COURT OF CLAIMS SURVEYS.

For years it has been the practice for engineers of this Department to make surveys and present evidence on behalf of the State in cases that come before the Court of Claims in their hearing of claims for damages alleged to have been caused by State public works, especially the canals and their adjuncts. This evidence is usually a large factor in the case and has saved much money to the State in disproving unjust and excessive damages.

In this connection it is interesting to note that out of a total of $4,955,715 of claims, other than for land appropriations, filed on account of the Barge canal improvement, which have been passed upon by the courts, the amount of award was but $418,525, or 8.4 per cent of the amount claimed.

This Court is now almost exclusively engaged in disposing of Barge canal claims, and the preparation of expert evidence for these cases devolves upon the engineers of this Department. This includes the gathering of much data and the ability of these engineers to qualify as experts in their respective branches of the profession.

Probably the most important questions involved in much of this litigation are those of a hydraulic character, and for a full understanding of these the records which the State Engineer's Department has been accumulating for several years are of inestimable value.

A complete photographic record of lands and buildings appropriated has been made by men connected with this Department and these views also furnish valuable evidence before the Court.

Accounts of the work done for the Court of Claims will be found in the appended reports of the Division Engineers.

The amount of work done in making these surveys and prepar ing this evidence is large and constantly increasing. Therefore I recommend an appropriation at least equal to that of last year, namely, $5,000.

BUREAU OF BRIDGES.

In 1899 a Bureau of Bridges was established by law in the State Engineer's Department. As the needs prompting such action and the benefits following its creation have been set forth in former annual reports, they need not be repeated here,

Since the beginning of Barge canal work, this Bureau has become a necessary part of that enterprise -in designing not only the bridges but also the lock-gates, lock-valves, needle-dams, movable dams and other steel construction.

The bridges over existing canals in the state often call for expert inspection and this is performed by the Bureau of Bridges upon request from the Superintendent of Public Works. If repairs are necessary, plans also are furnished by the Bureau.

In addition, the Bureau has the duty of examining plans submitted by electric and steam railway companies for new bridges over the canals, or for strengthening existing bridges.

LAND BUREAU.

The Land Bureau of the State Engineer's Department has charge of the sale of State land and of the custody and care of ancient records. The ancient records of this Department, as well as the modern ones, are of great value for reference, and it has been the policy through recent years to add to them whenever this can be done without cost to the State.

A year ago I recommended that sufficient appropriation be made to allow the Bureau to keep up to date the maps showing lands under water, so that at all times it may be possible to ascertain just what has been granted, and also that the State Engineer may not be obliged, as at present, to accept as accurate the maps and reports of engineers in private practice, when application is made for the granting of lands.

As such provision was not made, I repeat my recommendation for an appropriation, both for keeping the maps up to date and for making surveys, when necessary.

In each of the last two annual reports your attention has been directed to a condition that exists in connection with the sale of State lands at public auction that calls for remedial legislative action. As has been stated in these earlier reports, the State Engineer is intrusted by the Commissioners of the Land Office with the public sale by auction of State lands, including those acquired for unpaid taxes. At these sales men have sometimes been in attendance, seemingly for the purpose of blackmail only, who have extorted money from the former owners by threatening to

run up the bids, or have compelled them to pay much more than the unpaid taxes by carrying out their threats.

It has been suggested previously that this objectionable practice might be stopped by amending the statute which defines the duties of the Commissioners of the Land Office (chapter 317, Laws of 1894), by extending the privilege of redemption up to the time of the public sale, or permitting the prior owner upon application to purchase the property at private sale for an amount which should cover the total expense to the State for such property, including unpaid taxes, interest and costs.

Since, under the present law, the State Engineer is powerless to prevent occurrences of this character, there will exist a condition that will be a menace to a just execution of the law until remedial action is applied. Therefore I repeat my recommendation of a year ago, that chapter 317, Laws of 1894, be suitably amended.

The detailed report of the engineer in charge of the Land Bureau will be found appended to this report.

BUREAU OF HYDRAULICS.

In 1906 a Bureau of Hydraulics was established in connection with the Barge canal. This Bureau has supervision of certain classes of hydraulic and hydrographic work, as shown under the following general heads:

(1) Study of general problems in relation to the hydraulics and hydrology of the rivers and canals, arising in connection with both the design and the construction of the Barge canal. This feature of the work has included important studies of river and canal slopes, the compiling of data and making of studies to determine high navigable and low navigable stages, the determination of the flood flow of streams, the determination of watersupply required for lockage, for power and other purposes, and questions as to the feasible utilization of water-power created in constructing the Barge canal.

(2) Maintenance of gaging stations in connection with the Barge canal. About 100 gages are maintained and regular readings are taken-usually twice each day -for the purpose of determining water levels along the line of the canal. These

gagings are used for various purposes in designing the canal, by contractors in providing coffer-dams and protecting their work against floods, and for other purposes and are intended to form ultimately a basis of comparison between the water level in the streams in their natural condition and the water levels of the canalized rivers. In addition about 25 gaging stations are maintained where the discharge is estimated, the object of these being to determine the flow of the canalized rivers, their principal tributaries and the streams used as canal feeders.

(3) The Bureau of Hydraulics has general charge of the preparation of the technical defense by the State in claims arising from the appropriation of water-power, from backwater caused by Barge canal dams, and in other similar hydraulic claims. This is the most important work of the Bureau and is of such character as to be absolutely indispensable to a successful refutation of many unjust and excessive claims brought against the State.

An appended report from the engineer in charge of this Bureau enumerates the cases for which defense has been prepared and also contains the data collected in the gaging of streams.

STATE BOUNDARY LINES.

One of the duties of the State Engineer, as prescribed by law, is to examine, survey and monument state boundary lines. The total length of these state boundaries is 1,416 miles, comprised as follows: Canadian line, 431 miles; Vermont line, 171 miles; Massachusetts line, 501⁄2 miles; Connecticut line to Long Island sound, 81 miles; along the ocean around Long Island to the New Jersey shore, 246 miles; New Jersey line, 921⁄2 miles; Pennsylvania line, 344 miles to the beginning of the Canadian line in the middle of Lake Erie. The boundaries are fixed by accepted agreements and are marked by natural watercourses or by monu

ments.

The examinations of state boundary lines, made within the last half dozen years by men connected with this Department, have shown all of them to be in a fairly satisfactory condition, except the one along the Connecticut boundary. A half century

ago this line was established and monumented by New York State commissioners, but was not accepted by Connecticut until twenty years later. Evidently the New York commissioners considered their work as of a more or less temporary character, for some of the monuments were but roughly hewn granite or marble slabs, while others were nothing more than inch-square iron pins, projecting some six inches out of the rock. For a long time these monuments have been in a very unsatisfactory condition, some of them having entirely disappeared. A boundary line thus inadequately marked gave rise to many disputes and was a disgrace to both States. Realizing this, for several years the State Engineers of New York tried to secure the coöperation of Connecticut officials in remonumenting the line, but without success, till the summer of 1908. At that time no appropriation for this particular boundary was available, but the State Engineer, deeming it important to accept the overtures of Connecticut, decided to use what remained of a fund for general boundary line examinations for starting the work. In 1909 a special appropriation was secured and the work continued, but the fund was not sufficient for finishing operations and a second amount was obtained in 1910, under which the undertaking has been pushed to final completion. A report of progress was appended to my report of last year. A detailed account of what has been accomplished since that time is attached to this report.

The law (chapter 678 of the laws of 1892) which lays upon the State Engineer the duty of examining these boundaries directs him to make an examination every three years of all of the monuments marking the boundary line of the state, and if any monuments are found injured, missing, or displaced, he is authorized acting in conjunction with the duly recognized authorities of the adjoining State to replace such monuments. To carry out the provisions of this law, an appropriation is needed.

BLUE LINE SURVEY.

In my last annual report I recommended that appropriation be made for retracing and mapping the boundaries of State lands along the canals that are now being improved, inasmuch as the