Canvass White was employed by the Company as Engineer, and in his report to the directors, recommended that the Bronx river be the source, and that the water, being taken at Underbill's Bridge, would yield a daily supply of 9,100,000 gallons, at an expense for the whole construction, of $1,450,000. They were to be conveyed in an arched conduit of masonry to Harlem river, and thence across the river and to the city by iron pipes.

Benjamin Wright, who was invited to examine Mr. White's plans and estimates, expressed his entire concurrence in their accuracy. The charter of this company proved so defective in practice, that they were unable to proceed in their work, and accordingly they applied to the Legislature, in 1826, for an

amendment, authorising the company to take such of the waters, lands, and materials as they needed, by appraisement of indifferent persons. In this application they were defeated by the opposition of the Sharon Canal Company, who claimed under their charter, all the water on the route of their Canal. The Water Works Company, unable to proceed, surrendered their charter in 1827.

Tired, apparently, of relying upon sources of water at a distance, a committee of the

104 MEMOIR OF THE Common Council, in March 1826, was directed to inquire whether " water of the best quality, and in quantity sufficient to supply the wants of the city, cannot be obtained from wells sunk, or to be sunk, on Harlem heights." This led to the incorporation by the next Legislature, in 1827, of a fourth company, called the New- York Well Company. The water was to be procured on the island, by sinking wells in the most elevated grounds. The Company made several attempts to procure water, but being satisfied by their experiments of the impracticability of the undertaking, the enterprise was abandoned.