Figure 1. A-B, section shown in figure 2. Gld Genesee Valley Canal formerly occupied site of Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad. C-D, proposed line of canal (approximately) which was found impracticable on account of quicksands. Horizontal lines indicate rock outlining ancient drift-filled valleys. Portageville is one of the four villages which would be obliterated by the proposed reservoir of the Genesee River Co.

Figure 2. Cross-section at A-B in Figure 1. Horizontal scale same as in fig. 1. Vertical scale as indicated. 1, Glen Iris, occupying ancient valley. 2, Genesee river below Upper Fall. 3, bed of Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad. 4, barrier of quicksand and clay between proposed reservoir and gorge below proposed dam. 5. Upper Genesee valley transformed into artificial lake, fifteen miles long and holding 15,000,000,000 cubic feet of water. 6-6, rock foundation.

REMARKS Referring to the barrier of quicksand shown in above diagrams at foot of the proposed Portage dam, Prof. A. W. Grabau of Columbia University says: "A break in this dam of quicksand such as is sure to occur from undermining by seepage if the lake is created, would carry the resultant flood into the present Genesee gorge near the Lower Falls and through the outer gorges to the flats below Mount Morris. It would not be difficult to estimate which of the villages of the flats would be wiped out of existence. Probably few would escape. Unless it can be shown that a dam of quicksand from half a mile to a mile in length and 2,000 feet across, and extending 70 feet below the floor of the valley which it dams, can hold in check a lake 15 miles long and 118 feet deep and about a mile in width, and containing 15,000,000,000 cubic feet of water, the project will have to be abandoned. Another barrier, or drift dam, of greater magnitude exists in the east bank of the Genesee Valley about three miles south of Portageville. This barrier divides the Genesee from the Nunda Valley, the floor of which at Nunda is 183 feet lower than the level of the Genesee at Portageville. The surface of the proposed lake would then be about 300 feet above the village of Nunda, held in check by a barrier of drift in which quicksand forms a dominant element. Surely the residents of Nunda and the other towns along the Keshequa creek should fully understand the menace such a lake would be to them." Geological diagram of Portage dam site. (See page 34.)

reservoir bottom at stage of low water, nor to the geological instability of the natural walls of the reservoir. We still have very high professional authority for differing from the cpinion of the Commission as to the safety of the proposed reservoir; but upon this and other related questions, we will, if necessary, present our arguments more fully at the proper time and place.

FORT BREWERTON STATE RESERVATION.

The Fort Brewerton State Reservation consists of one acre of land at the foot of Oneida lake, in the town of Hastings, Oswego county, N. Y., including the remains of old Fort Brewerton, built during the French and Indian War. It was purchased by the State pursuant to chapter 653 of the Laws of 1904, which provided that this Society should act as custodian. The act appropriated $2,000 for the purpose, but with the co-operation of this Society, the State secured it in 1906 for $1,250. Nothing further has been expended upon the property. A brief sketch of Fort Brewerton will be found in our Eighth Annual Report, 1903; an extended historical sketch with illustrations in our Tenth Report, 1905; and a copy of chapter 653 of the Laws of 1904 in our Twelfth Report, 1907.

TAPPAN MONUMENT PROPERTY.

In addition to the custody of the four State Reservations before mentioned, the Society, in 1905, purchased, with funds raised by private subscription, and holds title to a circular plot of ground fifty-one feet in diameter, encircled by Washington Place, at Tappan, N. Y. The purchase was made at the suggestion of the New York Times, made in an editorial published October 24, 1904. The plot lies on the top of a sightly hill, where Washington's army was assembled at the time of Andrè's execution, and contains the granite cube placed by Cyrus W. Field to mark the spot where Andrè was hanged and buried. During the past year,

through the generosity of Hon. Clarence Lexow, Chairman of our Tappan Monument Committee, a tablet has been affixed to the granite block stating that "This property, acquired November 13, 1905, by the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, preserves the identity of a place of historic interest, and commemorates the Fortitude of Washington and his Generals in one of the crises of the American Revolution." The proximity to this spot of the building in which Washington made his headquarters, the tavern in which Andrè was confined, the campground of the Continentals, the scene of the massacre of Baylor's troops, etc., invests the locality with interest for the student of history and imparts value to Washington Place and its included memorial as one of the historic landmarks of the Hudson valley. (See Reports for 1905, 1906 and 1907.)

YONKERS MANOR HALL GIFT.

In our last Annual Report we recorded the signal expression of confidence in the Society given by the Hon. William Pryor Letchworth, of Portage, in his gift of Letchworth Park to the State of New York to be in our custody. It is our pleasure to record in the present report a similar testimony in the generous offer of Mrs. William F. Cochran to give $50,000 for the preservation and $5,000 additional for the renovation of the Old Philipse Manor Hall at Yonkers, the conditions of the gift being that title to the property shall vest in the State and the custody shall be in this Society.

The movement for the preservation of this interesting landmark, the oldest part of which is believed to be 226 years old, may be said to have begun forty years ago when the then village of Yonkers purchased it for the sum of $44,000 for a village hall. Since then, with the growth and incorporation of the city of Yonkers, real estate values have increased so greatly that the property is now estimated to be worth at least $100,000 or $125,000.

The acquisition of the Manor Hall by the municipality in 1868 distinctly contemplated the historical value of the structure and the desirability of some form of public control which should remove it from the vicissitudes of private ownership. In 1877, the Board of Aldermen, on motion of Mr. Frederick Shonnard, adopted a resolution providing for the appointment of a permanent Committee on Historical Relics who should have certain responsibilities with regard to the Manor Hall and grounds. This committee did a great deal to stimulate interest in the Hall and the history of the city which had grown up around it. On October 18, 1882, the bicentennial of the Hall, commemorated with the greatest popular demonstration that Yonkers had ever seen, still further impressed upon the public mind the dignity of the old landmark.

For several years thereafter, the people of Yonkers enjoyed a sense of security in the possession of their cherished relic; but in 1895, the proposition to erect a new municipal building in the space between the Manor Hall and Warburton Hall on the north and extending from Music Hall to the south line of Manor Hall on the west indicated the danger to which the Hall was exposed even with municipal ownership under certain conditions and evoked the most vigorous protest from various civic organizations and leading citizens. Among the former were the Yonkers Historical and Library Association, Kekeskick Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Yonkers Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. The last named society had been founded that year, and one of its first acts was the adoption on November 26, 1895, of a respectful entreaty to the Yonkers Common Council not to disturb the architectural condition or relations of the building or reduce the dimensions of the site upon which it stood. This memorial was signed by the Hon.