This Report is private circulation only, and Mr. Cyrus W. 
Field will feel if you will read it carefully and return 
it to him with such comments as you may think proper to make. 
REPORT 
or 
Messrs. WARD^CARPMy^fni&^ON- 
ON THE CONDITION OF 
THE RIVER FRONT 
OF 
T/lP|!Ufi)W!i. Af(D DOBBS’ FEBJRY, 
AND ON THE 
SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN THE TARRYTOWN, IRVINGTON, 
AND DOBBS’ FERRY DISTRICTS; 
TOGETHER WITH 
COPY OF A LETTER FROM GEORGE BAYLE8, Esq. 
AND AN 
EXTRACT FROM A REPORT OF MISS TODD, w r _ 
AS TO THE PERSONS IN DOBBS’ FERRY WHO ARE NOW SUFFERING^S^/t 
RECENTLY SUFFERED, FROM MALARIAL FEVER. If* 
ALSO, 
LETTERS FROM MR. W. A. ROSS, MR. JOHN W. MINTERN, DR. J. B. 
FULTON, MR. A. C. RICHARDS, AND DR. C. PRINCE. 
Iktfe: 
J. W. Pratt, Book and Job Printer, 75 Felton Street. 
1878. » !•-. B IVER-FRONT 
TAltlJYTOWN, FERRY, 
Westtcluestter <C<a><, sru; 
<5 &&/<? /?(>/’ /jic/t. 
WARD CARPENTER &SON, 
C/V/L E N c /MEER S . 
Sep? 13?? 1878. 
II UII S O NT It I VI' /{ < 
HUDSON HIVED. 
Ilf]) SON H INK It. REPO RT 
ON THE CONDITION OF 
THE RIVER FRONT 
OF THE VILLAGES OF 
TARRYTOWN, IRVINGTON, AND DOBBS’ FERRY. 
By WARD CARPENTER & SON, 
CIVIL ENGINEERS. 
New York : 
J. W. Pratt, Book and Job Printer, 75 Fulton Street. 
1878. THROUGH TARRYTOWN. 
From the railroad station a low tract extends eastward 
and northward. That to the east was once a part of the 
river bay, having been filled in artificially since the set- 
tlement of the village, and some of it quite recently. To 
the north, along the valley marked bv Andre brook, 
there is reason to believe that an arm of the bay once 
extended up as far as College avenue where the brook 
comes in from the east, making now an abrupt turn. At 
this bend was undoubtedly the original mouth of the 
brook, and all that part of the low tract immediately 
adjoining its present banks is formed by deposits of silt, 
and the subsequent growth and decay of aquatic plants. 
This part is now especially low and wet, some of it 
being less than two and a half feet above high water, and 
when extra high tides and storm freshets come together, 
these portions are overflowed. Even in those parts of 
this valley that have a higher average of elevation, indi- 
cations of the swamp origin are quite apparent. To this 
naturally bad condition are added the evils of a want of 
drainage and sewerage, a want common to the whole vil- 
lage, but of course more seriously felt where there is such 
a wet subsoil, and where there are so many stables and 
houses of a tenement character. 
In the gore, north of Wildey street, there are 14 privies 
and two stables that closely adjoin the brook, some of the 
privies being directly over it. South of Wildey street 
there are many more such annoyances, especially stables ; 
besides a branch brook with a very bad drainage area 4 
comes in from Central avenue. Down along Andre 
brook, near the south end of New street, is the pump 
house for supplying water through the streets for lire pur- 
poses. If the water thus obtained were confined solely 
to this, the danger might be slight, but it is certainly 
objectionable to use it for sprinkling the streets by tap- 
ping the mains as is now done. One single case of 
typhoid fever or cholera in a tenement house above, 
might, through this channel, spread an epidemic over the 
whole village. It is unpleasant to think that the excre- 
mentitious germs of such a patient may even now be mul- 
tiplying in some stagnant part of the pipes, to be scattered 
under the wheels of the carriage containing a convales- 
cent driving out to get some pure air ! 
The village authorities should see to this matter, and 
moreover, it is high time that some steps were taken to 
obtain for the people under their protection a copious 
supply of potable water. We believe it devolves upon 
them also to look further into that section above pointed 
out, which is the only blot on the fairest village of the 
land. An accurate map and description of all the details, 
with the elevations above tide-water, should be prepared 
by them of all the land west of Orchard, Valley, and 
Water streets, with the view to arrange a system of 
drainage and sewerage for immediate adoption in this 
locality, and such as would be suitable as outlets for the 
less urgent sewerage of the entire village proper. It 
would be advisable for them also to establish a minimum 
grade line for basement or cellar floors. Nor would it be 
beyond their jurisdiction to issue an ordinance that every 
house built on this tract, where, it is well known, each 
such house nods over to its neighbor, should be protected 
from noxious effluvia by floors of concrete with a layer 
of asphalt, and by walls similarly treated. 
For the present purpose we have deemed a bare men- 
tion of the general condition of this tract as sufficient. 
West of the railroad the land is much firmer and dryer, 5 
though the average elevation is scarcely sufficient. In 
this vicinity are the Gas Works, and a slaughter house. 
The former is no evil except in so far as lime is used as a 
purifier. In other respects the shore line, adjoining “ the 
point is in fair condition. On the south, it perhaps 
ought to be noticed that the water is getting perceptibly 
shallower. The same conditions that produced the allu- 
vial formation along Andre brook, east of the railfbad, 
are now at work here, and it is only a question of time 
when there shall be a large salt meadow extending out as 
far as the line from the south end of the lumber yard to 
the outlet of the Andre brook culvert, taking in the rock 
that has stood sentinel there so many ages. 
The railroad square is in fair condition, but between 
this and the old Kequa dock is a bad spot, a remnant of 
the former bay. The filling-in of this portion is incom- 
plete, and the materials already dumped are of a suspi- 
cious looking and smelling nature. South of this old 
dock comes the large bay, one of the largest of the many 
formed by the construction of the railroad. Its area is 
about eight acres. In the north east corner of this is also 
a former dumping ground, and although the systematic 
deposit of garbage has been wisely discontinued, much 
refuse and filth still finds its way here. Not the least 
annoyance and source of disease is a bad gutter coming 
in or rather scattering all over at this place. A large 
part of the time it is a running brook, and all the time it 
is a foul nuisance. 
As for the bay itself, it is sadly deteriorating of late 
years. Long after the rail-road embankment was ruth- 
lessly swept across this once noble bay, it preserved its 
reputation as a beautiful, clear sheet of water washing- 
clean, sandy beaches, but to the careful observer signs 
were not wanting of a gradual though sure decline. The' 
wash from the brook and hillsides and the waste from a 
growing village were no longer swept out to deep water; 
the currents were stagnated and the growth of water weeds 6 
encouraged, which, by their decay and the imprisonment 
of the silt swept in by the tides, added largely to the accu- 
mulations from the shore. The beaches once lashed by 
the unobstructed waves of the easily ruffled Tappan Zee, 
began to disappear beneath a carpet of mosses and fallen 
flags. Whatever the causes, whatever the steps of the 
change, it is to-day an eye-sore, a foul-smelling spot, and 
a breeder of disease. 
It would be a glorious day for this village if these 8 acres 
of mud and decay were tilled up with clean gravel like 
the rail-road embankment. There is no use of undertak- 
ing the giant task, however, unless it be thoroughly done. 
This would imply a filling from the top of the rail-road 
bank on an ascending grade of one foot in two hundred, 
an average, perhaps, of 5 feet depth over the whole bay, 
amounting in all to somewhere near 50,000 cubic yards. 
Such an undertaking is by no means visionary. The 
total cost would not exceed 9,000 dollars. There surely 
must be some enterprising manufacturers who would ex- 
pend this sum in converting the bay into terra firma, on 
condition that they should receive a title to a half, or 
some other portion. 
Following the shore line southward, the next point 
worthy of note is a low and wet gore at the north-west 
corner of Mr. Dodge's place. If we are correct, the greater 
part of this is on the rail-road property, including the 
spring at north end. This little spring, together with the 
wash from the bluff and from the rail-road, keeps the 
ground saturated all the time, and as the outlet is unsuit- 
able, there is some stagnation. This is a very little affair, 
but shows one of many great annoyances caused by the 
rail-road interfering with all the water fronts, built, as it 
so often is, with great disregard of the prior rights of the 
land-holders. Here is a wet place that requires filling. If 
Mr. Dodge should desire to make the improvement on 
rail-road land, he must not only get permission, but must 
use earth from their bank. With unlimited quantities on 7 
his own premises he is precluded from using it by the in- 
tervening slope taken possession of by the rail road. There 
is scarcely a bank along the river where their lines will 
not be found to extend into it 50 or 100 feet. Had it 
not been for the rail-road embankment, the entire shore 
line of the three villages would to-day be a clean, healthy 
beach. Of course, we would not forget that while the 
land-holders have been so greatly inconvenienced, and, 
indeed, the health of many endangered, the grand result 
of the rail-road improvement is incalculable in the excess 
of the benefits to the villages and State at large over the 
drawbacks to a few ; yet it would seem that this Company 
should consider what a valuable property they have ac- 
quired for a mere song, and be led to meet the individual 
land-holders more than half way in the mapy little points 
where their interests conflict, and especially should this 
Company be induced to take every possible precaution to 
prevent, and every possible effort to improve, the insalu- 
tary condition of affairs brought about by the erection of 
a darn, 144 miles in length, between the flow from the 
Hudson River water-shed and the river where it ought to 
discharge. 
In front of the lands of the Misses Copcut and Mr. 
Robert Hoe is a bay of more or less evil influence. The 
experiment has here been tried of holding back the flow 
of the two brooks and shutting out the tide water by the 
erection of a dam across the only culvert provided by the 
rail road. The result has not proved altogether satisfac- 
tory, as the brooks are not sufficient in dry seasons to keep 
sweet a pond one-quarter of this size, besides, one of the 
brooks brings down the wash from three highways, the 
drainage of several stables and privies, and the sewage of 
several households. At present the gate in the dam is 
opened to admit the tide, but if the whole culvert was in- 
adequate, this little opening is much more so. If the north 
brook could be kept pure, we should say that two more 
culverts might be constructed, one near each end, and the 8 
bottom of the bay excavated so as to remain covered at 
ordinary low water. Considerable filling is needed back 
of the wall on west side, and the rail-road authorities could 
have no objections to others improving their land in this 
way. 
Below the Irving Arch the drainage ditches on rail-road 
are in bad order. Opposite the stairway in front of the 
Cudlep property the water in the ditch is especially foul, 
covered with that green scum which is inseparable from 
stagnation. 
In front of the Hoge property are two very bad bays. 
The upper one is mostly filled up to the level of high 
water, which is worse than no filling at all. There is a 
rank growth of cat tails, alders and goose grass. The only 
outlet is near the south end, and is not only where it may 
do least good, but is small, poorly constructed and poorly 
protected; in fact, on the river side we could not find it at 
all. About 150 feet further south the other and larger 
bay begins. About 90 feet north of the culvert the bay 
is choked up and almost separated in two parts by mate- 
rial washed from the hillsides and by a dense growth of 
duck weed, goose grass and cat-tails, so that the water in 
the upper part is scarcely ever renewed. The culvert op- 
posite the brook is good. The stream, known as Mill 
Brook, is rather large, draining a large area of territory 
including what was and still is known as Sheldon’s Swatnp. 
Its marshy origin is shown by the wine color of the water 
which tinges the river outside over an extent of five 
or six acres. Below the brook the bay is much the same 
as above. The growth of aquatic plants north and south 
of the brook forms parallel jetties through which its cur- 
rent flows without mingling with the stagnant bays on the 
sides. 
At the south-west corner of this property commences 
another bay of the same or even worse character, which 
extends half way along the frontage of Mr. Terry’s land. 
The culvert is poorly built and somewhat contracted. Be- 9 
low the bay there is a damp overgrown and undergrown 
strip. If there is any doubt as to the benefit of c utting 
down noble forest trees, there is none whatever as to 
undergrowth. It is the latter that renders forests dank and 
unhealthy. The proper safeguard in this respect against 
the formation or harboring of malarial exhalations is to be 
found in clean, open groves, where every foot of the 
ground close to the trunks of the trees is covered with a 
healthy sod. 
In front of the Merritt estate is still another stagnant 
bay, with the usual complement of cat-tails and alders. 
The culvert is very poorly constructed. A sewer pipe 
comes into this bay, and greatly increases the annoyance 
and the danger. It is no longer doubtful that the germs 
of cholera and typhoid fever, and other zymotic diseases, 
when passed into such filthy pools as these bays all are, 
increase to an unlimited extent. They are in their ele- 
ment in stagnant water. In this view it is easy to see how 
a terrible scourge might at any time arise from this prac- 
tice of making the sewer outlets inside, instead of outside 
of the rail-road in the deeper and salter water. As it is, 
passers by in the cars are not safe from infection. 
Continuing southward we come to the bay in front of 
the Holdrege property, This is the worst of all. There 
is much more green and black scum here, and the water 
is fouler; there is undoubtedly a sewer emptying into 
this bay. Although we did not find it, the indications 
are plain. This, united with the stagnation, and with the 
dense overshadowing of foliage on the very steep margin, 
combine to render this bay peculiarly noxious in its in- 
fluences. At the north end there is a low, level tract, ren- 
dered damp and hideous by undergrowth which affords a 
shelter for much refuse, including not a little animal filth. 
When are all these places to be filled up and cleared up, and 
converted into cool (but not dank) groves and smiling 
lawns, which the passer-by would no sooner soil and 
desecrate than the steps of the altar ? 10 
Passing the Banker property, where measures are being 
taken to thin out some of the trees, and where the shore 
line is good, this being one of the few places that pour 
water on to the railroad instead of receiving it, we come 
to the two Irving flats. In the upper one the filling 
averages nearly three feet, but as there is no outlet for the 
rain fall, the subsoil is constantly wet. Near the rail-road 
the water may be seen standing in the old post-holes 
within ten inches of the surface. As a consequence there 
are some traces of aquatic growth, and this lawn cannot 
be absolutely healthy. A tile pipe should be laid, six or 
eight inches at the south end above the level of high 
water, and sloping gradually northward to high water at 
the cuLvert near the north-west corner. This should be 
supplemented by branch tile every 45 or 50 feet, running 
up to the foot of the bluff. In the south flat the filling is 
not as high as above, but the better surface grade and the 
more convenient outlet render this nearly as dry as the 
other. What it wants, however, is a good foot of soil, and 
then a few tile may be laid to the brook on the south to 
complete the improvement. 
II. IRVINGTON VILLAGE. 
The boundary line between Tarrytown and Irvington 
strikes across the flat last mentioned, not far north of the 
Sunnyside brook. Directly south of this brook and first 
in the Irvington village, comes the Fargo flat, which was 
filled in two winters ago. Those portions of this which 
were established as a final grade, viz.: the eastern and 
south-eastern portions are in very fine condition, and em- 
brace 1£ acres, or nearly half of the whole filling. A fair 
crop of oats and also a fair crop of clover have been taken 
off this season. The northern and western portions have 
settled firm, but require from one to two feet more filling, 
at the very least. The bad ditch on the west is on the 
rail-road property, and this is such a nuisance that the com- 11 
puny should be required to fill it in forthwith. It was no 
ordinary undertaking to excavate and move 20,000 yards 
of material in one winter, and the old “ Crow’s Nest Point ” 
gave out before yielding a sufficient supply for Mr. Fargo’s 
own wants, much less for the railroad company’s. During 
the progress of the work suitable tile were laid along the 
old shore line to catch the flow of the numerous springs 
at the foot of the high ground, and these pipes have served 
their purpose with increasing effect. The sewerage was 
also provided for. Now, that the filling has settled, 
another line, and of cheaper tile, might be carried north- 
ward and southward to the two brooks, at a distance of 
60 feet west of the first. Beyond this, reliance must be 
placed on surface channels .until the filling of the bay is 
brought up to a suitable height. When this is accom- 
plished it will be speaking within bounds to declare this 
the finest lawn along the river. Although no serious ill- 
ness has been experienced of late in the Irving or Fargo 
cottages, and both of them are occupied, we nevertheless 
deem it as part of our duty to add that the completion of 
the improvement is not only called for by aesthetical con- 
siderations, but sanitary, as well. 
Mr. Matthiessen’s front has been filled in for twenty 
years or more, but the larger part of it is much too low, 
being from three to five feet lower than the finished por- 
tions of Mr. Fargo’s front. The former contains a pond 
for overflowing in winter, surrounded by an embank- 
ment. This embankment is not an inch too high for the 
required filling of the whole flat. East of the embank- 
ment the ground is particularly wet for about half an 
acre. To put this property in good healthy condition, in- 
cluding the filling of the pond, would require from 1,500 
to 2,000 yards, which would cost, if obtained from the 
bank on the east, from S00 to 400 dollars. 
The bay in front of Mr. Tiffany’s land has been filled 
in for five or six years. It lacks from one to two feet 
of being high enough. The water now stands on the sur- 12 
face along the railroad fence. At the south end the fill- 
ing has been scanted worse yet, so that there is often a 
foot of stagnant water, with no outlet provided. Up- 
wards of 2,000 yards of good soil is yet needed to put this 
fine flat in a thoroughly sound condition, with a three- 
inch tile carried northward and southward along the rail- 
road to outlets through the railroad embankment at each 
end. 
South of this the shore line crosses to the west of the 
railroad, where there is a good beach as far as, and in- 
cluding, the Irvington Landing. The corner formed by 
the south line of this dock and the west line of railroad is 
used as a dumping ground. This is by no means a bene- 
fit to the health, the looks, or the general credit of the 
place. There are also two sewers, or gutter pipes that 
come in at this point. The slops from these often collect 
in the little trench formed east of the garbage heap and 
increase the nuisance. When every possible or probable 
source and hiding place of disease is being sought out, 
these things should be better ordered. The danger is not 
only present, but years hence ground thus made may give 
up malarious or other noxious gases arising from the 
smothered fermentation of the hideous contents. 
The north-west corner of the A. II. Barney property 
has a wet spot near the railroad, which would be greatly 
improved by adding a foot of loam, and afterwards under- 
draining. At the south end of this low gore, water stands 
on the surface under the railroad fence, and a few flags 
may be seen. The wash from the railroad and from the 
bluff goes into this low place, and no outlet is provided. 
A small tile drain, carried up to the brook, would create a 
great change within 80 days. It could be laid 18 inches 
deep, which would be sufficient whenever this flat is 
brought up to the proper grade. 
In front of the D. N. Barney property a bay of consider, 
able size was filled in about eleven years ago. The in- 
tended minimum height was 2£ feet above high water, but 13 
the north part has settled somewhat, so that it is barely two 
feet in some places. North of the culvert, water stands on 
the surface, and some aquatic plants are found. South of 
the culvert the appearance is better, except at the extreme 
south end, where there are again traces of stagnant water. 
The simple remedy here required is a two inch tile, leading 
from both ends of this flat to the culvert in middle. To 
make a handsome and healthy lawn of it, a worthy set- 
off to the remarkably fine terrace, the filling should be 
brought up to the level of railroad embankment. There 
is an abundance of material in the bluff on the south which 
ought to be graded off in continuation of the present ter- 
race. 
The frontage of Messrs. Mail’s, Dows, Foster and King 
is all in good, and in some cases, excellent order. In pass- 
ing, it may be noticed that there are two sewers emptying 
into the river south of the old Abbottsford dock, the out- 
lets not being well arranged. The sewerage falls on a 
heap of large stone, bare at low water, and is often held 
between the interstices until the rise of the tide, and indeed 
longer; a result aided by the confined space formed by the 
railroad wall and old dock. There is going to be a large 
increase in the number of such conveniences henceforth, 
and it will therefore become an important matter how the 
outlets are arranged. The principle should be laid down 
at the start, that every sewer pipe must be carried out be 
yond low water mark, and debouch in an open space 
where the tide has free range. 
On the railroad land in front of Mr. Schuyler’s, there is 
a narrow strip subject to ebb and flow of tide. The water 
is stagnant, as it is quite impossible for a single culvert to 
supply sufficient water thoroughly to premeate the por- 
tions remaining near each end of the long strip, especially 
when impeded by the thick growth of cat-tails. Mr. 
Schuyler’s wall is two feet high above ordinary high 
water, the surface of his flat rising moderately to the foot 
of the upland. For this slight elevation it has a decidedly 14 
good appearance, which is undoubtedly owing to its being- 
well under-drained. As for the strip on railroad, it is in 
very bad condition, and liable to a well founded complaint 
to the Board of Healtn. 
In the north-west corner of Mr. Dudley Fields’ land is 
the remnant of another bay. The portion in front of Mr. 
Cottenet’s land has already been well filled in. The part 
remaining is in very bad condition, the water being stag- 
nant for the same reasons as in so many other similar 
cases—want of convenient outlet, and interference and 
decay of aquatic vegetation. It would not cost more than 
250 or 300 dollars to fill in this bay three feet above tide 
water, provided the material could be obtained from the 
adjoining bluff, which it seems is pre-empted by the rail- 
road company. The rest of Mr. Dudley Fields’ frontage 
is in good condition as respects drainage, being rendered 
so by the steep bank referred to. 
III. THROUGH DOBBS’ FERRY. 
The Irvington village limits terminate at Mr. Dudley 
Fields’ south line. Entering the Dobbs’ Ferry or Green - 
burgh limits we find a bad bay commencing 100 feet south 
of Mr. Wilde's corner. The margins are clogged with cat- 
tails. The surface is covered with a green scum, foul in 
itself and breeding foulness. The culvert for this bay is 
much too near the south end for a single opening, and is 
much too small, being not more than 18 inches square 
through the new part of the railroad embankment. In 
many places along their line are just such evidences of 
want of care in this matter ofdrainage. The company is 
ever ready to turn their wash-off to the east, when a very 
little additional expense, if any, would throw it the other 
way, and yet they seem unwilling to provide suitable 
openings for the discharge of all this flow, and for the rain- 
fall upon places rendered low solely by their dam. In- 
stead of an 18-inch hole for this bay there should be two 15 
large 8-foot culverts sweeping the waters of the Hudson in 
and out four times a day. In other words, the present 
provision is only one-sixtieth part of what it should be. 
Either this enlargement will have to be made, or the bay 
will have to be filled up, for as it now exists it is a breeder 
of disease, devoid of the least beauty or any other miti- 
gating element. 
We come next to the old Willsea Dock. North of this 
there is a handsome bathing beach, but south of it, in the 
space between it and the Biegen wharf, a delta is forming 
from the silt of the Willsea brook, deposited here by the 
natural action in such cases where a shelter is formed from 
tidal currents. This, and its counterpart at the mouth of 
Andre brook at Tarry town, are the only two places on the 
outside of the railroad that are in anyways in bad condition, 
and even in these two sole cases the danger is in the future, 
and not now tangible. 
The low, wet place, north of Mr. Biegen’s distillery, 
has been noticed by us in our Report on the Willsea 
brook. The interest that has been aroused in these mat- 
ters, and the prompt and thorough action that will doubt- 
less be taken by adjoining owners may lead also to the 
raising of the grade at this place. If this would be desir- 
able, the filling in of that portion of the original bay yet 
remaining, viz.: on the south of Mr. Biegen’s works, and 
in front of Mr. Kitching’s land, is absolutely and urgently 
demanded. This part is cut off from the sole culvert pro- 
vided for the original bay by the filling in of Mr. Biegen’s 
land, which embraces the middle portion. If an eighteen- 
inch hole, and, indeed, a single large culvert does not pre- 
vent stagnation, as we have seen above, what then must be 
the state of affairs when, as here, there is no outlet at all ? 
It could not be otherwise than is here the case, a reservoir 
of concentrated foulness, exceedingly dangerous to health. 
An attempt has evidently been made, at some time, to fill 
in this bay, but the filling barely reaches within six inches 
of high water, so that the soil is always saturated and gen- 16 
erally covered with a thin film. The drainage seems to 
be into a deeper place, a little north of the engine house, 
which has the precise appearance and odor of a large cess- 
pool. Attention should be directed to this immediately. 
Besides the Wilde Bay, this is the only very flagrant 
annoyance along the shore line within the Dobbs’ Ferry 
limits. 
At thesouth part of Mr. D. O. Bradley’s place, is a flat gore, 
inclined to be damp, which, if raised six inches near the 
railroad, and one foot at the foot of the bluff, would re- 
quire no further attention. 
At the Dobbs' Ferry station, the shore line is good, but 
there are three wrater tanks on the railroad property that 
ought to be frequently cleaned bv the company. 
In front of Dr. Pooleys place, below the bridge-crossing, 
ihe old bay has not been filled deep enough. Both this 
and Mr. Arent’s front, next south, are in bad condition 
having deteriorated within the last few years. 
For the remaining distance down to the south boundary 
of the village, which is the south line of the Bowen prop- 
erty, the shore line is in fair order as respects drainage. 
It is about here that Tappan Bay ends, and the mighty 
Hudson sweeps with a more rapid current between nar- 
rower and more precipitous banks. We have thus before 
us a succinct review of the entire river frontage of five and 
one-third miles. The situation resolves itself into this: 
along the eastern shore of Tappan Bay there were nurner- 
merous indentations and projecting points, until in 1847- 
8-9 the railroad company having obtained the right of 
way, cut through the points and carried the material in an 
embankment across the bays, converting the sinuous shore 
into a chain of stagnant pools from Hastings to Peekskill. 
The railroad is an established fact. It is here, it is going 
to stay here, and it is a good thing that it is so. Instead 
of animadverting against the company, the situation must 
be accepted, and the best made out of it that is possible. 
In the end the result will be favorable in every respect, 17 
as it has already proved in the growth of our three villages. 
Instead of reviling, the time will come when we shall have 
reason to be thankful that this company has built such a 
fine sea wall for us, of such fine material, and taught us 
how high to strike the level for our shops and dwellings. 
There will come a time when Tappan Bay will be bounded 
on the east by an unbroken barrier, against whose perpen- 
dicular front it may dash, and along which it may rise and 
fall, but beyond which not a wave shall advance; a bar- 
rier, not like the Thames embankment, with thousands, 
hundred of thousands of acres behind, liable at any time 
to a devastating flood, but with upward slopes rising un- 
interruptedly for 400 feet. No pumps will be needed to 
raise sluggish waters or oceans of sewage, but along the 
whole line the storm floods will freely trip down the hill- 
sides and over the railroad in such quantities that the com- 
pany will be compelled to put sluice-ways in every fourth 
space between the sleepers. Throw their water on us in- 
deed ! 
Ward Carpenter, & Son, 
Civil Engineers. 
Tarrytown, N. Y., Sept. 13,1878. 
Bearsville, P. O., Ulster Co., N. Y. 
August 22d, 1878. 
Cyrus W. Field, Esq., 
Dear Sir:—Permit me to thank you for your very kind 
response to my letter, and for a copy of a report of the 
proceedings of your Social Club at Irvington. I have 
read the pamphlet with the greatest interest and with a 
lively appreciation of every sentiment uttered in debate by 
gentlemen with whom I have been so well and pleasantly 
acquainted in years gone by. There are a few points in 
Col. Waring’s report, of June 7th, 1878, which 1 feel com- 18 
petent to review in the spirit of candid, friendly criticism, 
feeling that my term of residence in, and practical sanitary 
relations to, Irvington qualify me so to do. Observations 
made with reference to fever and ague malaria (such as 
Col. Waring’s chiefly were) may be said with confidence 
to be as applicable to all kinds of terranean miasms as for 
that special form of poison. 
Drainage and ventilation will dissipate all known varie- 
ties of malaria and leave the regional conditions favorable 
for the efficacious employment of such medicinal agents 
as are commonly relied upon to neutralize these poisons. 
I think Col. Waring started with an erroneous assumption 
when he says, “ 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 disease, we have 
to look for such local conditions as would foster it and 
lead to its reproduction and localization.” 
Since a certain time, not difficult to specify with some 
accuracy, the poison of ague malaria, as well as other 
miasmatic poisons, have become indigenous in the Irvington 
neighborhood. The importation of cases of fever and 
ague is not a factor of any importance, nor indeed, in a 
scientific sense appreciable as a germinal influence in the 
local production and continuance of the evidences of that 
poison. Fever and ague is not a disease communicable 
from person to person, let the local conditions be what 
they may. Like circumstances are liable to produce like 
effects, but ague malaria depends solely upon the circum- 
stances, and not at all upon the fact of one or more per- 
sons having the disorder in any of its diverse manifesta- 
tions. Each case arises from its own individual percepti- 
bility and the appropriateness of the exposure. 
Inception of the disease depends not mainly but wholly 
upon the presence of the spenfic poison. Its more or less 
permanence in a given neighborhood is due to the favora- 
ble nature of its reception, the acquired susceptibility of 19 
the' inhabitants, and of the somewhat negative effects of 
medical treatment while the causes remain in force. Now 
I can testify to the inception of the disease in many cases 
in or near Irvington suddenly, nearly simultaneously, and 
immediately following a prolonged period of absolute im- 
munity. 
I suspect that that period of healthfulness had never 
been previously interrupted by such an invasion of un- 
healthful influences as have since existed. 
What is true of fever and ague in this connection is also 
true of the zymotic diseases in anything that might be 
called an endemic visitation. This class of disease bloomed 
into fatal prevalence at about the same time. In the light 
of an historical fact, such as I allude to, it is fair to pre- 
sume that the causes for the prevalence of fever and ague, 
in the district surrounding Irvington, are local in tneir 
origin, local in their sources of maintenance, and demand 
local measures for their removal. It is an important point, 
and one that relates to other diseases of a malarial origin 
as well. 
Col. Waring is right in all that he has found and re- 
ported relating to the defects of the district in a sanitary 
sense. And his recommendations are of the first import- 
ance in an attempt to remedy the evils complained of. 
The elemental, or original cause of the localization of these 
malarial disorders has not altogether escaped the notice of 
Col. Waring, but he has not recognized it as the primary 
cause, and possibly the sole sufficient cause of all the mala- 
rial diseases that have afflicted Irvington. He has not 
given it that prominence, in his estimate of dangers, that 
I think it is entitled to. 
Col. Waring says: “So far as my examination warrants 
me in forming an opinion, I should say that there do ex- 
ist, 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 that it may be safely assumed that a detailed ex- 20 
animation 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 knowl- 
edge does not exist." 
On the contrary, I think it may be safely assumed that 
in respect of Irvington, such knowledge does exist, and 
that it is a knowledge which if rightly employed will 
result in the elimination of the malarial diseases (as indig- 
enous affections) entirely from that district. The topo- 
graphical conditions which characterize the district lying 
between Tarry town and Dobbs’ Ferry do not differ very 
essentially, at the present time, from what they did before 
the invasion of malaria, excepting in one important par- 
ticular, and that is one of such grave importance that I 
deem it the prime cause of all that has so unfortunately 
blighted (temporarily I hope and believe) the fair fame of 
Irvington. 
Without further preamble, which I could not well 
avoid in discussing Col. Waring’s report, 1 would say that 
the locality which gave rise to the first symptonsof indig- 
genous malaria, was the strip of land or water, as the case 
might be, lying between the radroad and bluff land which 
originally formed the shore line of the river. Until the 
railroad authorities widened the road-bed to accommodate 
a third track, nothing of a malarial character was known 
in Irvington-between the North river and the water shed 
of the Saw Mill river. The enlarged road-bed was done 
with reckless haste, and without any regard to the drain- 
age culverts which before had allowed the tide to ebb and 
flow freely between the railroad bank and the river bank. 
As soon as the road was finished the pool spaces were the 
receptacles of all kinds of drainage or sewerage from 
dwellings as well as from stables and stockyards, and 
nothing was received from the river to neutralize, in the 
least degree, the gradual condensation of its retained filth, 
and the gases of its vigorous decomposition. This was 21 
especially true of the swampy pool at the base and just 
south of “ Sunny-Side” at the foot of Mr. Fargo's place, 
also at the foot of Messrs. Tiffany and Dunham’s places, 
at the river margin of Messrs. D. N. and A. II. Barney’s 
places, and then in various places nearer Dobbs Ferry. 
No sooner had this change upon the railroad completed 
the sanitary undoing of the river edge of Irvington, than 
the first cases of diptheria occurred. Two cases occurred 
in one family—fatal in one case—within fifty feet of the 
margin of one of the obstructed pools, and within less 
than a hundred feet of the railroad station of Irvington 
village. In a few days another case of diptheria occurred 
in the first street of the village lying north of and parallel 
to the railroad. That case proved fatal. Two or three 
other cases of the same disease occurred before frost set 
in, and after that, until the spring following, there was a 
remission. At the same time with these diptheria cases, 
there occurred several cases of serious illness in the lower 
part of the village, which were anomalous in their peculiar 
severity, and the malarial symptoms that accompanied 
them were marked. Bilious remittent fever, typho-mala- 
rial fever, neuralgias of the most unprecedented charac- 
ter, having periodicity m their paroxysms that showed 
plainly their nature and origin. This was all new to the 
Irvington region, and hence, had a meaning and an assign- 
able cause. About that time a case of confinement of a 
lady residing for the summer in “ Sunny-Side Cottage," 
lapsed into malarial coma and destroyed the patient. 
Another case of a similar nature occurred on the main- 
road (Broadway) between the McVicker lane and Suriny- 
side lane. These two cases were peculiarly character- 
istic of malarial toxasmia, and such cases had hitherto 
been unknown in Irvington. I could relate the particu- 
lars in detail, of a great many cases both caused and 
influenced by prevalent malarial at this period. Since 
that time there has been no intermission in the prevalence 
of miasmatic infection in the neighborhood, creeping along 22 
north and south from the starting point at Messrs. Dun- 
ham and Tiffany’s river front, and also extending slowly 
up the hill towards that point just over the erest, where 
the malaria arising from the ill-drained lands of the Saw 
Mill river valley may be met. 
To establish a cordon of malaria from the weakened 
waftings eastward from the New Jersey shore to the long- 
infected fever district of the Saw Mill river section has 
been the work of the railroad constructors, and this work 
must be undone, as far as its sanitary defects are con- 
cerned, before any relief may be expected for Irvington. 
That village and its environs have a natural right to be 
as free of malaria as any other in the land. It has been 
so up to a time when a thing was done that instantly put 
a period to the immunity which it had heretofore enjoyed. 
Is it not plain that the cause is definable, and at the same 
time removable ? Is any other sanitary defect worthy to 
be compared in gravity of circumstances and direct effect 
with the one I have described? Filling up of these 
pools has recently, or within about five years, been done 
in a way that makes hard ground of what, in the time of 
my residence in Irvington, were basins of water many 
acres in extent This was the fact with the pool at or 
near “ Sunnyside,” and at the foot of the grand lawn of 
the Barney estates. This filling has improved the neigh- 
borhood only to the extent that the subsoil drainage has 
been perfect, and ancient sewerage drainage discontinued. 
I have reason to believe these conditions have been prac- 
tically overlooked by the contractors for the filling If 
not actually disregarded,-they have been done in a way 
to be non-effective and to aggravate the original trouble. 
With this outline statement or hint of what I regard as the 
chief fatal defect in the sanitary condition of Irvington, I 
ask you to test the soundness of my views in a way that 
will settle the question beyond all doubt. I feel that I 
owe this statement to the good people of Irvington for 23 
whom I have, for numberless kindnesses received, the 
most affectionate regard. 
I have the honor to be, dear sir, 
Your obedient serv’t, 
George Bayles. 
Tarrytown, N. Y., Sept. 6, 1878. 
Cyrus W. Field, Esq., President “Irvington Neighbors.” 
Dear Sir:—As directed by you, we have made measure- 
ments with regard to the school buildings and surround- 
ings in the Dobbs' Ferry, Irvington, and Tarrytown dis- 
tricts, and have the honor to submit the result herewith : 
First.—School on High Street, Dobbs’ Ferry. 
The grounds are 121 feet by 120. The north-western 
exposure is cold, but in a measure counterbalanced by the 
eastern and southern aspect. In respect to access of free 
air, this school is more advantageously situated than the 
others, though as regards pure air, we fear that must re- 
main an open question. 
Surrounding this school are the following named nui- 
sances : (1.) Privy in the northwest corner of school yard, 
72 feet distant from nearest windows of school house, and 
63 feet from pump. (2.) Privy on west part of yard, 65 
feet from nearest windows, and 47-J- feet from pump. (3.) 
A double privy, back of north-west privy about 88 feet 
from nearest window. (4.) A double privy, back of west 
privy, about 82 feet from nearest window. (5.) A privy 
on next lot south, 75 feet from nearest window. (6.) A 
privy on the lot still further south, about 100 feet from 
nearest window. (7.) A privy north-west of school yard, 
about 150 feet from nearest window. Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 
7 are on ground much lower than school yard, the lots 
having double houses which are of the tenement character. 24 
(8.) A privy, also double, on the lot immediately north 
of school yard. This is far worse than any of the others. 
At the back is a refuse heap of disgusting character alone, 
and made infamous by the bursting out upon it of the 
privy contents. This privy and refuse heap demands im- 
mediate condemnation by the Board of Health. 
As there had been a heavy rain fall the night previous 
to our visit, all the privies gave forth a horrible odor. 
We did not ascertain whether it was a well or cistern 
under the pump. Whichever be the case, provision seems 
to have been made for its ventilation. 
Second.—Irvington Village School, North of 
Atheneum, on east side of F. Steet. 
Northwestern exposure, ground sloping westward, as in 
Dobbs’ Ferry and Tarry town schools, and, as in the latter 
case, the eastern frontage is shut oft' by high ground on 
the east. Openness to the south is better. 
The nuisances are as follows : (1.) Girls’ privy 40 feet 
north-east from nearest window. (2.) Boys’ privy, 34 
feet south-east from nearest window. (3.) Privy on Athen- 
eum lot, 53 feet south-east. (4.) Covered cesspool on Or- 
ton property, 39 feet south-east. 
The well is in south-west corner of lot. The distance 
from each of the four points mentioned is as follows: (1.) 
From girls' privy, 160 feet. (2.) From boys’ privy, 77 
feet. (3.) From Atheneum privy, 87 feet. (4.) From Or- 
ton cesspool, 100 feet. 
The cesspool is constructed of open stone work, nearly 
up to the surface, where a few courses of brick are laid in 
cement for the spring of the arch. This, and the three 
privy vaults, are on ground much higher than the well. 
The well also receives the surface wash. A considerable 
part of this wash works along the south fence and receives 
a quota from an ash heap on the Atheneum lot and about 
62 feet east. An ash heap is not only always mixed with 
more or less garbage, but is also a ready absorbent of im- 25 
purities from the air. During storms, there is quite a 
stream that pours into the well through a considerable 
opening in the mason work on the south side of the well. 
A drainage pipe from the east of the school house also 
passes within seven feet of the well. As it is laid with 
open joints, this increases the danger of defilement. This 
pipe, we should judge, is intended to drain the high 
ground, east of school house, to protect the basement and 
also as an overflow for a cistern there. This water may 
often be impure through stagnation, and as the open pipe 
is in some places near the surface and washed bare in 
others, man}' impurities will find their way in directly. 
This pipe, moreover, passes within 30 feet of the cesspool 
and 21 feet of the boys’ privy. Under such circumstances 
there would always be more or less filth collecting in the 
pipe and injurious gases produced which at any time 
might escape into the well, but especially in case the out- 
let, which is not safely arranged, should get stopped up. 
Third.—School on Sheldon Avenue, West of 
Meadow Street. 
The privy is 26 feet west of nearest window. Part of 
the vault is now above ground and built of open stone 
work. 
No well on the premises. 
Water is obtained from the first lot built upon north. 
The well on that lot is 65 feet east of a privy and 71 feet 
east of a cow stable. The surface wash is towards the 
well. 
Fourth.—Tarrytown School, East of Broadway 
and South of Franklin Street. 
The well is under the side-walk near the curb. 
There are three privy vaults on the high ground back 
of school house. That directly behind is 13 feet from 
rear wall of school and about 15 feet from the nearest 
window. The south-east privy is 29 feet from nearest 
window, and 27 from corner of building. The north-east 26 
one is about 17 feet from nearest window. The well is 
163 feet from south-east privy and 156 from the middle 
one. It is separated by the masonry of the Croton aqueduct 
which passes under the school yard to the depth of about 
15 feet in all. It is doubtful whether this is effectual as 
a protection. The distance from privies contrasts favora- 
bly with the other cases, but the descent towards the well is 
much greater, while there is besides a substratum of rock 
not for below the surface which would facilitate the con- 
nection. The latter is a very important item not only in 
the defilement of wells, but when extended over large 
tracts seriously increases the danger from terraneous 
poisons. 
We are not called upon to offer any suggestions as to 
removal or remedy in the above cases, but we should be 
glad to state that in all other respects the four schools vis- 
ited by us show many striking evidences that they are 
supported by intelligent and liberal communities, and 
under the supervision of capable and zealous boards. 
We are, with the highest esteem, sincerely your obedi- 
ent servants, 
Ward Carpenter & Son, 
Civil Engineers. 
Extract from a report made by Miss Todd in regard to suf- 
ferers in Dobbs' Ferry from Malarial Fever, dated 21 st 
Aug., 1878. 
“In the following list will be found the names of fami- 
“ lies who have recently suffered from malarial disease, and 
“the names of those who are battling against it now. 
“ People have been, in several instances, unwilling to ad- 
“ mit the presence of the disease where it evidently has 
“shown itself. The trouble is that it is far more prev- 
“ alent than it may appear to be from this list. 
(Here follows a list of seventy-eight names.) 
“These families reside between Mr. Wilde’s and General 27 
“ Bowen’s, in Dobbs’ Ferry. They all have had the dis- 
“ ease within a month, and many of them suffer from it at 
“ the present moment.” 
The list of names, referred to above, was sent to a promi- 
nent gentleman of the Village of Dobbs’ Ferry, and 
he returned it with the addition of the names of nine per- 
sons not included therein, making in all eighty-seven. 
Dobbs’ Ferry, Sept. 18th, 1878. 
Dear Mr. Field :—In reply to your inquiry I beg to 
say that, within the past three months, I have had in my 
household, under medical care, two cases of malaria and 
one case of pronounced chills and fever. None of the 
patients have been so affected before. The latter case 
was that of a servant, who has been only one year in the 
States, and but three months in my employment. Before 
coming to Dobbs’ Ferry she had lived in Brooklyn since 
her arrival in the country. Heartily wishing you every 
success in your efforts to banish this plague of malaria 
from our hitherto very healthy neighborhood, 
I am, dear Mr. Field, yours truly, 
W. A. Ross. 
To Cyrus W. Field, Esq., Dobbs’ Ferry. 
Grinnell, Minturn & Co.,) 
78 South street f 
New York, Sept. 17, 1878. 
Dear Mr. Field :—I have read with interest the re- 
port you kindly sent me on the Hamilton pond, etc. 
There is no doubt in my mind that the malaria along the 
river bank is largely due to want of proper drainage. We 
live under malarial influences, and only by proper care 28 
can escape the consequences. As evidence of this it is 
well known that the sod cannot be turned up to any ex- 
tent near the house, on any place on the river, no matter 
how previously free from malaria, without danger of 
causing sickness. 
Owing to the general commercial depression property 
is now entirely unsalable on the river or elsewhere, and 
therefore no time could have been better chosen to come 
out boldly and advocate proper sanitary inspection, with 
the object of taking steps to eliminate the causes of disease, 
as far as our present knowledge of the laws of health 
admit of it. 
I am sure the community ought to be indebted to you 
for the energy you have displayed in turning attention to 
a matter which is of such vital public interest. 
I am, dear sir, very truly yours, 
John W. Mint urn. 
Cyrus W. Field, Esq. 
Cyrus W. Field, Esq. 
Dear Sir:—I have carefully read the report on the 
condition of Hamilton’s pond, etc., by Ward Carpen- 
ter & Son, and I think he has taken a very correct view 
of the subject so far as he has gone. There is no doubt 
of the fact, that enormous quantities of malaria are gener- 
ated by the condition in which the ponds and streams, of 
which he speaks, are; and that the changes and improve- 
ments he proposes will, in a great measure, perhaps almost 
entirely, remove. But the work must not stop there. 
The subject of drainage and sewerage from cesspools and 
privies, and pig-pens and such, is of vast importance, and 
one that cannot be neglected if the health of the commu- 
nity is the object of consideration. The cesspool men- 
tioned by Mr. Carpenter as forcing its overflow into the 
brook on Mr. Barney’s property is sufficient of itself, dur- 
ing the hot months of July and August, to produce an 
epidemic of diptheria that may extend through an entire 29 
community, and which it may take weeks, perhaps months, 
to control. 
Permit me to add, that I think you have begun this 
undertaking in the right way, and indeed, in the only way 
in which, if carried out properly, it can be successful. I 
think that all who are to-day doubtful will, in the next few 
years, be convinced of the correctness of your views. 
Very respectfully, 
J. B. Fulton, M. D. 
Irvington, Sept. 17th, 1878. 
Beport of condition of grounds adjoining the railroad 
track, between Tarry town and Dobbs’ Ferry: 
1st. Tarrytown Station.—Ground swampy and un- 
wholesome, foul smells, and in a condition generally 
requiring attention. 
2d. Benedict’s Property.—Open to tide, and appar- 
ently in good condition. I would explain here that m3' 
examination was made at high tide. 
8d. Smith’s.—In good condition. 
4th. Lewis.—In good condition—high ground. 
5th. Dodge.—In good condition, with exception of 
north corner, where is a bad hole. 
6th. Sterling.—Good. 
7th. Hoe.—Good. A pond of pure water, subject to 
flow of the tide, with culvert for overflow. 
8th. Hoge.—Swamp whole length from 10 to 20 feet 
wide. Cat-tails and flags. A culvert near north end for 
escape of water from brook, but stoned up with dry wall. 
9th. Terry —Narrow swamp, whole length of property, 
perhaps 25 feet wide. A narrow culvert. 
10th. Merritt. —South good. Middle, long narrow 
swamp. Cat-tails and flags. A culvert needed here. 
North end a pipe drain, dry, apparently out of order. 
11th. Holdrege.—Bad. Large swamp. Green sur- 
face to water. Cat-tails and flags, 100 feet by 300. Good 
culvert but not effectual for drainage. 30 
12th. Banker’s. Good all the way. High ground. 
13th. Irving Lane and Sunnyside.—Ground par- 
tially filled, but not sufficiently; low and unwholesome. 
14th. Fargo’s.—Low and wet. Cat-tails and flags. 
Generally unwholesome. Culvert stoned up. 
15th. Matthiesen.—Low ground, but has apparently 
been filled up ; damp but not unwholesome. 
16th. Tiffany.—Good. 
17th. Irvington Depot.—Good. On the W. low and 
unwholesome. 
18th. Barney’s.—North end, perhaps 8 feet in width, 
land some 6 or 8 feet below rail-road, culvert not closed 
by masonry, but filled up with dirt; wet. South end 
strip 10 to 12 feet in width, low and wet. Some bad 
smells here, apparently from drainage, but could not trace 
them. 
19th. Mair’s.—Good. 
20th. Dow’s.—Good; culvert partially stopped with 
dirt. 
21st. Road.—Good. 
22d. Foster’s.—Good. 
23d. King’s.—Good. 
24th. Hamilton’s and Schuyler’s.—N. end, for 200 
feet, good ; S. and middle, low, but partially drained to rail- 
road,where there is a wall, on the west side of which water 
stands the whole length, stagnant and covered with green 
scum ; a good culvert. 
25th. Cottenet’s.—Good; S. end low, but a good cul- 
vert. 
26th. Stymer’s.—N. end, for 100 feet, low with cat- 
tails and flags, 10 to 15 feet in width ; remainder high 
and good. 
27th. Wild.—Very bad ; swamp for 3 or 400 feet; 
green scum, cat tails and flags ; culvert partially stopped » 
S. end high and good. 
28th. Palmer.—A small swamp of an acre or two; re- 
mainder good. 
29th. Biegen.—Low, but at N. end well drained to 31 
culvert, and in good condition ; S. needs draining. Biegen 
says he has lived here over twenty years; used to boast of 
its being the healthiest place in the world. The first 
case of fever and ague he ever heard of was in 1870, and 
since then it has been steadily increasing. The reason is 
very apparent. As population increases the amount of 
foul matter from residences increases, from the extreme 
carelessness of the poorer population and the stupidity of 
the better classes, who seem to think it only necessary to 
get foul matter away from their houses to accumulate at a 
little distance in a tenfold degree. One-half the wells in 
this vicinity are filled with drainage from cess pools and 
hog pens, and the best wells are rarely cleaned out. He 
has his cleaned once a year, and the last time found a dead 
rabbit in it. Such things are always liable to occur. It 
is a perfectly simple matter to get rid of the scourge if we 
have the disposition and the power. It need not stay here 
six months if we really want to get rid of it. 
30th. Kitchen.—Bad swamp. 
31st. Bradley.—Swamp in part, some 10 or 12 feet 
wide. 
I have found no evidence of any culvert having been 
stopped by the railroad, there being apparently all there 
ever have been through their embankment. 
Resp’y submitted, 
A. C. Richards. 
Irvington, N. Y., Sept. 20, 1878. 
Hon. C. W. Field, 
Dear Sir:—I herewith return the report of the 
condition of Hamilton and other ponds by the Messrs. 
Carpenter. Permit me most heartily to commend its con- 
tents. It is just such a report as we might expect from so 
able and practical a man as we know Mr. Carpenter to be. 
His thorough knowledge of the locality renders him 
eminently calculated for the work which he has so admir- 
ably produced. Allow me, also, to return my thanks 
for the opportunity of perusing its valuable contents. 32 
Mr. Carpenter simply advises in relation to the drainage, 
which was the main object, as I understand it, and in re- 
gard to which he has left nothing further to be requested 
of him. But I would ask the question, if the supply of 
water is as great as he calculates—and I have no doubt of 
it—why not make these natural reservoirs, complete as 
dispensing reservoirs, for the towns of Dobbs’ Ferry and 
Irvington, supplying the inhabitants with an abundance 
of pure water, with drainage, not only for the nuisances of 
which he speaks, but also for each house and stable, and 
without which we have but half accomplished the great 
work, which you have so energetically commenced. Then 
our beautiful town would not only be desirable as a place 
of residence, but also for all those necessary conveniences, 
which every well regulated household feel to be indispens- 
able for health and comfort. Also, in case of fire would 
be invaluable. At the same time, the undertaking would 
be profitable, not only in reclaiming now unproductive 
land, and preventing sickness, but also from water rents, 
necessary, in order to keep the improvement intact, and in 
good repair. We cannot have Irvington perfect without 
a thorough system of drainage, and which is impossible 
without water. 
In regard to the cost of the work proposed by Mr. Car- 
penter, it seems to me he has underestimated the extensive 
plan which he proposes, but as I do not pretend to be an 
expert in such matters, I merely speak of it, lest we be 
disappointed when the bills come in. You know that 
operations of this magnitude cost more, as a general rule, 
than was first contemplated. 
Permit me to conclude these brief remarks, with highest 
esteem for the energetic manner in which you have com- 
menced this truly necessary work, and with my kindest 
regards as one of the “ Neighbors.” 
Yours respectfully, 
C. Prince.