Insurance Companies of other States — (Continued). The following is the grand aggregate of the New York Companies and of those of other States transacting business in the State of New STATE ENGINEER AND SURVEYOR. The office of State Engineer and Surveyor was created by Section 2, Article V., of the Constitution of 1846, and replaces that of "SurveyorGeneral," which had existed from an early period of the State government. The Section defining his duties is as follows: "A State Engineer and Surveyor shall be chosen at a general election, and shall hold his office two years, but no person shall be elected to said office who is not a practical engineer." Act, chapter 72, Laws of 1848, provides as follows: "2. The State Engineer and Surveyor shall possess all the powers and discharge all the duties prescribed or required by law to be discharged by the Surveyor-General prior to the first day of January, eighteen hundred and forty-eight, except his powers and duties as a Commissioner of the Canal Fund." " 3. The State Engineer and Surveyor shall have the general supervision of the engineer department, and shall perform all such duties in relation to the canals as shall be required by the canal board, and shall visit and inspect the public works of this State as often as, in his judgment, it shall be necessary." By act, chapter 140, Laws of 1848; act, chapter 434, Laws of 1849, and act, chapter 140, Laws of 1850, it was provided that every railroad corporation in this State should make a detailed annual report of its operations to the State Engineer and Surveyor, and that this officer should "" arrange the information contained in such reports in a tabular form, and prepare the same, together with the said reports, in a single document for printing, for the use of the Legislature." The State Engineer and Surveyor is a member of the Canal Board, the Contracting Board, and one of the Commissioners of the Land Office. State Canals. There are in the State 893 70-100 miles of completed, navigable canals and feeders, as follows: Of the above, the Erie, Oswego, Cayuga and Seneca canals have been enlarged to the following dimensions: Locks 110 feet long and 18 feet wide; capacity of boats about 250 tons. The Champlain canal has been partially enlarged, to enable boats drawing five feet of water to navigate it. The remaining canals are of the following general dimensions: Width at bottom, Depth of water, 28 feet. 40 แ 4 Locks 96 feet long and 14 feet wide; capacity of boats about 60 tons. Of the twenty-one locks upon the Champlain canal, fifteen have been enlarged to the size of those upon the Erie, while six remain of the original size. The locks upon the Erie canal are double, except thirteen locks between Clyde and Rochester, upon the Western Division. Those upon all the other State canals are single. The canals are divided into the Eastern, Middle and Western Divisions, to each of which is assigned one division engineer and one resident engineer. A resident engineer is also in especial charge of the Chenango canal extension, which is now in process of construction, extending from its junction with the Chenango canal at Binghamton, to the Pennsylvania State line, 40 miles. The divisions are as follows: Eastern Division. Erie canal from Albany to the east bank of Oneida Lake Erie canal from east side of Oneida Lake canal to east line Erie canal from east line of Wayne county to Buffalo, Genesee River feeder at Rochester,. Genesee River feeder at Oramel,........... Railroads. There are within the State about 3,000 miles of railroads, which are operated by steam, all of which, together with the horse or street railroads are required by law to report annually to this department, and the State Engineer and Surveyor is required to tabulate the results and submit the same, with the reports themselves, in a single document to the Legislature at the commencement of each session. |