Connecticut — Connecticut has part of Long Island Sound, the Thames River, navi gable to Norwich, the Connecticut River, the River, navigable by small craft for a few miles and the Housatonic. 150 miles long and navigable to Shelton. It has several towns along its waterways, such as Stonington. Nor wich, New London, New Haven and Bridge port.
The tonnage of the Connecticut River be low Hartford in 1917 was 60Z008 tons. That river has been improved as far as Holyoke, a distance of 85.9 miles from its mouth.
There are numerous harbors along the north shore of Long Island Sound with inflowing tributaries, many of which have been improved sufficiently to he navigable by coastwise vessels.
New London has an entrance channel 600 fret wide and 33 feet deep and is well equipped with wharves and other terminal facilities. In 1917 its tonnage was tons.
fhe channel at New Haven is 400 feet wide and 20 feet deep, three miles up from Long 4land Sound, and it has been somewhat ex tended at lesser depths and widths upstream. In 1917 the tonnage at that port was 1,368,649 tons. Thames River, Connecticut, is a tidal es tuary from 400 to 4,0(X) feet wide, extending from Long Island Sound to Norwich, a dis tance of 15 miles. Its channel is 200 feet wide and from 20 feet deep to Allyn Point and 14 feet deep from there to Norwich, with wharves at New London and Norwich. The tonnage on that river in 1917 was 328,188 tons. The Housa tonic River has an improved channel from 100 to 200 feet wide and seven feet deep to Derby and Shelton, a distance of 13 miles from its out let. Its tonnage in 1917 was 300,047 tons.
Bridgeport has several improved channels from Long Island Sound leading up to the port to accommodate coastwise vessels. Its tonnage in 1917 was 1,588,056 tons.
There are several other harbors along the south coast of Connecticut that have been im proved, all of which show the increasing inter est in waterways improvement.
Long Island Sound is 75 miles long and 20 miles wide. It is a great waterway for several superb steamboat lines plying between New York and towns and cities on its northern shore. The Connecticut River at one time was navigated by a number of river boats and had considerable commerce. A line of boats ran between Wells River, Vt. and Hartford. The boats were flat boats and did not draw much water. The Barnet was the first steamer for Connecticut River service. It drew 22 inches of water. On its first trip from Hartford to Vermont it had in tow a barge filled with peo ple. Other steamers were built for river serv ice, in which they were engaged for many years. This river was a great natural highway for the transportation of produce to market. The rapids in the river were overcome by canals at South Hadley Falls, at Turner Falls and at Bellows Falls.
New York.—The waterways of New York comprise that portion of the Atlantic Ocean washing Long Island on the south, and that part of Long Island Sound washing Long Island on the north, and also the upper and lower New York and Jamaica bays, and a portion of Staten Island Sound and all of the East, Harlem and Hudson rivers. They also include the Mohawk,
Seneca, Chemung, Black, Oswego and parts of the Delaware, Susquehanna, Genesee, Alle gheny, Niagara, Saint Lawrence and other riv ers, interior lakes and parts of Lakes Erie, On tario and Champlain and others.
In and about the port of New York are many infiowing streams and contiguous har bors. Some of these are Port Chester. Mama roneck, Echo Bay, Westchester, Bronx River, Flushing Bay, Hempstead, Huntington, Port Jeffersoz Mattituck, Great South Bay, Brown's Creek,Jamaica Bay, Sheepthead Bay, East River, Vallabout amine!, Newtown Creek. Harlem River, Hudson River, New York Bay and the various improved channels therein. All such waterways have been improved and are navigable by coastwise vessels, and many of them by the ocean-going vessels.
New York is the largest commercial port in the world, having wrested first place from Lon don recently. The total tonnage of the port of New York for the year 1917 was 63,176,983 short tons. That was during the World War, when war supplies were being shipped in great quantities. Its unique position at the contiu ence of the East and Hudson rivers overlook ing one of the finest harbors in the world, has added to its other commercial advantages and is destined to continue it as the emporium of the western hemisphere. On the north flows the picturesque Hudson, discovered in Septem ber 1609, and navigable by steam vessels 150 miles to the city of Troy, and by canal barges to Waterford. It has been improved, its many harbors also improved and the river has been canalized from Waterford to Fort Edward. It receives on the west the waters of the Mo hawk, formerly navigable about 95 miles, to Little Falls, which is also canalized from the Hudson nearly to the city of Rome. The ca nalized Hudson and Mohawk form a part of the improved canal system of the State of New York, constructed pursuant to the provi sions of the Canal Referendum Law, which law provided for the issue and sale of the bonds of the State, amounting to $101,000,000, for the construction of a system of barge canals, hav ing a bottom width of 75 feet and a depth of 12 feet, from the waters of the Hudson to those of Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, adequate for barges carrying 2,000 or more tons. That was followed by the Cayuga and Seneca canal referendum of 1909, authorizing a bond issue of $7,000,000 to improve the Cayuga and Seneca Canal, which was approved. That was also followed by the Barge Canal Terminal referendum measure of 1911, authorizing a fur ther bond issue of $19,800,000 to construct Barge Canal terminals and was approved, and that was followed by the canal referen dum of 1915, authorizing a further bond issue of $27,000,000, thus making aggregate bond is sues for canals and terminals of $154,800,000. An additional bond issue of $25,000,000 will be required to complete the system.