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NEW YORK BARGE CANAL between England and France, Count Frontenac, the French governor of Canada at the time, directed his force against the Five Nations. This proceeding was frustrated by the English governor of the province, who supported the Indians. The great conflict between England and France to decide the sovereignty of America broke out in 1754. In 1756, the French destroyed Oswego; and, in the following year, Fort William Henry capitulated to the French, when the English garrison was massacred by the Indian allies of the victors. In 1758 General Abercrombie was defeated at Ticonderoga, and Colonel Bradstreet took Fort Frontenac. In 1759 Niagara surrendered to General Prideaux and Sir William Johnson, and Ticonderoga and Crown Point were abandoned, leaving no French troops within the limits of the colony. In 1775 the Revolutionary War broke out, and in February, 1776, an American force took possession of New York City, which they held till the defeat at Long Island in August. In 1783 New York City was evacuated by the British. The first constitution of the State was adopted in 1777, and was successively revised in 1801, 1821, 1846, 1877. In 1788 New York adopted the Federal Constitution. The National Government was first located in New York City, which was the State capital till 1797. During the War of 1812 important events took place on the N. boundary, along Lake Ontario, the Niagara river, and on Lake Champlain. Slavery was abolished in 1817. Steamboat navigation was begun on the Hudson in 1807, and in 1825 the Erie Canal was completed from the Lakes to the Hudson. New York took an active part in the Civil War, supplying large numbers of troops to the army. Since the close of the war rapid steps of progress have been made, and the State has attained a position which gives it a fair claim to the title of Empire State.  NEW YORK BARGE CANAL, a gigantic engineering construction, which connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. The term canal is employed in a more extended sense than usual, as it includes not only the artificially created waterway, but the intervening lakes and rivers which are utilized as links in the system.

There are four main branches of the canal, the largest or Erie branch, which, starting at Buffalo, extends across New York State until it joins the Hudson; the Oswego branch which extends from midway on the line of the Erie to Lake Ontario; the Champlain, running from

the head of Lake Champlain and tapping the eastern terminus of the Erie, and the Cayuga and Seneca, which extends from the Erie to the lakes of those names.

The Barge Canal is really an enormous development of the old Erie Canal, the usefulness of which had been steadily dwindling because of its lack of adaptation to the demands of modern commerce. Various measures for its improvement proved simply makeshifts. The locks, for instance, were lengthened in 1884, but this measure was inadequate to solve the problem. The first radical step in the line of recasting the whole system was taken in 1894, by an article of the Constitutional Convention held in that year, submitting to the people a proposition for its enlargement. It was found, however, that this was like sewing new cloth on an old garment, and in 1900 the whole matter was taken up in earnest, and after overcoming determined opposition an expenditure of $101,000,000 for the canal was authorized in 1903 by a popular vote. Actual construction was not under way, however, until 1905, and in the interval since that date many additional millions have been required to bring the work to completion.

The entire length of the Barge Canal is 801.3 miles. Of this, 358.7 miles is made up of the lakes and rivers along its course, and 442.6 miles represent artificial construction. The dimensions of the canal, although the minimum size is fixed by law, vary considerably. The artificial channel is 75 feet wide at bottom and 123 to 171 feet wide at the surface. The width is from 150 to 200 feet in the natural waterways. The depth is 12 feet.

The operation of the locks is electrical. The locks are built of concrete, both sides and floor, except where natural rock makes this unnecessary. Terminal and dockage facilities are located at more than fifty points along the canal, and legislation has been adopted that secures connection at desired places between the canal and adjacent railway lines. How important this gigantic waterway promises to prove to the public is indicated by the fact that three-fourths of the population of the State, whose products demand transportation, live within half an hour's walk of the Barge Canal system. The total cost exceeds $140,000,000.  NEW YORK, a city in southern New York; coextensive with New York, Bronx, Kings, Queens, and Richmond counties; on New York Bay, the Hudson and East rivers, Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean; the first city in the United