trough overflows and leaks and makes the land 
under it very wet. Above the water-wheel is a spring? 
which should be drained away. Still further down, 
at the edge of the flat and at the side of the main 
brook, there is a pond which is fed by a side branch 
of the stream; this pond has recently been cleared out 
and is in a tolerably good condition. If its regular 
cleansing can be insured I am not disposed to insist upon 
its being given up; but do very strenuously recommend 
that it be given up ; and if I owned it, it certainly should 
be given up, as being a possible source of trouble, and a 
sure source of annoyance. If retained it should be sub- 
jected to frequent inspection by the sanitary authorities^ 
and especial care taken that the land about it is not unduly 
moistened by filtration through its banks. The ravine 
debouches at the upper end of the meadow through 
which the brook flows, to escape under the railroad. I 
recommend that this part of the brook be made three feet 
deep, one foot wide at the bottom and ten feet wide at 
the top; and that it be well paved with stone at least 
half way up the banks, and sodded above that point. 
From Broadway nearly to the river this is a deep and 
damp ravine, containing along the course of its stream 14 
many serious accumulations of organic matter; it is abso- 
lutely hidden from the light of the summer sun; and 
even now, after the leaves have nearly disappeared n d 
during the highest winds, there is very little circulation of 
air within it. In addition to this, the enormous mass of 
deciduous forest fills the ravine every year -with its falling 
leaves, and adds constantly to the amount of decomposing 
organic matter with which we have to contend. 
The absolute importance of sunlight and ventilation seems 
to me to make it imperative that a rigorous use of the axe 
be at once made along the whole of the ravine. There is no 
objection to leaving a few of the larger and finer trees at and 
near the top of the bank on the south side. But, with this 
exception, the whole of this bank should be entirely 
cleared, notouly of its underbrush, but of nearly all its trees, 
so that the sun may fall directly upon the brook and upon 
the whole bed of the ravine. The north bank may be 
treated less cruelly ; but even here I should advise that 
all of the underbrush and at least seven-eighths of the trees 
-all but the finest ones-be removed. It would be better 
that two trees should stand near enough together for their 
branches to touch. None should remain which have foli- 
age low down on their stems; or these should be trimmed 
to the height of at least ten feet There should be no 
rod of ground which is not at some time during the day 
reached by the rays of the sun. The clearing being done 
and the rubbish removed, the banks should be brought 
into grass which will, in time, give a not unpleasant sub- 
stitute for the present thick leakage. 
CONCLUSION. 
This tract may be regarded as being, to a certain extent, 
typical of all the brook valleys in the territory under con- 
sideration. 15 
The principles upon which I have given the foregoing 
recommendations are these: 
First. That whatever water may escape from the 
water shed should be led directly and by the most 
unobstructed course all the way to the river, being no. 
where held back in ponds, for the reason that these, by 
increasing the surface, increase the amount of evaporation, 
and leave less water to flow on through the lower part of 
the channel; that they accumulate silt, refuse, and organic 
rubbish, which accumulation is a probable resting place 
or generator of malaria; that such ponds are very often 
sources of dampness to the land about them by the simple 
raising of the water level, and of the lands below them by 
leakage and filtration through their dams; that their dams 
now and then give way, sending such a flood down the 
lower course of the stream as to tear up its bed and dam- 
age work done for its rectification; and that they invite a 
puddling and fouling of their shores by the cattle resorting 
to them in hot weather. 
Second. To reduce the level of the water course so far 
below that of the surrounding land as to ensure a perman- 
ently dry condition of the land. 
Third. To lead to the water-course all water of springs, 
and marshy spots, to which they be made to furnish an 
outlet. 
Fourth. To remove all bushes, undergrowth, vines, and 
thick growing trees which may prevent the free access of 
sunlight and the free circulation of air wherever the land 
is or has been wet or marshy. 
I have endeavored, so far as possible, to keep constantly 
in view the " landscape " requirements of the case, and I 
appreciate the charm and attractiveness of deeply-shaded 
dells, of occasional close plantations, and of ponds, water- 
falls, etc. In a country where malaria had not gained a 
foot-hold I should be disposed to leave these wild and 
secluded nooks untouched. But I believe that, in the 
case under consideration, health taking the pre- 16 
cedence of rural beauty, it is a matter of absolute neces- 
sity to do away with much which it would otherwise be 
pleasant to retain. While recognizing that such radical 
changes of natural features will not always be received 
with favor, and while I do not myself regard them as 
trifling, I do believe that they are made absolutely neces- 
sary by the present sanitary condition of the three villages 
and the intervening country, as the same has been reported 
to me. 17 
Section 2. 
HAMILTON'S POND AND THE BROOK DISCHARG- 
ING THROUGH THE BARNEY PLACE. 
Having examined Hamilton's Pond in its best condition 
and in its worst, and having studied its relation to the 
houses nearest to it, or in the direction of the valley 
trending away from it, I do not modify the opinion ex- 
pressed in my preliminary report. Hs a source of malaria 
which may affect the present population of Irvington, I think 
it may be disregarded. 
On the other hand, it is to be disregarded only because 
of its situation, and of its surrounding forest. Were the 
forest to be removed, or were population to extend to its 
near vicinity, then it would undoubtedly take its place as 
the worst fresh-water source of disease in the whole dis- 
trict. In view of both of these changes as being possi- 
ble, and for the further reason that a forbidden spot of 
ground is never a pleasant neighbor, the improvement of 
this pond is very desirable. 
In my judgment, the method of improvement pro- 
posed-the enlargement of the pond-is not advisable. 
It would be an improvement, but it would not be a cure. 
The easiest, simplest, and most effective treatment would 
be to remove the dam, to deepen the outlet, and to drain 
the pond to the bottom-to turn it into dry and whole- 
some ground. This being done, it will be easy to deter- 18 
mine the best manner of collecting and storing the water 
of the springs by which it is fed so as to furnish a greatly 
improved supply to those who now depend on it, or who 
may wish to depend on it in the future. Every condi- 
tion favors this change, and its complete execution would 
solve the whole problem in a satisfactory manner. 
One branch of the brook in question takes its rise in 
Hamilton's Pond, whence its fall for about 200 feet is rapid 
and unobstructed; thence for 250 to 300 feet it runs through 
nearly level land. Here, it is deep, its sides are stoned, and it 
is in tolerably good order. Thence, as far as the projection of 
the east line of Dibble's property it has a rapid fall over a 
ledgy bottom. As far as this point it may safely be left as 
it, is. Beginning here, from 50 to 100 feet east of the flat, 
swampy land above the pond, in the main course of the 
brook on Hamilton's land, decided improvement becomes 
necessary. Indeed, I am of the opinion that there are very 
few tracts in the whole region under consideration which 
is more thoroughly bad than thecourse of this brook and its 
branches, from the point under consideration to the cross- 
ing of Broadway. Probably much of the difficulty 
which has been ascribed to the condition of Hamilton's 
Pond, is really due to this source. The little fall that ex- 
isted from this point westward is mostly taken up 
with the dam forming the small pond in the main course 
of the brook. The land continues low and flat as far as 
the east end of Abbottsford village. The pond referred 
to should be destroyed, and the whole course of the brook 
for the distance above mentioned should be straightened 
-preferably, so as to pass through fresh ground. It should 
be constructed in the same manner, of the same depth, 
and with the same cross-section as prescribed for 
the brook through the marsh east of Stymus's property 
(the Wilsea brook), and illustrated in the sectional draw- 
ing published therewith. In its present condition, this 
tract is eminently bad from over-saturation, dense over- 
growth, frequent shaded pools of stagnant water, and gen- 19 
erally with the most favorable conditions for the fostering 
if not for the generation of malarial infection. 
The brook being put in complete order, all springs and 
marshy tracts near it, or whose waters may lead to it, 
should be connected with it by deep ditches. 
In Dibble's field, immediately south of that containing 
the pond referred to, there is a pond concerning 
which, if it were only possible to give it an adequate sup- 
ply of water, there could be no serious objection. It is 
tolerably deep, is surrounded by quite a good stone wall, 
and has well-constructed iidets and outlet. From its pres- 
ent condition and appearance, I should say that its owner 
has done all in his power to make it unobjectionable. Un- 
fortunately it lacks the essential element of a pond, in that 
it has no water supply. Even on the 21st day of Novem- 
ber, it having rained hard the previous day and night, and 
considerably during the previous week, its inlets and out- 
let were quite dry and its bottom not nearly all covered. 
I think it may be accepted as a demonstrated fact that this 
condition of things is incompatible with the health require- 
ments of a district which is not above the suspicion of ma- 
laria. The field in which this pond is situated is in as 
good order as shallow drains, some of stone and some of 
tiles, could make it. Had it been possible to make the 
drainage deeper, its condition would be all that could be 
desired. It has evidently been of a swampy character at 
some former tune and its drainage is not now sufficient to 
remove all swampy indications. The land east of this 
field, quite up to the woods, needs draining. 
In the next field south of this (Harrison's) there is an- 
other pond, similar in its general character to Dibble's, but 
with an even less efficient water supply, with much less 
careful attention, and with somewhat greater indications 
of unwholesomeness. It is surrounded by a fine growth 
of willows. I regard its retention as a pond quite inad- 
missible. 
The amount of water flowing from this pond and 
through Dibble's field is too slight to interfere with the 20 
proper execution of the work; and the ditch from each 
pond, as well as their continuation to the main stream 
under consideration, may properly follow the present 
course. These streams should be not less than three feet 
deep, where they leave the ponds, and they should follow 
as nearly a uniform grade as is practicable to where they 
intersect with the grade of the ditch which is to be substi- 
tuted for the brook. The willow trees now growing about 
Harrison's pond may be left standing with advantage. 
Probably, an outlet will be secured for deeper drainage on 
parts of Dibble's field. The owner will doubtless see the 
advantage of such drainage from the agricultural point 
of view, and will be glad to execute it when a sufficiently 
deep outlet is provided. 
On the north side of the brook, some distance above 
the pond first above referred to (on Hamilton's land), there 
enters a sluggish stream affording an outlet to Wendel's 
pond. I have given much consideration to this pond 
which certainly has elements of beauty that give it value. 
It lies quite at the head of its stream, and is free from 
several of the objections which obtain in the case of ponds 
in the course of running brooks. On the other hand, 
from the purely sanitary point of view, I regard it as 
dangerous. If fever and ague has occurred in Gregory's 
house, immediately north of this pond, I should say that 
all probabilities point to it as the source of the disease. 
The trees, by which it is surrounded, being large, not 
very numerous, and mostly with naked trunks, probably 
have no other bad effect than to fill it with leaves, of 
which it now lias a goodly deposit in a more or less 
advanced stage of decomposition. The pond does not 
always remain filled to its high water mark, and the ex- 
posed edges consist largely of decaying vegetable matter. 
When full, its influence must be even worse than it now 
is upon the flatter lands about it and upon the lower 
lands south of it. I recommend that the brook running 
from this pond be reconstructed precisely as recommended 21 
in other similar cases, and that its bottom be laid as nearly 
as practicable on the true grade between the bottom of 
the new main ditch into which it is to deliver, and a point 
three feet below the present level of the ground fifty feet 
south of the pond. The dam should be widely opened, 
and after the deposit has drained sufficiently to be worked, 
the ditch should be continued through it, terminating at 
a depth of two feet at the north end of the present swampy 
border which extends northward from the upper end of 
the pond. It is especially important to Mr. Gregory, if 
not to those living at a greater distance, that this expo- 
sure of the bottom of the pond be effected not later than 
the middle of February, that there may be thorough ex- 
posure to frost and rain before the opening of spring. As 
early as practicable the exposed and naked ground should 
be sown with grass seed and with oats, so that it may as 
soon as possible have the protection of vegetation. 
The brook from the point at which we left it, east of 
the village of Abbottsford to the crossing of Broadway, is 
simply an abomination, and its proper reformation im- 
plies something more than a mere physical amendment of 
its channel. It is here not only a brook, it is also a 
sewer, fouled with the refuse matters of a poor and mis- 
managed settlement, where pigs and poultry add their 
embarrassing complications to the question. 
Precisely what is best to do with reference to this part 
of the subject it is not easy to determine. These people 
must live, and under the best circumstances their lives 
must be attended with the production of no inconsiderable 
amount of liquid filth, which cannot safely be kept in 
cesspools, be thrown upon the ground, be run into the 
brook, nor as now be disposed of by a combination of these 
three methods. To allow the present condition to con- 
tinue would be fatal to anything like a complete sanitary 
reform of the neighborhood. Considering the character of 
the surrounding population, it is not unlikely that an 
indictment as a nuisance would hold against the settle- 22 
ment Yet it may not be for the interest of the commu- 
nity to solve the problem by its removal to another point 
where similar difficulties would arise to give trouble to 
other neighbors. If any system of sewerage is to be 
adopted for the houses which might naturally be drained 
through this valley, the village of Abbottsford certainly 
should be included in it. Assuming that no such system 
of sewerage is likely soon to be supplied, I recommend 
that the keeping of pigs be prohibited ; that the keeping of 
poultry be properly restricted ; that the health authorities 
give especial attention to the arrangement of stables, and 
to the disposal of manure in such a manner as to prevent 
the escape of liquid from it; that the use of dry-ash 
closets or earth closets be compulsory, and that proper 
means be suoplied for the disposal of the liquid waste of 
the households by a system of sub-irrigation pipes, con- 
structed on the same principle with that connected 
with Cyrus W. Field's house. For the small amount of 
water used in these households this arrangement may be 
- YCAT S£CT/O^ - 
Vertical Section showing arrangement of Hopper, Grease-Trap and Main Drain. 
extremely simple and inexpensive. A vertical section 
and plan are given herewith. Also diagrams showing the 
manner of constructing the receiving hopper and the 
grease trap. 
Plan, showing arrangement of Drains. 23 
The one all-important thing is to prevent organic 
matter from reaching the brook, either directly, or in solu- 
tion or admixture in the water flowing to it from the sur- 
Hopper, flush with surface of ground, for throwing down slops. 
Grease-Trap, for retaining scum and deposit. 24 
face of the ground. The land drains should be drains 
for the removal of soil-water and rain-water only. All 
fouled liquid of every sort should be disposed of by the 
sub-irrigation system. 
The hopper and grease-trap, indicated in the course of 
the main drain are to be built in the ground in such a 
manner as not to be disturbed by frost. The principle of 
their construction is shown in the foregoing illustrations. 
The main drain should be of 4 inch vitrified pipes with 
well cemented joints. The laterals should be of 2 inch 
red tiles with open joints. These latter should be not more 
than 12 inches below the surface of the ground. 
Under the best circumstances it will require no slight 
exercise of authority to prevent the casting of dirty water 
upon the ground. According to the completeness with 
which this is effected will the system to a great degree be 
successful or unsuccessful. This source of fouling being 
removed, the channel of the brook should be continued 
around and past this settlement and as far as Broadway 
through a ditch, as nearly as practicable, four feet deep, 
with paved gutter and grassed slopes as directed in other 
similar cases. Between Abbottsford and Broadway the 
trees should be entirely removed from the low tract 
through which the brook passes; the brook should be 
straightened, and the spring between it and Broadway 
should be drained into it. 
Krom the Broadway culvert, down through Wendel's 
land, the brook has a good fall, but is too much obstructed 
by the tumbling in of its stone walls. It should be deep- 
ened to at least three feet below the level of its present 
banks, and, so far as it is not necessary to wall its sides in 
order to dispose of the stones now used for that purpose, 
it would be better to construct it with sloped and sodded 
banks. In any case, whether the banks are sloped and 
sodded or laid with stone, the channel of the brook should 
be well paved in the same manner and with the same 
section as shown in the illustration referred to above. 25 
Entering Drake's land, the brook, although its fall con^ 
tinues rapid, is obstructed to an increased extent by loose 
stones, by the caving in of its banks, and by the growth 
of alders and bushes, and it is too much shaded. Its bed 
should be lowered to the depth of three feet below the 
level of its present banks, its course should be straight- 
ened, all bushes, undergrowth, and weeds should be 
cleared away, and only large and desirable trees should 
be left standing, preferably not to exceed one half of the 
present number. It now runs through a somewhat damp 
valley which should be opened to the sun and wind as 
much as possible. Whether its banks should be sloped 
and sodded, or laid with stone, should be determined by 
the quantity of stone to be got rid of, by the character 
of the ground, and by the question of cost. In either 
case its bottom should be a paved gutter, as recommended 
for the brook passing through Wendel's land. 
At Drake's north line, the brook enters a culvert which 
debouches at the north side of Barney's entrance road. 
This culvert seems to perform its office satisfactorily, 
and it is only necessary to ensure its doing so for the 
future. 
Shortly after leaving the culvert, the brook unites with 
an important branch coming in from the eastward, which 
furnishes an outlet for sundry swamps, springs, and small 
streams some distance east from Broadway, and on both 
sides of the road leading to Saw Mill river valley. The 
principal southerly branch of this stream runs for nearly 
its whole length through the land of Charles Harriman. 
In the deep valley which is spanned by Harriman's 
bridge, and above this, the brook need not claim our atten- 
tion. From the foot of the valley it should be deepened 
to at least three feet, and, although I do not prescribe it, 
I recommend that it be grass sloped and paved as above 
directed. Its bottom should be not less than three feet 
below the general level of the ground through which it 
passes. The drainage operations now in progress upon 26 
this nearly level stretch of land will, in all probability, in 
connection with the rectification of the brook as above, 
be all that is necessary to remove any objections which 
may now exist in connection with this tract. On Harri- 
man's land near the Saw Mill river road, there is a spring 
which is now led to the main brook. It is only necessary 
to secure the permanent good condition of the channel by 
which it is so led. 
The field opposite Harriman's, north of the Saw Mill 
river road, is very largely occupied by a thoroughly bad 
and unwholesome swamp, bounded on two sides by two 
branches of the brook. Two straight ditches following 
nearly the general course of these two brooks should be 
substituted for them; these should be four feet deep, and 
constructed in all respects as directed for those in the field 
east of Stymus's. (See Wilsea Brook.) It is probable 
that these two ditches and a connecting ditch running at 
the foot of the highland along the north part of the east 
boundary of the field, so as to cut off the water coming 
from the hill, will be sufficient to put the land in a satis- 
factory sanitary condition. On the score of health it may 
be necessary, and on the score of economy it certainly 
will be advisable, to make one or more intermediate 
ditches for the more thorough drying of the land, or, 
which would be still better, to give thorough tile-drainage 
to the whole of the area included within the ditches above 
described. The main ditches being completed, all pres- 
ent runnels leading toward the swamp, and all springs 
and marshy patches which may be led to it should be 
connected by deep ditches, and by the most direct course 
with one or other of the main ditches. The earth 
removed in digging the ditches should be used for filling 
up the present channels of the brooks, so far as needed 
for that purpose. Any excess should be strewn over 
the surface of the swamp, or used to fill up its lower spots. 
Both of these brooks are now much overgrown and 
obstructed. v They are simply swamp brooks, bad in 27 
themselves, and bad in their effect upon the adjoining 
land. The whole of the swamp, both banks of the 
brooks, and an y land in this field which is now at all marshy 
or even unduly wet, should be thoroughly cleared of all 
bushes and undergrowth, -occasional large trees being in 
no respeet objectionable. 
From the point where the two brooks come together, to 
the road, as well as on the short run of the brook on 
Harriman's land, the same general system heretofore indi- 
cated should be followed. 
After the brook returns to Adams' land, it has for a 
certain distance a sufficiently rapid fall. But its banks 
are much overgrown, and its channel obstructed and in- 
terrupted. Its banks should be thoroughly cleared of all 
growth save large trees-its channel being cleared so far 
as the rocks will allow. 
A short distance below, there is a combination of arti- 
ficial pond and swamp which, in view of its situation be- 
tween Gregory's and Adams' houses, and of the relation 
it bears to Guiteau's, Wood's, and Richards's houses, is to 
be regarded as especially objectionable. The pond 
should be abandoned, the course of the brook should be 
straightened, and, so far as possible, its new channel 
should be constructed precisely as directed above in all 
cases where level land is passed. All springs and marshy 
places, especially two springs at the edge of the road, all 
ponds of water, and all runnels from the hill, should be 
led to it by sufficiently, deep ditches. All undergrowth 
and bushes should be removed, and all land which is now 
at any season of the year marshy or unduly wet should 
be thoroughly exposed to the rays of the sun. 
In the extreme northwestern corner of Gregory's land, 
where there runs a short stretch of this brook, its bed and 
banks should be treated as above directed, and especially 
the rank growth of weeds and bushes now encumbering 
this part of the ground should be entirely removed. 
Passing to the land of Mrs. Scott, we find a pond 28 
which it would be much better to abandon entirely. In 
its present condition it is decidedly objectionable. The 
same is true, though to a less degree, because of its 
smaller size, of the pond in the north-west corner of Mrs. 
Scott's property ; there is no justifying reason for its re- 
tention. The course of the stream between these two 
ponds should be rectified, and should be continued as 
above prescribed through the two ponds. 
On the Harriman place, at the corner of Broadway, the 
brook is in tolerably good condition, save where its 
water is held back by a dam near the house. It is de- 
cidedly to be recommended that this dam be removed, 
and that the brook throughout its whole course have a 
depth of at least three feet, with paved gutter for its bed, 
and sodded slopes for its banks.* 
West of Broadway the brook crosses the land of D. 
N. Barney through a channel which, while it has a suffi- 
cient fall, is too irregular as to its banks, and too much 
overgrown. I recommend that its minor irregularities of 
direction be rectified; that its bed be made three, and pre- 
ferably four, feet lower than the level of the adjoining 
land-its bed being a paved gutter-and that its banks be 
sodded slopes, as above. 
All of the trees growing in this valley should be re- 
moved, and the wood on the hill side north of it should 
be thinned out and entirely cleared of underbrush. 
A short distance below the aqueduct there is a dam 
which backs up the water into the mouth of the culvert. 
This darn should be entirely removed, and the brook 
should run in a deep ditch of the prescribed form and 
character. If the raising of this water is necessary for 
the working of a ram or water wheel, the same purpose 
can be attained by sinking a cask in the course of the 
stream and carrying its water through an iron pipe. In 
my opinion there are too many trees, and there is far too 
♦The depth at the lower part of the lot must, of course, be regulated by the depth 
of the culvert under Broadway. 29 
much small growth along the whole course of the stream 
as far as the fence, near which it crosses the private road. 
Especially is this the case on the south side of the brook 
and toward its lower end, though as far as this fence, 
clearing seems to be necessary on both sides of the road. 
Through the field north of the road the course of the 
brook is crooked, and it is much obstructed with stones 
and rubbish. Through its northward course there are too 
many trees near it. These should be so thinned out as 
to admit sufficient sunlight and circulation. The banks 
are high and dry, but they should be sloped and sodded, 
and the bed should be paved in accordance with the plan 
elsewhere indicated. The brook itself requires the same 
treatment all the way down to the point where it diverges 
-one branch entering the pond and another passing 
around to the north of it. In the field south of the brook 
and east of A. H. Barney's stable, there is a wet tract 
which can best be drained by carrying an outlet drain of 
two inch tile along the south side of the brook and de- 
livering into it below the present dam, or, much better, this 
dam may be removed and the brook deepened near this 
stable. The wash of A. H. Barney's stable yard should 
be prevented from reaching the brook, especially if his 
pond is to be retained. Near the stables there is a con- 
siderable amount of underbrush and rubbishy growth 
which should be cleared away. From A. H. Barney's 
'stable to D. N. Barney's stable the brook is too much 
shaded by trees. 
It is not easy to determine what course should be re- 
commended with regard to the large pond on A. H. Bar- 
ney's place. As it stands, it is at least two feet too high ; 
at its upper end it is filled with an accumulation of silt, 
and unquestionably its whole bed contains much decaying 
vegetable matter. I believe it to be thoroughly bad, but 
if it is a sufficiently important object to retain it, this may 
perhaps be done if the dam is permanently lowered two 
feet; if the depth of the water even in dry seasons is 30 
made fully three feet in every part of the pond; and, if 
every winter, the pond is emptied and thoroughly cleansed 
of all its accummulations. This cleansing is, in my 
opinion, of sufficient importance to the adjoining houses 
of the village, to say nothing of those on the Barney 
property, to make it incumbent upon the Health authori- 
ties to ensure this annual cleansing by actual inspection. 
It is extremely desirable that the pond be entirely 
abandoned and that the valley of which it now forms a 
part receive some other landscape treatment which will 
compensate for the loss of its present very decided 
beauty. 
The course of the brook which runs north of the 
pond and which, the pond being removed, should carry 
all its water, requires the same general treatment pre- 
scribed for the upper portions of the stream. After it 
has been deepened, its bed paved and its banks com- 
pleted, the low spots and springs near it should be 
drained into it, and all lands in its vicinity and near the 
pond should be made thoroughly dry and sound. 
At least one half of the trees, preferably more, and all 
undergrowth between the present darn of the pond and 
the last bridge, near the gate opening to Irvington, should 
be removed. Below the bridge the course of the brook 
is now in perfectly good condition. 
The changes above indicated being made, I believe 
that the whole region traversed by this brook and its 
branches will be unobjectionable. This is now very far 
from being the case. 31 
Section 3. 
SUNNYSIDE BROOK. 
This brook takes its rise in swainps some distance beyond 
the settlement known as " East Irvington." Its course in the 
neighborhood of this village is through low, flat land, some 
of it swampy in its character and some of it fouled with 
sewage matters from a house. This part of the brook, 
however, need not be especially considered here, as it is 
beyond the line of the village, and, in my opinion, not bad 
in its influence-except upon this settlement, which is not 
now under consideration. 
For the purposes of this report it will suffice to begin 
the first examination of the stream at the culvert under 
Morgan's entrance-road. Immediately below this cul- 
vert the land is wet and marshy ; the marsh occupying 
an area of about one and a half acres on the south side of 
the brook. Its borders are defined at the east and at the 
west by sluggish streams of which the western one takes 
its rise in an obvious spring. North of the brook, and, 
except at its end, at a little distance from it, there is an- 
other marshy tract. About 250 feet below the junction 
of this tract with the brook, and below the western side of 
the swamp at the south, the brook takes a somewhat rapid 
fall over a mass of rocks which are overgrown with a 
thick growth. This growth should be cleared out, at least, 
so as to remove its underbrush and its smaller trees. At 
this point the rocks should be removed so as to increase 
the depth of the brook three feet. 32 
From this point to the culvert under Morgan's road and 
on as nearly a straight line as is practicable, a new ditch, 
of the prescribed form and arrangement, should be con- 
structed to take tiie place of the present brook. This being 
done, the two swampy tracts above spoken of, as well as 
the stony, wet tract below them, should be drained into 
the brook by sufficiently deep ditches to remove all stand- 
ing water, and all extraneous water coming from higher 
land in their vicinity. Below the point at which it is 
recommended to deepen the brook, and as far as the small 
dam at the north-east corner of Cunningham's field, the 
brook has, in the main, a sufficient fall, and, considering 
its location, the volume of water flowing through it, and 
the character of the land adjoining it, it will be sufficient 
to remove its occasional obstructions, such as stones, bushes, 
etc., to rectify its minor irregularities as much as possible, 
and to clear its banks of all bushes and rank weeds. 
At the north side of the brook there enters a stream 
leading from a pond and spring house in the woods north 
of the road. There are several wet places in this wood, 
and an inconsiderable amount of underbrush which might 
with advantage be cleared away. But, considering the 
amount of forest growth, none of this work need be insist- 
ed upon, as the trees will doubtless afford a sufficient pro- 
tection to districts lying remote from it. The stream which 
feeds this pond drains a considerable marshy tract some 
distance northward from it. This tract is behind the hill 
which forms the natural boundary of our district, and need 
not be considered unless in the interest of the Bierstadt 
and Halstead houses. If the inmates of these houses are 
affected by malaria, the marshy tract spoken of is its most 
probable origin. If they are not so affected, this need not 
be considered. 
The small dam spoken of is of no material consequence. 
But about it, and for some distance below, there is a con- 
siderable amount of close growth which should be re- 
moved. About 200 feet after entering Cunningham's field, 33 
the brook becomes quite level, its water being held, back 
by the dam near Cunningham's entrance. This pond is 
evidently of considerable importance and there is no ma- 
terial objection to its being retained, with the understand- 
ing that all land bordering it, and bordering the brook 
above it, which is not at least two feet above the level of 
the water, be excavated to the depth of three feet below 
its level. This depth of three feet should be insisted upon 
throughout the whole area covered by the retained water, 
and the banks should, in all cases, from this prescribed 
level of the bottom to the top of the bank have a slope at 
least as steep as one vertical to two horizonal. The work 
would be very much simplified and cheapened, and pos- 
sibly the same advantage would accrue, if the dam were 
lowered one or two feet, the same conditions as to 
height of bank and depth of bottom being preserved as 
above indicated. If there is rock at the bottom of the 
pond this need not be disturbed ; but there should be no 
earth bottom nearer than three feet from the surface of the 
water. The annual cleansing of the pond of all silt and 
vegetable matter should be assured. 
Through Parish's place the brook has a rapid and 
almost constant fall, save where it is held back by three 
dams forming very small ponds. With proper care in the 
way of annual cleaning out, these ponds are too slight to 
be interfered with ; but their cleansing is of imperative 
necessity. The brook flows generally over rock and among 
boulders, and is subject to obstructions by the irregularity 
of its course and by the accumulation of leaves and other 
rubbish. These obstructions should be obviated so far as 
possible; but it would be useless to attempt any such 
amendment and regulation of the bed of the stream as is 
prescribed in other cases. 
The ravine through which it runs is much too densely 
shaded and there is too little opportunity for the circula- 
tion of air. The more completely its smaller trees can be 
removed, and the more efficiently the whole ravine can be 34 
opened to the sunlight and to the free circulation of air, 
the better. The only spot along this course of the brook 
which is open to suspicion is the small low area near the 
corner of Broadway and the Sunnyside road. Here is a 
small, flat piece with the brook running on both sides of it, 
which should be as efficiently drained as the level of the 
culvert under Broadway will permit. All springs and wet 
places throughout the whole length of the ravine should 
be drained, all sand bars removed from the ponds and 
elsewhere, and the channel over the ledges and among the 
boulders should be so arranged as to retain as little rub- 
bish as possible. This being done, and precaution taken 
against the tilling of the ravine with leaves-by removing 
the excessive timber and by attention during the autumn 
-this part of the brook may be considered unobjection- 
able. West of Broadway the brook is so rapid in its fall 
and has so much rock and so very many large boulders 
along its course, that it is of no special importance to apply 
to it the rectification recommended in the case of the Bar- 
ney brook; nor would it be possible, with reasonable cost, 
to secure this. Directions concerning its improvement, so 
far as the water-course is concerned, may be condensed in- 
to this statement-that it should have as free and constant 
a channel, and offer as little occasion for the accumulation 
of sticks, leaves, etc., as possible. In those exceptional cases, 
where its bed is too wide and where the ravine is made too 
wet by the stream, it will be necessary, even at the expense 
of cutting through the ledge, to lower its channel suffici- 
ently to draw its water away from the sides of the ravine. 
For pretty nearly its whole course, as far as the edge of 
the flat, it is very much too densely shaded ; and although 
there is less undergrowth than along some other streams, 
there is far too much forest growth, and trees sufficiently 
near the brook to cast their shadow upon it, should be 
rigorously removed to such an extent that no part of its 
course may be open to even the suspicion of dankness. 
The clearing thus recommended will be much less 35 
detrimental to the beauty of the valley than might be 
feared, there being very many line specimens of trees 
to be left, whose beauty, when fully exposed, will well 
compensate for the present shaded condition. 
Jaffray's upper pond, above the aqueduct, in its present 
condition is (Nov. 15,) unquestionably bad. Close to the 
dam it has a sufficient depth of water, but its upper end 
is very shallow, being apparently filled with silt. A pond 
of this size, in the course of a stream of this character, 
must inevitably accumulate a considerable amount of silt 
annually; and in a ravine shaded even to the extent 
that this will be even after the clearing has been finished is 
quite sure to receive a large annual contribution of 
leaves. I see no way in which it can be made en- 
tirely unobjectionable except by opening its dam to the 
bottom and restoring the original character of the brook. 
By lowering its level one foot, and by excavating its 
whole bottom to the rock, or to a depth of three feet be- 
low the surface of the water, its character would be very 
much mitigated ; but even then the objections to it would, 
in' my opinion, outweigh any benefit to be derived 
from it. 
The double pond at the lower end of Jaffray's place is 
open to all the objections of the larger one, and the beds 
of both these are now badly silted up and fouled with or- 
ganic matter. It seems to me important that its two 
dams be removed, its accumulated silt and organic matter 
cleared out, and the brook restored to its natural condi- 
tion. It is not my province to express an opinion as to 
the beauty of ponds of this character; I am considering 
them simply from the sanitary point of view ; and it seems 
to me that in this regard the weight of argument is en- 
tirely against their retention. 
On the Irving property, the brook after crossing the 
Sunnyside road runs northeasterly to the base of the hill 
and then turns sharply around toward the southwest, en- 
closing an open low space, a part of which seems to have 36 
been arranged to serve as an ice pond. It would be bet- 
ter to carry the brook through the present ice pond by 
lowering the crest of the ledge four feet to furnish effi- 
cient drainage. With a view to possible springs coming 
out from the high hill to the north, the old channel of 
the brook should be kept open for their removal. After 
crossing the Sunnyside road and re-entering Fargo's place, 
there is a level stretch about 100 feet long which is insuffi- 
ciently drained. The brook should be lowered at least 
one foot, and if this does not remove the surplus water a 
drain should be laid along the northern border of the 
tract delivering into the brook at its lower end. From 
here to the edge of the bay which is enclosed by the rail- 
road, the clearing out of the forest growth is the only im- 
provement needed. 
The continuation of the brook through the flat will be 
considered in connection with the recommendation for 
the improvement of the river front. 37 
Section 4. 
TIFFANY-MATTHIESSEN BROOK. 
This is a continuation of a stream on Williams' land 
which there runs for a considerable distance through a 
12-inch pipe, and then through a culvert which discharges 
about 25 feet west of Broadway. At the immediate 
point of exit there is a duck pool which needs attention. 
From this point to the culvert under the Aqueduct? 
the brook has, except for the last 100 feet, a sufficiently 
active fall but is considerably obstructed with loose stones 
and an accumulation of leaves. After the brook crosses the 
boundary between Tiffany and Matthiessen, it passes by a 
shallow ditch through wet land which continues down to the 
Aqueduct. In this land there is a spring on the same 
level with the brook. The culvert lies at a sufficiently low 
level, and this part of the stream should be lowered to the 
depth of four feet below the general level of its banks, its 
bottom being a paved gutter, and its banks sloped and 
sodded. Should this not be sufficient to remove the 
sources of moisture from the adjoining land, a header 
drain of broken stone or tiles should be constructed along 
the outer edge of the wet portion. 
After crossing the Aqueduct, this brook runs through a 
very large stone walled channel, which is covered for 
about 135 feet of its length. The covering is in bad con- 
dition, the timbers supporting it having in places rotted 
away, so that the roof has fallen in and made more or less 38 
deposit in the channel. The depression, through which it 
flows seems to be in a good and wholesome condition, and 
the natural course of the stream, all the way to the river, 
is uniformly sufficiently rapid. A little distance below 
the mouth of the covered conduit there is a small dam 
which I recommend removing. The accumulation of 
muck and decayed leaves should be cleared out, and this 
part of the course should receive the same treatment 
recommended for the rest of it. From the point below 
this, where it enters Matthiessen's land, to the dam under 
the drive-way, the brook is almost without fall; its 
bed is six feet wide, partly covered, in dry times, with 
only a thin film of water, which is in hot weather more or 
less foul from stagnation. The surface of its water is 
only 12 or 15 inches below the level of the ground on 
each side, most of which is decidedly and dangerously 
damp. 
At the time the examination was made, the amount of 
water flowing over the dam might have been carried by 
a half inch pipe. As the fall at this point is about nine 
feet, it is only necessary to remove all loose material and 
lower the dam to secure the necessary depth for perfect 
drainage. Below here, the brook accumulates a consider- 
able deposit of leaves, which, at the time of examination, 
was sufficient entirely to hide the water. The land to the 
north of the brook, between the two roads, is quite wet 
and should be drained. Tins land now is on about the 
same level with the bed of the brook. After crossing the 
road the brook continues on around the south side of an 
artificial pond-artificial to the last degree-which is sup- 
plied by a wooden spout bridging the brook, and convey- 
ing the water of the spring on south side of it. I believe 
that the retention of this pond is incompatible with a 
healthy condition, and I recommend that it be entirely 
abandoned, the land being restored to its original condi- 
tion, or as nearly so as may be done by leveling the banks 
-and dam by which the pond is formed. Several consider- 39 
able springs flow into this pond, or rise from its bottom. 
These should be drained away through the general trend 
of the valley, striking the brook at a convenient point. 
Probably they could all be collected in a cask, at a suffi- 
cient height to work a ram; perhaps less efficiently than it 
may be worked by the present pond, but the fall seems 
ample to give a satisfactory result. The land immediately 
around this pond is now very wet and objectionable, but 
the simple act of restoring its original condition and drain- 
ing its bed where necessary will be all that is needed, so 
far as the ground is concerned. It seems to me to be 
much too closely shut in by trees, and I recommend that 
at least every alternate evergreen forming the circle about 
it be taken away, and that the grove to the north of it, 
behind this row of evergreens, be considerably thinned 
out and thoroughly cleared up. 
A short distance below, the brook flows through a cov- 
ered channel under Tiffany's cow yard. It is to be recom- 
mended that especial care be taken to keep the wash of 
the yard from running into the brook. After leaving this 
culvert, the brook soon enters Tiffany's pond. At the 
time of the examination, the water at the upper end of 
this pond was only one foot deep, and vegetation grow- 
ing upon it reached the surface of the water. Consider- 
able patches of thick green scum were floating on the 
water at several points. It would be practicable to retain 
this pond, if thought very desirable, but, in that case, its 
upper portion, and, indeed, all its edges should be exca- 
vated to a considerable greater depth, and it should be 
extended toward the south to a good depth, quite to the 
foot of the steep hill. That part of the bank, which is now 
only eight or ten inches above the surface of the water, being 
cutaway. Farther down its course the brook receives house 
sewage through a six-inch vitrified pipe. Some of this 
sewage matter makes an obvious deposit farther down the 
stream. From this point to the flat, the fall is very much 
less than above. 40 
Throughout nearly the whole course of this brook, from 
the Aqueduct to the flat, the banks are sufficiently high, 
save where the water is held back by dams, which should 
be removed. The fall is sufficiently rapid to give a cleans- 
ing flow, even when the stream is small, were it not for 
the fact that its bed is very much broken up and obstruct- 
ed by a confusion of boulders, drift-wood, etc. I advise 
that every dam in the course of the stream from the Aque- 
duct to the river, save, if insisted upon, that of Tiffany's 
pond, be removed; that the boulders and rubbish be en- 
tirely cleared out from its bed, and that it be given a 
smoothly-paved concave gutter at a depth of at least three 
feet below the immediate banks. Owing to the character 
of these banks, it will, as a rule, be easier and cheaper to 
protect them with stone walls than with sodded slopes, 
though in exceptional places the latter are to be preferred. 
Much of the lower course of the stream is through a 
thickly shaded deep ravine. From the sides of this ravine, 
and from the land adjoining the brook higher up the stream, 
all underbrush should be cleared away, and, preferably, all 
but the finer trees should be removed ; certainly enough of 
them to admit of the free circulation of air and a suffi- 
cient admission of sunlight to the brook and its vicinity 
throughout the whole of its lower course. There are 
other springs than those mentioned above, and there are 
small tracts of land near the course of the brook which 
should be thoroughly drained. 
If the brook can be reduced to the level indicated, and 
furnished with a uniform and easily scoured bed; if the 
trees and bushes are sufficiently cleared away; and if all 
springs and wet places are adequately drained, no fear of 
malaria arising from this source need be longer appre- 
hended. 41 
Section 5. 
SHELDON BROOK. 
The main stem of this brook takes its rise in the 
Sheldon swamp some distance east of Broadway. It need 
not claim our attention till it approaches Chestnut avenue. 
Just above this point its bed is too wide and wet. This 
difficulty may be removed by straightening and deepen- 
ing the course of the brook, throwing the main stream 
through the depression now followed by a minor branch 
of it. 
After the brook crosses Chestnut avenue, it runs along 
the foot of the hill which rises to the west The land on 
that side is mainly sufficiently dry, but for a length of 
about one hundred feet and a width of about twenty feet, 
it is very wet Farther to the south a depressed piece is 
made unduly wet by the water of a spring; about fifty 
feet to the east, between the brook and the west line of 
Chestnut avenue, the land is low, very wet, and overgrown 
with alders. Chestnut avenue seems at this point to 
have been constructed across an area of wet land- 
and the condition existing between the brook and the 
west line of the avenue is repeated in a tract about three 
hundred feet long and fifty feet or more wide, east of 
the avenue. All of this area may be easily drained by a 
sufficient deepening of the brook, and by the digging of 
such deep ditches as may be needed to lead all of the water 
of springs and marshy tracts to it. This will probably 
require the deepening of the culvert under Chestnut 42 
avenue. The bed of the stream should here be paved 
with stone, as described in previous sections, and its 
banks should be properly sloped and sodded. 
From this point past Redfield's barns, and on to within 
fifty feet of the culvert under the Croton Aqueduct, the 
brook should be so deepened that its bed shall be at least 
three feet lower than the level of its immediate banks, or 
as nearly so as the grade of the culvert under the aque- 
duct will permit. The course of this part of the brook is 
tortuous, and it is very much obstructed and overgrown 
with alders. These should be removed not only from 
its banks, but from all wet lands in its vicinity. Below 
the line of Redfield's barns, on the other side of Chestnut 
avenue, there is some decidedly wet land, the water of 
which flows across the avenue. This should be drained 
into the brook by sufficiently deep ditches. The brook 
itself should here be regulated as to its banks and its bed 
as prescribed for other similar cases. 
After passing the Croton Aqueduct, the brook enters a 
large pond on Clark's property, which is formed by a long 
embankment and a stretch of mason work closing in 
the mouth of a shallow valley. The pond is too large for 
the ordinary dry-weather flow to keep it in a thoroughly 
fresh condition. It is much too shallow about its edges. 
Part of its natural bank on the south-east side is so low 
and level that a considerable area is saturated. The arti- 
ficial barrier forming the dam is inadequate to its work. 
The leakage through it forms a swampy tract, extending 
for several hundred feet along the north side of Sheldon 
avenue, and in places about seventy-five feet wide. The 
chief useful purpose of this pond seems to be to supply 
water to two rams located a little below it. Concerning 
its value as an object of beauty I have no occasion to ex- 
press an opinion; but it seems to me that any considera- 
tion of this character is greatly outweighed by the fact 
that it serves to create a good deal of wet land below it, 
that it is at the worst season of the year more or less stag- 43 
nant, and that it offers a large surface for the evaporation 
of water which properly belongs to the lower stretch of 
the brook. I advise that the pond be entirely abandoned, 
its mason-work dam being removed, and that the rams to 
which it now furnishes water, be supplied through a pipe 
leading from a cask or small reservoir located at the west- 
ern end of the culvert under the Aqueduct. The pond 
being destroyed, the brook should - be carried on the 
straightest course practicable from the culvert under the 
Aqueduct to the culvert under Sheldon avenue. It 
should be, so far as practicable, three feet or more below 
the level of the land, as this is to remain after the emptying 
of the pond Its bed should be paved and its sides 
sloped and grassed as prescribed. 
South of Sheldon avenue, the brook flows in a 
channel with carefully-protected banks, through the settle- 
ment known as Penny Bridge. It seems to be fated, no 
matter how well a country may be improved, that any 
considerable tract of low swampy land within it shall be 
occupied by laboring people and persons in poor cir- 
cumstances who depend for their livelihood upon the serv- 
ing of their more fortunate neighbors, and who need 
domiciles within easy reach of them. This is eminently 
a district of such character. All that was said in a pre- 
ceding section of this Report concerning the village of 
Abbottsfbrd applies with redoubled force, because of the 
larger population and the wetter land, to Penny Bridge. 
One would be justified in using vigorous languge to de- 
scribe its sanitary condition. It lies directly in view 
of all who pass up and down Broadway, and those inter- 
ested in such matters may penetrate its hidden and filthy 
and saturated recesses and examine it for themselves. It 
is not worse than hundreds of other villages of its class, but 
it is not a proper place for human habitation ; nor is it a 
worthy neighbor of the estates by which it is surrounded. 
It must contain more of the elements of possible infection 
than any other spot in the district under consideration. 44 
It has been suggested that its worst features might 
be removed by raising the level of its streets and of its 
house lots. This would be a costly operation. The only 
purpose to be accomplished by filling in the ground, 
would be to increase the difference of level between the 
surface and the line of saturation in the soil; this may be 
quite as effectually accomplished, and much more cheaply, 
by leaving the surface as it is, and lowering the level of 
the water in the soil. 
It is not only the immediate surroundings of the houses 
of Penny Bridge that need amelioration, but equally so a 
wide stretch of wet and often swampy land reaching on 
to Gurnee's property, quite back to the Croton Aqueduct. 
This lajid is sure, sooner or later, if left in its present con- 
dition, to be taken up by a population similar to that now 
forming the village in question, and any increase of such 
population, living under such conditions, is quite sure to 
be a menace to the health of the community. 
The improvement undertaken here should be quite radi- 
cal. In my opinion, the level of the brook through the 
whole village and the culvert under Broadway, should be 
reduced fully three feet below the present grade, a 
depth which may be secured by the requisite deepening 
of the brook west of Broadway. The brook throughout 
its whole course, from the north side of Sheldon avenue to 
Broadway, should run through a paved channel, not more 
than three feet wide and not less than one foot deep, of 
circular section. It should nowhere be a covered culvert, 
but always open to the air. Owing to the depth at which 
this channel must be placed below the surface of the 
ground, and to the fact that much of the land through 
which it passes, is occupied by small house lots, it will be 
better, for economy of space, to use walled banks than 
sloped and sodded banks; but these should be so con- 
structed, that their permanence may be secured. In a 
brook of this character any considerable caving in of the 
sides, might, in a time of freshet, lead to serious injury to 45 
other parts of the construction. The brook now runs 
southerly from Sheldon avenue, for the depth of a house 
lot, and then turns to the westward. It would 
bring it too near the house to straighten its course 
from the culvert to the old channel of the brook; but this 
sharp corner should by all means be made more gradual, 
the turn being made on a curve with a radius of not less 
than fifty feet. 
The work of deepening the brook, as above recom- 
mended, is hardly more than a means to an end; for the 
brook in itself, except for its great width, is now in toler- 
able condition. The purpose of deepening it is to afford 
a sufficiently low out-fall for the drainage of the house lots 
of the village itself, and of the low Gurnee meadow. This 
latter, in its present condition, can hardly fail to be 
an active agent in the fostering, if not in the genera- 
tion, of malaria. The same motive, or the same authority, 
which would direct the improvement of the brook should 
be made to include the sufficient drainage of these neigh- 
boringlands. ft is probably not necessary for sanitary rea- 
sons alone that any regular system of tile drainage be re- 
sorted to, but it is important that the wet land, south and 
east of the village, be furnished with sufficient deep and 
properly-constructed ditches, to secure the permanent re- 
moval of its surplus water, and that all the evident 
sources of water from the highlands lying about it, in- 
cluding, of course, the culvert under the Aqueduct 
be led to it by such means as shall remain permanent 
and efficient without frequent attention. There are indica- 
tions in the ditches and the tile drains on the Gurnee 
land, that an effort has, at some previous time, been made 
to bring it into good condition; but, partly owing to the 
lack of a sufficiently deep outlet, and partly to the fact 
that the ditches were not so constructed as to withstand 
the action of time, they have become more or less ineffi- 
cient, and much of the land has reverted to its former 
swampy character. 46 
The land of this village, and that adjoining it, being 
made "high and dry," as it readily may be, it will proba- 
bly be unnecessary to do more with the simple object of 
removing agencies tending to create or to foster fever 
and ague. 
The influence that such communities have in the prop- 
agation of typhoid fever, and other zymotic diseases, 
renders it important that this work be supplemented by 
an efficient and well-administered system of local or dis- 
trict sewerage. The household wastes may be disposed 
of by the method that was suggested in the case of the 
village of Abbottsford, or, which seems here more feasi- 
ble, it may be carried through a six-inch earthen-ware 
sewer pipe to the Hudson river, in connection, if this is 
desirable, with the drainage of other property along the 
route. Should the latter method be approved, all the 
houses of the village may be drained directly into the 
sewer, and this may be kept clean by the action of a 
large automatic flush tank, supplied with water by a one 
inch pipe from the brook above. If this flush tank is 
made large enough, having a capacity of say 5,000 gal- 
lons,the discharge of its contents through a four-inch siphon 
would have a sufficient scouring effect to cleanse the 
whole sewer thoroughly at least twice a day, and to 
carry its contents quite through to the Hudson river. 
The use of ash closets, or earth closets, should be made 
compulsory, and proper attention to these, as well :is to 
the removal of dry garbage, should be ensured by proper 
inspection. Due provision being thus made for the 
removal of the dry and liquid wastes of the household, it 
will only remain to abolish all such sources of fouling of 
the ground as hog-pens, and badly kept stables and poul- 
try yards, to make this village as healthy a place of resi- 
dence as though it were located on the driest hill-top in 
Westchester county. 
Concerning the course of this brook after it crosses 
Broadway, it is not necessary for me to say more than that 47 
it should be made to afford a permanent good outlet to 
the deepened culvert under Broadway. The work is in 
the hands of the engineer of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, 
and will doubtless be properly executed. I must, how- 
ever, express the hope that their improvement will include 
such a thinning out of the trees, and other growth which 
border the brook throughout much of its course on 
the Asylum property, as shall secure a thorough aeration 
and sunning of the tract through which it runs. 
A considerable branch of this stream takes its rise in a 
spring south-east of Gurnee's house, which spring is con- 
ducted by an underground channel to a well-conditioned 
pond of considerable size on the high land. The outlet 
of this pond, for some distance, is by a covered channel. 
From the lower end of this to the pond on Merritt's 
property, east of Broadway, the stream runs mainly 
through a fairly good natural channel, but it would be 
improved by being deepened and rectified, and it would 
be decidedly better that the wet tracts bordering it on the 
north side, south from Gurnee's house, should be efficient- 
ly drained,-a header drain being run along the hill to 
collect the water which now breaks out in springs at the 
upper edge of these tracts. If the supply of water in this 
brook is what the character of the pond above-referred to 
would indicate, there is no doubt that very simple work 
in the way of straightening, and providing a suitable bed 
for the stream, will be the only improvement required. 
Merritt's pond is, in my opinion, too high. It cannot 
fail to have an unfavorable effect on the low land by 
which it is bordered on the south-west. I recommend 
that its water level be reduced at least eighteen inches by 
lowering its outlet. This lowering of the water will proba- 
bly make it necessary to deepen its bed to a slight 
extent; at least so far as to secure a uniform depth of 
not less than three feet. 
After crossing Broadway the brook passes through 
Merritt's property and a portion of Terry's by an under- 48 
ground conduit,which seems to be in satisfactory condition. 
Parts of the triangular piece of Terry's property, between 
the Aqueduct and Broadway, are too wet, but as the 
culvert under the Aqueduct is sufficiently low it will be 
an easy m tter to provide a satisfactory outlet for all 
water having its source either in this brook, in any leak- 
age from the Aqueduct, or in the wash from Broadway, 
and to put the land in a dry and sound condition. The 
present dam at this point should be removed. 
Terry's ponds, in the course of this brook, are inge- 
niously devised and carefully constructed. Supposing 
them to have a sufficient summer water supply, the 
chief criticism that 1 am disposed to make concerning 
them is that the water level, especially in the large 
lower pond, is too near the surface of the ground. The 
immediate borders of this pond, and of the island which 
it contains, are certainly too wet to be wholesome. 
In my opinion, this immediate district would be 
healthier, and in every way better, if the thick growth 
of trees, with which it is now covered, were considerably 
thinned out. The outlet of Terry's ponds and the main 
line of the brook which flows around them is through a 
good underground conduit which delivers the water on to 
the Asylum property where it is being provided with a 
deep channel by work now going on. 49 
Section 6. 
HOLMES'S BROOK. 
This brook takes its rise in swampy land, high up on 
the hill north of Benedict avenue. Its condition is sat- 
isfactory until it crosses this avenue. North of the ave- 
nue, and just west of the crossing, there is a small swampy 
tract which it would be well to drain and clear up. 
After crossing Benedict avenue the brook enters Stew- 
art's land, which slopes rapidly to the west. The natural 
course of the brook follows a broad and shallow ravine, 
which has been ingeniously and perversely converted into 
three large ponds-much too large for the dry-weather 
flow of the stream, and all of them eminently objection- 
able. They follow each other iri quick succession, and 
a considerable portion of the boundary of each pond is a 
huge artificial mound of earth, supplemented with more 
or less stone work. These barriers, in places, leak and 
are in bad condition, all tending to moisten the ground 
below them. This condition is conspicuous with refer- 
ence to the dam of the lower one of the three ponds, 
where on the last of November, notwithstanding the 
heavy rains of the week previous, no water was flowing 
over the dam, and a copious flow was leaking out at 
several points below it. 
These ponds are to be regarded as decidedly prejudicial 
to health, and there is no way in which they can be made 
harmless. I recommend that the dams and embankments 
be entirely removed; that the valley be restored to its 50 
original condition and brought into wholesome grass; and 
that the brook be continued through their present beds by 
a deep, stone-guttered channel, with well-sloped and 
sodded banks. The ram which is now driven by the 
water of one of the ponds may be efficiently supplied by 
sinking a cask in or near the course of the brook at a 
sufficiently elevated point. On the day of my last visit 
(December 3d) the land between the stable and the 
lower pond, that between the stable and the hill toward the 
house, and that south-west of the stable, was springy and 
almost swampy. Evidently, no inconsiderable amount of 
water, escaping through the dam, finds its way through 
the cellar of the stable. The spot south-west of the sta- 
ble is especially bad. The whole condition of this tract 
may be efficiently rectified by simply continuing the brook 
through a channel of the prescribed form with a depth of 
at least three feet below the general level of its banks, 
and carried by the most direct practicable course through 
all of this wet land. It is possible that even after the 
removal of the dams, one or two original springs in the 
vicinity of the stable may remain active; if so, these 
may easily be led to the bed of the brook by two-inch 
tile drains. 
From this point to the first pond on Hoe's land, the 
brook has considerable fall; but its channel is obstructed 
by stones, and roots, and bushes, and weeds, and its flow 
is often impeded by the sudden deviations of its course. 
At several points it is bordered on one or both sides by 
strips of low, wet lands which are made wet, in some 
cases, by the water of the brook itself, and in others by 
the inflowing of spring water from the hill. The north- 
ern part of Hoe's eastern field, between Benedict avenue 
and the brook, obviously needs draining. On the occa- 
sion of my last visit, I found considerable areas of this 
field covered with standing water, although the rain had 
ceased twenty-four hours before. The draining of this 
land, aside from its agricultural advantage would have, 51 
presumably, a good sanitary effect. It will not be possi- 
ble along the whole, nor indeed along any very consider- 
able stretch of the brook between Stewart's stable and 
Hoe's pond, to adopt the exact method prescribed for 
brooks running through level or smooth land. It is only 
necessary to say, in a general way, that the brook should 
be deepened wherever this is practicable; and that it should 
have, except where it passes over rocky bottom, a well- 
paved bed, not to exceed 18 inches in width, and that its 
banks should be protected by sodding or by stone work. 
Especially should all bushes be cleared away from it, and 
all springs and marshy tracts should have their water led 
directly to it by sufficient deep ditches. Although no 
uniform system of rectification can be adopted for this 
part of the brook, it will be easy to bring it into whole* 
some and satisfactory condition, and to deprive the land 
bordering on it of its present objectionable wet and over- 
grown character. 
Between Hoe's farm-road and his western line--the Croton 
Aqueduct-much work of an expensive character has been 
done, including the construction of four ponds, which are 
wholly, or in part, surrounded by excellent masonry. The 
low land near them has been drained, though there are 
now some indications of dampness. I cannot say that 
there is a decidedly objectionable condition at any point. 
At the same time, the land above the upper pond is wet 
and cannot well be made sufficiently dry except by lower- 
ing or removing the dam of that pond; and the same may 
be true to a less degree of some portion of the land adjoin- 
ing the second and fourth ponds. The third pond is too 
shallow, and it and the brook near it are polluted by 
washings from a poultry yard to an objectionable extent 
Certainly, if there were no point in the district under con- 
sideration in a worse condition than this portion of the 
course of the brook, there would be no reason to suppose 
that malaria, if it existed, was caused by local conditions. 
I make the foregoing suggestions, not because I consider 52 
them absolutely necessary to the securing of the object 
now in hand, but because I believe that they constitute a 
material improvement. So far as the land south of the 
fourth pond is concerned, the one nearest to the Croton 
Aqueduct, if it should be deemed necessary to drain it 
more efficiently, it may be drained to an outlet near the 
culvert under the Aqueduct, without lowering the level of 
the pond. These ponds, except, perhaps, the first or high- 
est one, are too small to be considered especially detriment- 
al on the score of evaporation. 
The brook and pond on the property between the 
Aqued uct and Broadway, are also in good condition ; but 
the land north and south of this line seems to be unduly 
damp. From its situation it may be satisfactorily drained 
to the culvert under Broadway, without disturbing the 
pond ; though this, from its height, is doubtless in part the 
source of the moist condition. 
After crossing Broadway the brook enters Lewis' land, 
and almost immediately spreads out to form two ponds of 
considerable size. These are surrounded by excellent 
walls of masonry, and if they can be kept sufficiently 
deep (three feet) will offer no serious objection, save that 
they have considerable surface for evaporation. The 
small water-way by which the overflow of the upper 
pond is carried around by the channel to the north into 
the lower pond, needs improvement; and a decided 
thinning out of the enclosing trees is most advisable. 
From the lower one of these ponds, down to the road 
which borders Smith's property on the east, and, in the 
main, as far as the projection of the west line of Smith's 
house, the brook is in good condition with well kept 
banks and bed, save for the existence of three ponds, 
which, considering their situation in a shaded ravine, it 
would be advisable to remove entirely. The second of 
these ponds, that near the foot of the road above referred 
to, has hardly more than six inches depth of water, and 
is, in my belief, an objectionable neighbor for the houses 53 
about it. I am decidedly of the opinion that it would be 
best to clear away all dams in the course of this part of 
the brook, and thence to the railroad to give the stream 
as free and direct a flow as possible; removing all re- 
movable obstructions, straightening the course so far as 
practicable, securing a good stone-paved bed for the flow 
to ensure a rapid run throughout the whole ravine. 
Smith's ram may be supplied with water without diffi- 
culty by the use of a short pipe leading from a cask set in 
the course of the brook. Between this dam and the river 
there are several points where the land bordering the 
stream is unduly wet and springy. This condition it is 
important to remove, either by cutting off its springs and 
giving them an outlet at a point lower down the brook, or 
by lowering the brook itself and draining the springs 
directly to it. In the lower course of this brook, it is en- 
tered by two or three vitrified sewer pipes, carrying laun- 
dry and water-closet waste, which condition is eminently 
and fatally objectionable. All such foul drainage should 
either be carried direct to the river or be disposed of, by 
absorption drains or otherwise, upon the property where it 
is produced. 
The part of this ravine near Lewis's house is sufficiently 
open and its banks are well-covered with grass, but lower 
down it is in many places too densely shaded and too 
much shut out from the circulation of air. If free access 
can be given to sunlight and wind, the ponds destroyed, 
the bed of the brook put in good condition, and the wet 
places along its banks drained, it seems to me that every 
local cause of malaria will be removed from the vicinity 
of the houses lying north of it. 
The outlet of the brook, by a fall over a ledge of rock 
and through a culvert of which the bottom is up to high 
water mark, is all that can be desired. 54 
Section 7. 
THE RIVER FRONT. 
It is only restating the generally accepted belief of all 
who reside in malarious districts along the Hudson river, 
to say that, without doubt, the building of the railroad 
embankment across the mouths of the bays or indentations 
of shore, thus impending water which formerly bad the 
free sweep of the waves, has been the first great cause in 
the production of malaria wherever, throughout the whole 
district, it exists as an epidemic. All experience, observa- 
tion, and accepted theory point to the truth of this belief. 
It would hardly be imprudent to say that in so far as fever 
and ague has become epidemic along this high, airy and 
generally well-drained district, it has taken its origin in 
these bays, and has followed the favoring courses which 
wet ravines and dense vegetation have afforded, to invade 
the smaller swamps or damp tracts farther inland. Indeed, 
there is some reason to suppose that in many cases 
the existence of malaria at a distance from the shore, 
where there is not a good intervening belt of trees, may 
be due to the wafting inland of morbific influences from 
these starting points. Instances without number have 
been observed in various parts of the world where mala- 
ria, obviously originating on the low and ill-kept banks of 
rivers and ponds, has had far less influence at its point of 55 
origin than on the hill-sides above them and some distance 
away from them. 
In seeking a theory concerning these bays, it is instruc- 
tive to recall the conditions existing on the Schuylkill 
River, Philadelphia, early observations of which, by the 
elder Dr. Pepper, have been kindly communicated to me, 
together with his own more recent ones, by his son and 
professional successor. They are substantially as follows : 
The Schuylkill River was originally quite a rapid, shal- 
low stream. Malaria was entirely unknown along its 
banks, and it became the favorite resort of the wealthier 
class of the population who lined its banks on both sides, 
and for some distance, with the finest country seats. Sub- 
sequently, in the construction of the Water-works for 
Philadelphia, a dam was built across the river at Fairmount, 
setting the water back for a long distance up the stream. 
Within a short time after this, aggravated malaria was de- 
veloped, which became so serious and severe as to lead to 
the practical abandonment of the banks as a place of 
summer residence. Dr. Pepper believes that this effect 
was clearly due to the fact that the stagnant water over- 
flowed the former banks for a considerable distance, and 
submerged ground which was rich with an old accumula- 
tion of vegetation. As the level of the river constantly 
rose and fell with varying rain-falls, and in different 
seasons, the alternate exposure and saturation of this 
ground generated malaria. Some years later, a line of 
steamers was put on the river above the dam, and it was 
soon noticed that the frequent agitation of the water and 
the sweep of the shore by the following waves of the 
boats washed away much of the decomposing vegetable 
matters, and caused a very marked diminution in the 
amount and in the severity of the malarial diseases. Still 
later, as the manufacturing industry of the city increased, 
factories were built along the banks of the Schuylkill, 
and factory villages became numerous and populous. 
This led to a very filthy condition of the banks ; all man- 56 
ner of organic matter being deposited upon them, and 
malaria again increased. Doubtless the upturning of soil in 
the building of the mills, roads, etc., added to this effect. 
A few years since, with a view to purifying the sources of 
the city's supply of water, the banks of the Schuylkill 
and of its branch, the Wissahickon, were taken by the 
city for a public park, and came under the energetic con- 
trol of the Park Commission. The factories were removed. 
The population which had surrounded them, mainly went 
with them, and the most careful policing of the shores 
was rigorously and effectually carried out; so that 
malaria has finally not only decreased, but almost entirely 
disappeared. 
Before the building of the Hudson River Railroad, no 
matter what decaying vegetation or other foul matters 
might be deposited upon the shore of the river within 
reach of the tide, it was quite sure to be washed away by 
the frequent action of the waves, while the regular cover- 
ing of the shore with salt water prevented the growth of 
any abundant aquatic vegetation. After the building of 
the embankment, the action of the waves was entirely 
shut off, and the only movement given to the water was 
by its sluggish inflow and outflow, as the tide rose and fell, 
through the more or less copious culverts furnished by the 
constructing engineers-furnished evidently without refer- 
ence to the effect they would have upon the bays enclosed, 
but only as measures of security for their own work. Lit- 
tle by little the earth and rubbish from the upland accu- 
mulated in these bays, raising a considerable portion 
of their edges above the reach of ordinary tides, and there 
sprung up a fresh-water growth of cat-tails, alders, bushes, 
etc. This, accumulating year by year, and increasing 
always the amount of injurious material, and raising the 
edges, and in some instances, nearly the whole area of 
these former bays, produced a condition akin to that of the 
shores of the Schuylkill, after the raising of the water- 
works dam. They are alternately wet and dry ; they arc 57 
largely composed of decaying vegetable matter, and they 
seem in every way to favor the production of the most 
malarious conditions of the atmosphere over them. 
In one respect they are very much worse than any con- 
dition of the shores of the Schuylkill, though, being 
relatively of less extent, it is not to be presumed that the 
intensity of their effect is correspondingly increased. 
There is no doubt that the regular covering, even of 
muck deposits, by ordinary tides, where the salt water 
is not mixed with fresh water, the salt acts as an antisep- 
tic ; and purely salt marshes are rarely the source of ma- 
laria. But there is ample recorded observation to show 
that however bad may be the effect of the decomposition 
of vegetable matter, alternately exposed to the air and 
covered by water, on the banks of fresh water streams and 
ponds, this effect is greatly intensified, and all the malari- 
ous conditions are seriously aggravated by an admixture 
of salt water with the fresh-perhaps because the fresh 
water existing there, or coming from higher land, contains 
a considerable amount of algoid vegetation peculiar to 
fresh water, which even a slight admixture with salt water 
causes to die, thus increasing the amount of decomposable 
organic matter. 
Russell, in an article on " Malaria," Pop. Science Monthly, 
Vol. X., p. 419, says: "Localities subject to the inter- 
mixture of salt and fresh water are peculiarly prone to 
malaria." He cites the case of the Maremma of -Lucca- 
marshes containing pools of fresh water which were fre- 
quently invaded by the tide. Malarial fevers made the 
whole district almost uninhabitable. In 1740, the sea 
was excluded from the most unhealthful marsh. The 
fevers were entirely removed and the district was made 
salubrious. Viarreggio-previously abandoned-became 
a fashionable resort. In 1768-9, the work having become 
defective, and the admixture of water again taking place, 
the fevers became again as bad as ever. They were once 
more removed by restoring the barrier against the sea. 58 
In 1784-5 the sea water found renewed entrance, and out 
of a population of 1900, 1200 had malarial fever. A 
restoration of the works restored the healthy condition. 
Other portions of the Maremma were subsequenly rescued 
by the same means. 
Whatever the theory as to the process, the certainty of 
the effect is not to be doubted. Any serious attempt to 
remove these gravest causes of any malaria which may 
exist in the Irvington district must have in view the re- 
moval of the following conditions: 
1st. The existence of a soil rich in vegetable matter, 
which is either constantly moist or alternately saturated 
and exposed to the air. 
2nd. The existence of shallow, stagnant water of too 
little depth to keep the heat of the sun from producing 
decomposition, or fostering low forms of vegetable growth 
at its bottom. 
3d. The entrance of salt water for admixture with the 
fresh water existing upon any such land. 
If these three conditions can be removed, I believe that 
the production of malaria at these points will be obviated 
I also believe that in the case in hand they may be easily, 
effectually, and permanently removed. 
It has been one of the most satisfactory results of my 
examination to find that in a great majority of cases the de- 
sired end may be accomplished without resorting to the 
very expensive and troublesome device of filling these 
bays to a considerable depth. 
Along the northern part of Wilde's front there is an 
especially bad flat about 625 feet long and 50 feet wide at 
its widest part. Its lowest point is two feet below ordi- 
nary high water. Its only means of outlet is through a 
small culvert 18 inches below high water, so that it al- 
ways retains water and receives an accession of river 
water at every tide. It is much overgrown with foul veg. 
etation, its bed is largely composed of decayed rushes and 
leaves; and, save for its distance from any house, espec- 59 
ially in the direction of the prevailing winds, and for the 
protection afforded by the closely overgrown bank, east of 
it, it is to be regarded as bad and dangerous. 
I recommend that the culvert now existing under the 
old part of the railroad be put in good condition to the 
depth of low water, and that it be continued to the same 
depth under the new or eastern track, its shore end being 
closed by a wall of cemented masonry and carried higher 
than the highest spring tides, so that the entrance of river 
water shall become impossible. The water coming down 
Wilde's ravine during storms should be kept from enter- 
ing the low land by an embankment, and. should have an 
outlet through a tide gate constructed in the upper part of 
the dam, barely low enough for the flow. At the level of 
low water the dam should be furnished with an six-inch 
pipe, having a tight Hap valve opening outward, and hav- 
ing attached to its inner end a second effective backwater 
valve also with a six-inch water way. ^This double protec- 
tion is advised for the reason, that, while a flap valve is 
ordinarily effective in excluding the water of a rising tide, 
tiie accidental introduction of a twig or other substance 
between the valve and its seat might hold it open suffi- 
ciently far for a considerable inflow of water. In 
such case the second valve would prevent the 
entrance of this water into the drain behind it. 
The admission of river water being thus excluded, 
and a free outlet being furnished for the drainage 
of the flat, I recommend that a broad ditch with grassed 
sides, running six inches above the level of low water, be 
carried through the whole length of the swamp. As there 
is no considerable source of water from the upland-no 
stream and no strong spring-the bottom of the ditch will 
probably not be too wet for a growth of grass; certainly 
only its immediate bottom will be too wet for a good per- 
manent growth. Any depressions in the swamp from 
which the water does not naturally flow toward this ditch 
should be connected with it by lateral water courses. 60 
sloped like the main ditch in such a way that the grass 
may be easily mown and kept in order. This and the 
proper cultivation of the surface, after the work is com- 
pleted and after the accumulated decaying organic matter 
has been removed or dug into the ground, is, in my 
opinion, all that will be required to convert this particu- 
larly bad stretch of the river front into a satisfactory and 
entirely inoffensive meadow. 
The northern part of D. Field's river front is occupied 
by a portion of a swamp similar to the one just described, 
and of which the upper half on Cottenet's front has been 
filled nearly to the level of the railroad track, and put in 
good condition. The outlet of this swamp is through a 
very large culvert under the railroad, and all that is need- 
ed, in the way of improvement, is to build a well-cement- 
ed stone wall across the inner end of the culvert 
provide a suitable double-valved pipe, as above 
described, and to treat Field's portion of the swamp pre- 
cisely as recommended for Wilde's. The condition of 
Cottenet's artificial meadow is now so good that no danger 
is probably to be apprehended from it-certainly none, 
if the salt river water is prevented from soaking into it, 
by the means above indicated. 
A considerable part of Schuyler's front was evidently 
at some former time since the building of the railroad in 
very much the same condition as Wilde's swamp. A con- 
siderable part of this swamp has been filled in to a suffi- 
cient height for perfect drainage, its western edge being 
bounded by a good dry wall. Between this wall and the 
railroad embankment, for a width of from 5 to 15 feet, and 
a length of about 700 feet, lies a portion of the original bot* 
tom, which, though of small area, combines nearly all of 
the unfavorable conditions to be found in the larger and 
more neglected swamps at other points. It contains a 
considerable accumulation of decayed or decaying 
organic matter and a decidedly injurious amount of 
aquatic vegetation. In addition to this, nearly the whole 61 
bottom is saturated with the water of the river, at every 
rise of the tide, and exposed at every fall of the tide- 
It has no stream of moment running into it, and its com- 
plete rectification may easily be effected by the construc- 
tion of a cemented stone wall in front of the culvert, 
provided with the device described above for excluding 
the tide-water. The whole bottom is sufficiently high to 
be efficiently drained through the low water flap-valve and 
the whole area may verv easily be brought into good and 
wholesome grass. In my judgment, nothing further will 
be needed for its complete rectification. 
In front of D. N. Barney's place, the former swamp has 
been filled and brought into grass, but without adequate 
drainage. It is now reverting to a swampy condition and 
cat-tails and bogs are appearing. Its sanitary condition is 
bad now, and it is evidently growing worse. Its lowest 
point is about one and one-half feet above high water, and 
the culvert by which its water escapes is six inches above 
high water. It is probable that spring tides flow in through 
the culvert and saturate the soil. I recommend that the 
culvert be lowered at least two feet, that its inner end be 
tightly closed and provided with a double valve pipe 
as above directed. This being done, the whole area of 
the former swamp should be adequately drained with 
tiles delivering at the above named valved outlet. 
The flat at the foot of the Sunnyside road exhibits a 
bad result of the cutting off of a bay of the Hudson 
River by the building of the railroad, made worse by an 
ineffectual attempt to put it into good condition by filling. 
The whole length of this flat from its south end on Tif- 
fany's land to its north end on the Irving property is about 
1,500 feet along the railroad, and the width, for a con- 
siderable distance, is 200 to 300 feet. 
In its present condition this tract is probably worse in 
its influence upon the health of those who live near it 
than it was before any attempt was made to improve it. 
The theory is very generally accepted that wet soil is 62 
worse than stagnant water as a producer of malaria. 
This whole flat, with hardly the exception of a square rod, 
is almost always more or less damp. 
It becomes, now, a serious question to decide what means 
may best be adopted for its improvement. It would un- 
doubtedly be effective to raise its level in every part to 
nearly the height of the railroad embankment; and then, 
cutting off all extraneous water coming in from the hills, 
thoroughly to underdrain the whole area. This however 
would be an extremely costly operation, and the amount 
of earth could with difficulty be obtained without defac- 
ing some portion of the hill-side. 
It seems to me that, in this case, the cheapest way is the 
best way. It has also the advantage that it may be un- 
dertaken at once, and completed before the opening of 
summer. 
My recommendation is as follows : 
1. Make new channels for Sunnyside brook, and for 
Matthiesseii's brook, having their beds, at the line of the 
railroad property, at least as high as ordinary high-water 
mark. The artificial channel thus constructed should be 
proportionate to the amount of flow to be accommodated : 
say in the case of the Sunnyside brook, a paved gutter 
of circular section, three feet wide at the top, and one foot 
deep in the middle; and in the case of the Matthiessen 
brook, 18 inches wide at the top, and six inches deep in 
the middle. To provide for excessive floods, these gutters 
should be bordered by mounds of earth two feet high, 
well compacted and carefully sodded. The course of the 
conduits should be, in both cases, as direct as possible; 
any deviation from the straight line should be through 
gradual curves. 
2. At the line of the railroad, each conduit should de- 
liver over the top of a strong dam of cemented masonry, 
for the entire exclusion of salt water entering through the 
culvert under the railroad. 
3. Surface gutters, following the contour of the hill, 63 
should lead to these conduits the surface wash of the 
steep hill-side between the two brooks, and, so far as may 
be necessary, from the side toward Tiffany's and the side 
toward Irving's. In other words, the flat should be, as 
far as possible, shut off from the entrance of surface-water 
or brook water coming in considerable quantity from any 
outside source. 
4. The land-water being diverted, and the tide-water 
being excluded, it only remains to provide for such water 
as may come to the land by rain-fall, by infiltration 
through the railroad embankment, or by underground 
springs discharging below the level of the hill-side gutter. 
This may be accomplished by a properly-arranged system 
of underdrains delivering through pipes having snugly- 
fitted double tide valves and discharging one foot above 
ordinary low tide-the pipes discharging through the dams 
above referred to, in front of the culverts. 
5. As the discharge must necessarily be intermittent, 
the flow being held back at each rise of the tide, it will 
be necessary to provide storage room of greater amount 
than the contents of any ordinary system of tile drains. 
For this purpose it would be well to construct in the center 
of the flat a reservoir, say 10 feet in diameter, built with 
loose stone walls, having its outlet one foot above the level 
of low tide; and to lay 6-inch tile drains,-laid on an in- 
clination of 1 in 400,-running directly east and west from 
the reservoir to within 30 feet of the foot of the hill on 
one side, and to within 30 feet of the line of the railroad 
on the other, having a branch running along the railroad as 
far as the middle of the Irving flat, and for a distance of 
about 150 feet southerly, also about 150 feet each way 
along the foot of the hill. Silt-basins should be constructed 
at the points of intersection. The reservoir should be con- 
nected by a straight 6-inch vitrified pipe drain running on 
a flat grade to the valved outlet through the dam at the 
Sunnyside Brook culvert. 
A corresponding arrangement, but of less extent, 64 
should be adopted for the Tiffany and Matthiesseh por- 
tions of the flat, its reservoir being connected with a double 
valved pipe through the culvert dam by which that por- 
tion is drained. Lateral tile drains, laid at intervals of 20 
feet, having a fall of 1 in 200, should deliver at the top of 
the 6-inch tiles. By this arrangement storage room will 
be provided to hold water discharged by the drains while 
the tide bs above their level, and at each fall of the tide 
this storage space will be entirely emptied. The silt- 
basins and reservoirs can be cleaned out as usual. 
The small, unfilled spot at the south-west corner of the 
Fargo flat may be filled to the level of the other por- 
tions of the tract, or it may be sufficiently drained by sur- 
face gutters. 
Whatever course may be adopted with reference to 
these lands, the ice pond on Matthiessen's land should by 
all means be abandoned. 
I make these recommendations with entire confidence, 
and have no hesitation in predicting as their result an 
absolutely good agricultural and sanitary condition of this 
whole tract. 
Almost immediately above this flat, mainly on the 
Irving property, but extending about 100 feet over 
Banker's line, is a flat 450 feet long, with an average 
width of 70 feet, which has been filled to above the level 
of high tide. Its drainage is discharged through a cul- 
vert under the railroad near its northern end, which cul- 
vert also carries the flow of the small brook on Banker's 
property. This flat is very wet and its proper drainage is 
to be considered as absolutely necessary. It may best be 
drained on the same principle adopted on for the large flat 
just considered. But, owing to its small area, sufficient 
storage room will be given if its whole drainage is ef- 
fected with the use of three-inch tiles for laterals and six- 
inch tiles for the main drain, the latter running north and 
south. This six-inch tile should have a fall of 1 in 400. 
It should deliver at its northern end into a pipe running 65 
under the railroad to a level of one foot above low water 
mark, and protected at its outer end with double tide 
valves. All upland water should be cut off, so 
far as practicable, and led into Banker's stream which 
should cross the flat in an elevated channel, so protected 
as to prevent the escape of its water on to the land, and 
delivering above high water. 
Along the front of Holdredge's property is an enclosed 
bay of which the low part is between 500 and 600 feet long, 
and which averages nearly 100 feet wide. Its lowest point 
is about two feet above low water mark. Its level varies 
considerably, parts of it having been filled by wash from 
the adjoining hill. It is all in thoroughly bad condition, 
receiving considerable water during storms from the land 
adjoining it, and always more or less spring water. Fully 
three-quarters of the area is covered by every tide. Near 
the southern end, for a length of 150 to 200 feet, and for 
a width of 40 or 50 feet the water stands, even at low tide. 
There is a considerable growth of aquatic vegetation, the 
bottom is foul and slimy with mud, there is along the 
shores a considerable accumulation of decayed leaves, and 
generally the whole character of the flat is typically bad. 
It is of no value to the Holdredge property, being en- 
tirely out of sight from the house, and not easily accessi- 
ble from the higher land. It is to be regarded simply as 
a nuisance to be abated in the simplest, quickest, and 
easiest way. I recommend that along the foot of the high 
land there be constructed a catch gutter to prevent storm 
water from the hill from running into the flat, and that 
this be led by the most direct course to the present cul- 
vert and discharged at the level of high water. Also that 
the culvert be deepened to the level of low water, and shut 
off from the flat by a cemented mason-work dam two feet 
higher than high water mark, the discharge of surface 
water spoken of above being through this dam by a valve 
gate. This being done, run an open ditch two feet deep, 
through the whole length of the flat, sloping its sides 66 
enough to prevent their caving, and leading to it small 
runnels to drain occasional low spots at the sides. Con- 
nect this open ditch with a double-valved pipe through 
the bottom of the dam. By this method we shall ex- 
clude salt water, keep upland water out on the lower part 
of the flat, provide sufficient storage room in a longitudinal 
ditch to hold drainage water exuding between tides, and 
deliver it into the river at every fall of the tide. This im- 
provement should be followed by a good seeding with 
grass, or if still too wet for this, by a thick planting of 
osier willows over the whole area, so that it may be speed- 
ily covered with thrifty vegetation. 
On Merritt's property there is a swamp shut in by the 
railroad which is very much of the same character with 
Holdredge's just described, save that it is smaller and 
higher; (lowest point six inches above ordinary high 
water.) It has the added disadvantage of a sewer dis- 
charging foul matter into it. Its treatment should be es- 
sentially the same as that prescribed for Holdredge's flat. 
The culvert being shut off by a dam two feet higher than 
high water mark, the sewer being continued by well- 
cemented, and well-bedded pipes, across the swamp and 
through the dam, the culvert being deepened to three feet 
below high water mark, and a double valved pipe dis- 
charging, at this level, the water of longitudinal and lateral 
ditches sufficient for the effectual removal of surface 
water. This being securely done, the flat ditch-slopes and 
all-should be seeded to grass. 
On Terry's front, for a length of 350 feet, and an average 
width of 25 to 50 feet; area about 12,000 square feet; is 
a cat-tail swamp, which continues for about the same 
length, but of less width on to the Hoge property. The cul 
vert by which this swamp should be drained is only two feet 
and three inches below high water-mark. The lowest point 
of the swamp is one foot and six inches below high water- 
mark, and most of its area is six inches or more below high 
water-mark. The washing in from the hill in some parts, 67 
and the accumulation of decayed rushes and leaves, have 
given some variation to the level of the bottom, and led to 
the holding back pf water, here and there, in stagnant 
pools. This is especially the case near the extreme end, 
being out of reach of ordinary tides. Every tide enters 
the swamp and produces whatever ill effect may be ascrib- 
able to the admixture of salt and fresh water. There is no 
stream entering from the upland, only an inconsiderable 
spring breaking out under the bank, like the last two 
swamps described; itisofnovalueto the property of which 
it forms a part, and itmay best be treated in the manner di- 
rected for Holdredge's swamp. The culvert should be 
deepened to the level of low water, and separated from the 
land by a high and tight dam, through the upper part of 
which surface-water should be delivered with a tide-gate ; 
and through the lower part the deeper drainage by adouble- 
valved pipe,-the water gathered in the open drains flow- 
ing into the river at low tide. This being done, a good 
growth of willows or grass will complete the improve- 
ment. 
At the mouth of the Sheldon brook, on the Hoge property, 
purchased by the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, is a consider- 
able swamp the middle portion of which has been filled 
to above high water mark by silt brought down by the 
brook. At the south end, the land is somewhat lower and 
contains a pool six inches deep, the surface of the water in 
which is six inches above high water mark. The north 
end of the bay has never accumulated sufficient wash and 
vegetation to fill it. It is now chiefly occupied by a pond 
which is three feet deep in the middle and of which the 
surface is one foot above high water mark. At this level 
it is connected by a sluggish gutter with the brook. My 
recommendation is, that the dam, which has been partly 
torn down, be restored and put in good and tight con- 
dition ; and that so far as the course of the brook crosses 
the flat it be bordered on each side by a retaining bank, 
which will prevent it, even in time of flood, from dis- 68 
charging water on to the flat at either side, and which will 
also prevent the water of excessively high tides from 
reaching the flat. Those parts of the dam not occupied 
as the outlet of this channel should be raised to the same 
height with the retaining banks of the brook. 
The swamp being thus divided into two sections, each 
should be thoroughly drained by open ditches with 
double-valved outlets through the wall to the level of 
about one foot above low water mark. It is likely that 
the whole swamp will, in this manner, be made sufficient- 
ly dry for the growth of good grass. This will certainly 
be the case about the mouth of the ravine where, for 
considerations of beauty, grass will be important. If 
the bed of the present north pond should be found too 
wet for grass, it may be occupied by willows. 
Further to the north, there is a swampy flat, 450 feet 
long and 50 feet wide in its widest part. This has no ob- 
vious connection with the river, and probably when the 
third track of the railroad was built, such communication 
as it had was obstructed. Its lowest point is two feet 
above high water mark and its drainage and complete rec- 
tification become a very simple matter. By surface drain- 
age, even to the level of high water, it may be made suffi- 
ciently dry for the growth of willows, if not of grass; and 
by tile drainage, with a valved outlet to the line of half 
tide, it may be easily and cheaply drained in such a way 
as to make it excellent grass land. This latter course 
is certainly most desirable from a sanitary point of view, 
and I suggest the alternative only for adoption in case 
the slight saving in expense is deemed important. 
In front of the line dividing the Hoe and Copcutt 
property, and extending about equally on to each with a 
total length of 750 feet, is a bay cut off by the railroad, 
which has received quite different treatment from any 
other on the river front under consideration. No attempt 
has been made to drain or to fill this, but it has, on the con- 
trary, been converted into a permanent pond, by the erec- 69 
tion of a tight dam in front of the culvert. It is surround- 
ed for its entire circumference with a sound wall of dry 
stone work. 
Unless there is some reason, not apparent to me, for 
suspecting that this pond has had a malarial influence, I 
am disposed to recommend that it be continued, if, as I 
have found to be the case, whenever I have examined it, 
the supply of water is sufficient to keep it full. The bor- 
der of the pond toward the shore has been somewhat fill- 
ed by earth washed from the hill-side. This should be 
removed; and all such washings should, if possible, be 
prevented for the future. There is also a deposit of silt 
at the mouth of the brook which is likely to be renewed 
from time to time. The only precaution that seems to be 
necessary, is to ensure the drawing off of the pond every 
year, and the removal, not only ofsilt brought down by the 
brook and earth washed in from the bank, but of decaying 
vegetable matter as well; and the ensuring of a depth 
close to shore of at least two feet, and a depth of at least 
three feet at a very short distance from the shore. These 
directions assume that the present dam is high enough to 
prevent the invasion of river water, even at the highest 
spring tides. If this is not the case it should be raised so 
as to make it certain that no salt water will at any time 
enter the pond. 
The large bay at the south end of Tarrytown is not 
properly included within my district. But, having seen 
the recommendation that it be filled to the level of the 
railroad track, it has occurred to me that it could probably 
be brought into good sanitary condition by draining it to 
the level of low water, and then filling sufficiently to 
bring the whole bed three feet above the lowest drainage 
level. This would leave the whole tract too low for 
wholesome building lots, but it should entirely remove 
its unfavorable influence upon the population living near 
it. 70 
NOTE. 
In the foregoing comments on the work considered desir- 
able to be done with reference to the supposed malarial 
conditions of this district I have included all that seems 
to be of public importance, or rather, all work which re- 
quires the concurrent action of different land-owners. 
My notes cover a very careful description of every part 
of the territory, and it would be possible, by materially 
increasing the length of this report, and by giving public- 
ity to much that is of oidy private interest, to set forth a 
number of particular cases where small tracts of wet or 
damp land should be drained, where shrubbery should be 
removed, or thinned out, where plantations which prevent 
the free circulation of air about dwelling houses should be 
removed, or thinned, and where, in my judgment, a dense 
shading of the ground is liable to afford a resting place 
for malaria. As in such cases the propriety and advisa- 
bility of carrying out my recommendations is to be de- 
cided by the individual owner, and as the defects are not 
of sufficient extent or intensity to affect the general salu- 
brity of the neighborhood, I have deemed it best to omit 
this whole part of the subject from my public report. 
I shall be glad, on the application of any owner, to in- 
form him professionally what I deem it advisable for him 
to do with reference to the points above named-this, of 
course, without charge, and as a part of the service for 
which I am employed. THE SEWERAGE 
OF 
Irvington Village. 
Complete sanitary work at Irvington must include the 
provision of some suitable means for removing the house 
hold wastes of the village lying between the railroad 
station and Broadway. 
In view of the excellent and easy means of discharge 
afforded by the river, no other available method would be 
nearly so good as discharge through vitrified drain pipes, 
having well cemented joints. 
These pipes should be, in all cases, except from the rail- 
road to the outlet, six (6) inches in interior diameter, not 
because the sewage produced by the houses of the present 
(or probable future) population will be sufficient to re- 
quire so large a pipe (on such a slope), but because ade- 
quate ventilation cannot be secured with smaller pipes. 
The outlet-west of the railroad-should be of eight (8) 
inch pipes. 
The objection which recently existed to the adoption 
of pipe sewerage in villages not abundantly supplied with 
water has been entirely removed by the introduction of 
Roger Field's Flush Tank. This is a reservoir for hold- 
ing back the sewage of a few houses at the head of each 
line of sewers (together with rain water from a portion of 
their roofs) until the chamber becomes filled. The flow 
then brings into action an automatic siphon by which the 
retained liquid is shot rapidly into the sewer, causing a 
sufficient flushing current to carry forward to the outlet all 
solid matters which may have been deposited in it by 
house drains entering it farther down its course. 72 
In the accompanying plan, which shows the loca- 
tion and course of the main sewers and their branches, I 
have located a flush-tank of considerable size at the upper 
end of each main sewer, and a smaller flush-tank at the 
upper end of each branch sewer. 
As the annular siphons of these flush-tanks will not 
admit solid substances large enough to obstruct the flow 
through a six-inch pipe, no " man holes " will be needed. 
The point of outlet is fixed under the bridge near the 
end of the dock west of the R. R. station. 
This outlet should be open to the air at all tides, or a 
separate air inlet should be provided. Every house con- 
nected with the sewer should furnish suitable means of 
ventilation by a soil pipe, or other pipe opening above its 
roof. 
All house connections should be through four (4) inch 
pipes. 
The depth of the sewers should be about five (5) feet 
below the level of the streets, except when a less depth 
may be necessary in crossing the aqueduct, or in travers- 
ing the level ground near the river. 
Owing to the exceptionally low prices now prevailing, I 
have been able to get bids for the complete work, except- 
ing house connections, which indicate the propriety of 
contracting for it at once. 
The total cost of main sewers, branch sewers, junction 
pieces for house connections, and all flush-tanks, and for 
engineering expenses and supervision, need not exceed 
$2,585, unless rock-cutting should be necessary, or $17.83 
for each of the 145 houses in the sewer district. 
If these sewers are provided, and if house connections 
with them be made, in all cases, compulsory, and if all 
privy-vaults, cesspools, hog-pens, &c. be abandoned, there 
is no danger that zymotic diseases will be caused by the 
use of water from the wells of the village. 
The present sewers on the main street will still remain 
useful for the removal of street waste, but they should be 73 
I , 
/^Z-XAA/ 0/=" AOA/ /Ry/NGTO/^ y/LLAG£ 74 
so far amended as to afford a continuous smooth channel 
for their contents. At present, as I am informed, they are 
not continuous, but have occasional large, and rough, 
floored chambers, where the original excavation through 
rock has been made to serve as a channel without the use 
of pipes. This condition is detrimental to health, and it 
. should be changed whether a new system of sewers for 
house drainage be provided or not. 
G. E. W.