They marked out a route from Macomb's Dam to the Bronx River, which they declared to be the proper one for the long desired supply, and added: "The Croton cannot be brought in by this route, and cannot ever be needed, seeing that the quantity which can be obtained at a moderate cost through the valley of the Bronx will be sufficient for all city purposes." At the same time an analysis of the Bronx water was made by prominent chemists, which showed it to be of remarkable purity, not more than two grains of foreign matter being contained in a gallon. This is a fact of much historic interest in view of the present extreme contamination of the waters of the Bronx most of the way below White Plains. But the common council, in spite of its bias in favor of the Bronx, was unwilling to risk another appeal to the legislature based on a single exclusive plan, and accordingly sent up a bill calling for the appointment of water commissioners, who should "be invested with full power to examine all the plans hitherto proposed, to cause actual surveys to be made, to have the water tested, to estimate the probable expense, and generally to do whatever in their judgment may

o52

HISTORY

WESTCHESTER

COUNTY

be necessary to arrive at a right conclusion in the premises.'' This bill was passed by the legislature on the 26th of February, 1833, and the governor appointed as water commissioners, for the period of on*1 year, Stephen Allen, B. M. Brown, S. Dusenberry, S. Alley, and William W. Fox.1 The commissioners engaged two engineers, Mr. Canvass White and Major Douglass, formerly professor of engineering at West Point, to undertake the requisite surveys, examinations, and estimates. Mi-. White being occupied otherwise at the time, the whole work was performed by Major Douglass, who sub-