But the Common Council did not approve of the substitution of inverted syphons for a high bridge, to pass the water over the Harlem, and accordingly the Board of Assistants adopted this resolution :

RESOLVED, That it is inexpedient to adopt the plan proposed by the Water Commissioners, for crossing the Harlem river by means of a low bridge or syphon, and that the plan of the high bridge referred to in the Report of the Commissioners, should be adopted, as submitted to, and approved by, the electors of the City and County of New York.

Adopted by the Board of Assistants, July 9, 1838.

The progress made during this year was great. The whole remaining line in Westchester County, comprising the third division, and six sections of the fourth, were put under contract, at prices lower than those of the preceding year, and with great competition in the bids. The necessary maps of the land required on the island of New York,

C R O T O N A a U E D U G'T. 157

amounting to about 26 acres, were completed, and negotiations were entered into by the Commissioners, for the purchase. Four blocks of the land required for the receiving reservoir, containing about 4f acres each, were obtained by purchase, and application was made to the Chancellor, for the appointment of appraisers, on whose award the remaining lands might be taken. A circular was also addressed to the chief iron founders in the United States and Great Britain, inviting proposals for the iron pipes that would be required for syphons, and for connecting the receiving, with the distributing, reservoir. These pipes, for the most part, were to be 3 feet in diameter, and others 30 inches, varying in thickness, from one to one inch and a quarter each.