said Act, the Board of Canvassers of the votes taken at said Election, adjudged and determined that a majority of the Electors of the City and County of New York, were found to be in favor of the measure. In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, and affixed my Seal of Office, [L.S.] this 28th day of March, 1843r^' NATHANIEL JARVIS, Clerk. To complete this view, and to show that the wards which contributed the largest amount of taxes, gave also the largest vote in favor of the Croton project, a list is an- nexed, from the books of the City Comptroller, of the taxes paid by each ward for the year 1835: Taxes for 1835. 1st Ward $246,181 14 2d « 73,187 38 3d « 86,828 36 4th " 50,278 29 5th « 59,177 02 6th « 49,315 30 7th " 57,031 06 8th « 51,529 09 9th " 33,698 53 10th « 26,834 79 llth « 45,060 17 12th « - - - - 60,032 55 13th « 15,847 69 14th « 37,150 06 15th « 73,451 51 $965,602 94 In three wards, the 9th, 10th, and 13th, the negative vote preponderated. In all the others, the affirmative by large majorities. Then as to proportion between taxation and the affirmative vote, the first ward paying $246,181, records but 27 negative, against 1417 affirmative votes, whilst the 10th ward, paying little more than one-tenth of the taxes of the first, records 1030 negative, against 936 affirmative votes. The popular voice having thus pronounced, by an overwhelming majority, in favor of the Croton Aqueduct, the Corporation lost no time in passing an ordinance, dated 7th of May, instructing the Commissioners at once to proceed in the work, according to the plan adopted by them, and authorizing a loan for two millions and a half of dollars, at 5 per cent interest, to provide for the expenses thereof We subjoin the last section, as indica- 140 MEMOIR OF THE ting the understanding and intention of the Common Council at that time, both that a revenue should be derived from the water furnished to the inhabitants of the city, and that such revenue, whatever it might be, should go to the Sinking Fund for the redemp- tion of the debt. § 9. The provisions of the ordinance, entitled, " A Law providing for the redemption of the City Stock," so far as the same can be applied to the " Water Stock of the city of of New York," shall be applicable to the same : and all revenue to be received for water, to be procured by the said work and furnished to the inhabitants of the city of New York, shall be specially appropriated as a Sinking Fund towards the redemption of the said Water Stock. Another ordinance was passed on the 15th of May, fixing the salary of the Chair- man of the Water Commissioners at $1500 per annum, and that of each of the others, at $1000, to be paid as part of the contingent expenses of said work. The Commissioners went to work zealously ; on the 2d of June, they appointed D. B. Douglas, Esq., their chief engineer, and directed him to organise a corps of en- gineers as soon as practicable. The party, consisting of seventeen, took the field on the 6th of July, 1835. Their first care was to stake out the land that was to constitute the lake, formed by damming the Croton, the line to include one rod of land above that which would be overflowed by the backing of the water. The next step was to stake out the whole line, from the Croton to the Harlem, in order to show its direction, and the width of land required for building the aqueduct and culverts, and forming the necessary excavations and embankments. The urgency of these preliminary operations arose from the fact, that by the law the Commissioners were restricted from using any land, until it was acquired by purchase or appraisement. Hence, therefore, they were compelled to ascertain the quantity and situation of the land needed, before they could enter into any negotiation for the pur- chases. The quantity requisite for the lake that would be formed by damming the river, was reported by Mr. Cartwright, who was specially employed to survey it, at 496 acres, of which some was obtained by purchase, the residue through the intervention of appraisers. The engineers kept the field till January, 1836, and returned to it in April. The whole line was re-surveyed during the summer, being the fourth survey and level, under the direction of Mr. Douglas. Some important improvements in the course of the aqueduct resulted from this re- survey ; distances were shortened, and curves lessened, and by the