BENNINGTON BATTLEFIELD.

On January 15, 1912, the Hon. Bradford R. Lansing of Rensselaer re-introduced in the Assembly the bill which he offered last year but which then failed to pass, "to provide for the acquisition and preservation of the historic tract or parcel of land known as Bennington battlefield, situate in the Town of Hoosick, in the County of Rensselaer, and making an appropriation therefor." The corresponding bill was introduced in the Senate on March 6 by the Hon. Herbert E. Allen of Clinton. The bill appropriated $30,000 for the purchase of two tracts of land, one of 173 acres and the other of 35 acres on the highway leading from Walloomsac, N. Y., to North Bennington, Vt., " for the benefit of the people of the State of New York as an historic landmark and for educational and patriotic purposes." The bill vested the care and control in the State Comptroller, but authorized him to delegate the care and control to any duly organized patriotic or historical society.*

AU SABLE CHASM.

During the past year we have again been urged to call the attention of the Legislature to the desirability of acquiring for the State the chasm of the Au Sable river. The Au Sable Chasm is about three miles due west from Lake Champlain opposite Port Kent. At this point the Au Sable river flows in a generally northward and northeastward direction and empties into Lake Champlain about three miles north of Port Kent. The Chasm may be reached by the Au Sable & Lake Champlain railroad which terminates at Port Kent, and there connects with the Delaware & Hudson Railroad.

The Chasm is private property, controlled by the owners of a local hotel who in times past have charged seventy-five cents entrance fee to others than hotel guests, and fifty cents additional for the boat ride and return by carriage. Near the highway bridge crossing the Au Sable River the Chasm begins with Rainbow Falls, which are about seventy feet high. The Chasm is entered by visitors a short distance farther down stream through a lodge

The bill passed both houses, but was vetoed by the Governor.

where the admission fee is collected. Part of the trip through the Chasm is made on foot, and part by boat, the return being by carriage. Various features of the portion traversed on foot are called Horseshoe Falls, Pulpit Rock, Elephant's Head, the Devil's Oven (a cave thirty feet deep), Hell Gate (a narrow passage), Jacob's Ladder, the Devil's Punch Bowl, Jacob's Wall, Mystic Gorge, the Long Gallery, Point of Rocks, Hyde's Cave, Bixby's Grotto, Smuggler's Pass, the Hanging Garden, and Table Rock. From Table Rock, one may look backward through the Upper Flume and see Column Rocks, the Altar Cloth, the Anvil, Cathedral Rocks and the Sentinel. Passing through a cleft in the lower edge of Table Rock, one descends to the water's edge and enters a stoutly built boat for the exciting trip through the Grand Flume. The latter is a narrow gorge about 100 feet deep with almost vertical sides between which the water runs with great rapidity. At one point, the opposite walls approach each other to within a distance of ten or fifteen feet, and the sky above the cliffs appears a narrow ribbon of blue. Owing to the inclination of the rock strata in the walls of the Chasm, the rapid movement past them produces the optical illusion of running down a steep hill. The Grand Flume ends at the Lower Gateway, through which the boat passes into the Pool. Here, the river turns abruptly to the left. Beyond the turn are some rapids, and beyond these the stream turns to the right and becomes calmer. In what is called the Basin, the voyager leaves the boat and takes the carriage for the return by land.

In February, 1903, the Hon. Spencer G. Prime introduced in the Senate a bill "authorizing the purchase of Au Sable Chasm Reservation as an addition to the Adirondack State Park" and providing that it should be maintained "open and free to all mankind under proper rules and regulations," and in our Annual Report for 1903 we advocated the passage of this bill. The bill passed the Senate but failed to become a law. We believe that the exceptional picturesqueness of this section of Au Sable river warrants its acquisition by the State as one of its rare beauty spots.

ADIRONDACK PARK.

On Monday, December 4, 1911, this Society joined with the representatives of various civic, pleasure and commercial interests

in a conference held under the auspices of the Camp Fire Club of America in the building of the Bar Association of New York, in New York City, to consider a report upon the Adirondack Forest Preserve made by Hon. Gifford Pinchot. At a meeting of our Trustees held December 26, 1911, it was voted to express to the Legislature the views of the Trustees upon the various recommendations as follows:

That the Society is in favor of as many fire lookout stations as necessary; the establishment of additional intermediate stations. for supplies and fire extinguishing paraphernalia; the organization of a reserve fire-fighting force; an increase of the number of patrolmen or rangers, to be permanently employed, under civil service regulations, with graduated pay; the burning of brush at any suitable time under permit from and supervision of the State forest service; an increase in the number of trained foresters; the replanting of denuded lands as rapidly as possible; the regulation of lumbering on private lands within the Blue Line if it be constitutional; the sale of detached parcels of Forest Preserve land outside the Blue Line and the acquisition of additional State land within the Blue Line; and the creation of protective forests on mountain slopes which shall never be cut.

GIFT OF PARK IMPROVEMENT TO CANANDAIGUA, N. Y.

In previous Reports we have recorded various gifts of State, City and Village Parks made by members of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, and have the pleasure now of recording one made in September, 1911, by another member, Mrs. Mary Clark Thompson, widow of the late Mr. Frederick F. Thompson of New York City, to the village of Canandaigua, N. Y. Mrs. Thompson has generously provided the means for improving the village park, beautifully situated at the foot of Canandaigua Lake. With a view to improving this area, Boston architects have prepared plans for a rest park with fountains, carved stone seats, drinking fountains for man and beast and ornamental electric lighting. In the center of the park is to be a monument in memory of the pioneers of the section, which will be surmounted by an appropriate piece of statuary.

Mrs. Thompson will also, if the village authorities grant permission, construct an ornamental bridge across the outlet feeder, so that the swimming pavilion may be reached without the present danger from automobiles.

Canandaigua is the summer home of Mrs. Thompson, who has previously given the village a hospital and home for the aged and a site for a postoffice, and made many other public benefactions. For years it has been her custom to share with the public her own large place called Sonnenberg, throwing it open to visitors one day every two weeks from the middle of June to the middle of September. These grounds are beautifully laid out in formal gardens, Italian and Japanese, and, among other attractions, have an aviary. The history of Mrs. Thompson's place is an admirable exemplification of the interest which the public feels in parks. "Sonnenberg Day" amounts to an institution in Ontario County, and people from far and near show their appreciation of the privilege of visiting the grounds by going in numbers averaging between two and three thousand. On those days, the streets of Canandaigua are full of conveyances, as on "Fair Day " or " Circus Day." In addition to this, Mrs. Thompson maintains close at hand a large and well equipped playground for public use, free of charge.

TAGHANIC FALLS, N. Y.

During the past year, Mr. Robert H. Treman, of Ithaca, N. Y, has made a generous offer for the purpose of preserving the natural surroundings of Taghanic Falls. These falls the name of which is sometimes spelled Taughannock Falls are situated in Taghanic creek, on the west side of Cayuga Lake, about a mile from the lake and about eight and a half miles in an air line northwest of Ithaca, which is at the head of the lake. They may be reached by the Ithaca branch of the Lehigh Valley railroad which passes through the village of Taghanic Falls. The lake level is 381 feet above mean sea level, and in the mile to Taghanic Falls the ground rises rapidly to an elevation of over 840 feet a difference of about 460 feet. Back of Taghanic Falls the land rises to still greater heights, Taghanic Creek taking its rise some twelve miles distant among mountains having an elevation of 1,850 or more feet. At the Falls the ravine is more than

1,000 feet wide and 350 feet deep, and has one clear water fall of 215 feet.

Toward the end of 1911, the Supervisors of Tompkins County selected a site on the north side of the ravine at Taghanic Falls for a tuberculosis camp, and on December 29, 1911, held a public hearing on the subject in the City of Ithaca. At that hearing, Mr. Treman, Dean Liberty H. Bailey (Director of the State School of Agriculture of Cornell University and a Trustee of this Society), and others, urged the choice of some other site for the hospital, in order that Taghanic Falls might be freely accessible as one of the beauty spots of the State, and that its popularity might not be impaired. The speakers hoped that the time would come when the falls would become a State Reservation, in a manner similar to that by which Watkins Glen and other scenic reservations of the State have been created. The majority of those at the meeting, however, appeared to be in favor of the site selected by the Board of Supervisors. To save the situation at this critical juncture, Mr. Treman then offered to purchase the Dr. Meany place of ten acres on the south side of Taghanic Falls, equip it and give it to the County for a hospital, beginning with $5,000. He was of the opinion that it would have been better to select some entirely different site distant from Taghanic Falls, but that the southern side of the ravine was preferable to the north side. The only condition of his offer was that the institution should be named after the late owner, Dr. Edward Meany, who had been a generous friend of the poor. The meeting expressed its approval and appreciation of this generous offer by enthusiastic applause. Subsequently the Board of Supervisors purchased the Dr. Meany site but further development has been postponed pending an investigation of the water supply and other details. It is still hoped that the hospital may be located elsewhere, in which case Mr. Treman will be glad to have the Dr. Meany site used as a County Park, in the hope that eventually the State will acquire the falls for a State Reservation.

Mr. Treman is entitled to the public gratitude for his public spirit and generosity, and if, through him, the use of the picturesque site for a tuberculosis camp is avoided, it would seem to be but fair for the State to improve the opportunity to acquire the rescued property for a scenic reservation.