of such an enterprise, taken in con- nection with the uncertainty of the result as to the adequate supply, forbade the under- taking. Nevertheless, the Corporation caused various perforations to be made in the public markets, and in Jacob-street, in the Swamp. In this last, at the depth of 128 feet, a mineral water was obtained, unfit for domestic purposes ; but which, for a time, was supposed or represented, to possess valuable medicinal qualities. After so many years of fruitless resolutions, enquiry, and experiments, in March, 1829, the first positive step towards something like action on the part of the Corporation, was taken on the recommendation of the Fire Department. More than $600,000 of pro- perty, had, in the preceding year, been destroyed by fire ; mainly because of the diffi- culty of procuring water. And in consequence, a report made by Alderman Samuel Stevens, in favor of the establishment of a well and reservoir in Fourteenth-street, whence water might be distributed, was accepted and acted upon. In that Report, Mr. Stevens says : Various Institutions have been chartered for the purpose of bringing water into the city, but none have as yet ever complied with the main object of their charter, so far as the public was interested ; and the Committee remark, that similar incorporations of CROTON AQ.UEDUCT. 105 private individuals, whether they propose at their commencement to furnish pure and wholesome water, or pure and first quality gas, are soon found to have an eye only to the profits of their incorporations, and the public suffer under their monopolies. The water pipes of the Manhattan Company extend to such parts of the city, as they may deem advisable to put them, on the score of profit ; and the upper part of our city, although not possessed of good water, have it, however, of a quality superior to that supplied by the Manhattan Company, and therefore they are unwilling, generally, to take the Manhattan water. The result is, that all that part of the city lying above Grand- street on Broadway, or Pearl-street on the east side of the city, has not the use of the Manhattan water for the purpose of extinguishing fires. It has therefore become abso- lutely necessary for the Corporation, in some manner, to give to the upper part of the city, a supply of water for that purpose. The breadth of the island at Grand-street, is about two miles ; and does not mate- rially differ as high up as Fourteenth-street. It will be perceived, that the extreme dis- tance from the rivers, of the part of the city between Grand and Fourteenth-streets, is one mile, or 5280 feet. Now, to bring the water from either river, at the extreme distance by engines, would require 26. Our whole engine establishment would not form two lines. This mode of furnishing water by engines from the rivers, is not only too limited, but too laborious for the firemen, to be at all relied on, for the section of the city referred to. Another mode of supply is by cisterns ; and this to a certain extent, is already in operation. The Corporation has at present, 40 public cisterns, which have cost on an average $600 each, making in all a cost of at least $24,000. They usually contain 100 hogsheads each. Now to provide for the section of the city between Fourteenth and Grand- streets on Broadway, and Fourteenth and Pearl-streets on Chatham-street, on the east side of the city, by cisterns, would require the construction of at least 60 additional cisterns, supposing that each thousand feet square required a cistern, and if we estimate them at $600 each, (including expenses of assessments,) it will make the sum of $36,000. The cisterns would probably not last longer than 20 or 25 years, and would require consider- able expense in repairs of leaks, and for leaders, &c., during that time. Your Committee have come to the conclusion to recommend to the Board, the laying down of two lines of iron pipes, for the security against fires, of the section of the city above described. They propose that the Corporation should lease three or four lots of the Sailors' Snug Harbor estate, or near there. The elevation of the surface there, say Broadway and Fourteenth-street above the levels of the rivers, is 39 feet. The highest part of the city below Fourteenth-street, does not exceed 42 feet. A rise, or additional head at Fourteenth-street, (as a starting point,) of three feet, would give the necessary head to make the water flow over the surface of the highest streets in the city, and would give an excess of head over four-fifths of the section of the city referred to, of at least fifteen feet. But as