CLINTON STATE PRISON. The establishment of a third State-Prison, in this state, was provided for by an act of the Legislature passed May 1, 1844, with the design of applying convict labor to the production of iron, including the whole process, from mining the ore to the manufacture of the metal, in various forms, for market. The following sketch of what has been done, under that act, is drawn from the Agent's report, dated Jan. 20, 1845, to the Legislature. The site for this new prison is in Clinton county, about 14 miles west from Plattsburgh, and the purchase made on behalf of the state embraces 200 acres of land including the mines. The tract slopes to the southeast and is abundantly supplied with pure water, which can be easily convey. ed through the proposed prison yard, not only for all the culinary and other uses of the prison, but for cleaning the ore; and being surrounded by a wide extent of native forest, the supply of charcoal will be plentiful, cheap, and permanent. In front of the mine is a ravine 20 to 30 ft. deep, with a rivulet running along the bottom, near to which is the mouth of the mine. The earth which must be removed to uncover the ore, can be used to make a dam across the ravine and form capacious rese:▼ir; while, at the same time, a great quantity of excellent building stone can be ob. tained by the same operation, for the prison structures. As the labor of preparation and construction was to be performed by convicts, the first step was to provide a place for their safe-keeping. For this purpose, an area of about 12 acres was selected, to include, ultimately, the prison-yard and structures, with all appurtenances required for the entire establishment when complete. Meantime, this area was to be enclosed with a strong stockade, made of heavy timber pickets, to ensure, with the proper prison guard, the custody of the convicts while engaged in the preliminary labor of uncovering the mine, arranging the building grounds, quarrying stone and moving them, with the other requisite ma. terials to the proper places. This stockade was put under contract, at a cost of $2,000, to be completed by the middle of April, 1845. The area embraces 55 rods of the front of the mine, as well as all the grounds needed for buildings. It was estimated that about 100 convicts from the other prisons, would be enough for all the labor which could be economically applied in the outset; and that a new grouping of the counties from which convicts would be afterwards sent to the several prisons, would supply all the additional labor to become necessary. By the time the stockade should so decay as to become insecure, not only would the mine be thoroughly uncovered, but the best foundation line would be ascertained for the permanent wall of the yard, which could then be built in a workmanlike and substantial manner, without undue haste, just within the stockade, by convict labor, and without any diminution of security. Among the provisions of the act already cited, is one giving to the Agent authority to test "the practicability of manufacturing iron, with steam power, generated by the heat escaping from the Catalan forge." Under this authority, the Agent, in the course of the summer and antumn of 1844, made the experiments for solving the problem proposed by the act. The description of the apparatus and the details of the experi ment are given in the report, in full, but there is room here for only the result. Of this, the report says,-"The object in trying this experiment has been fully realized, by demonstrating that the manufacture of wrought iron, in the Catalan forge, can be prosecuted at the mouth of the mine, and without cost for power." From this experiment it appears that the raising of the ore and the manufacture of the iron, with all the accompanying operations, can be car. ried on in all their parts, by the convicts, within the limits of the prison yard; and that a heavy expense for the transportation of charcoal and ore can, at the Clinton Priscn, be wholly avoided. The cost of this experi ment, including all charges for apparatus, labor, and materials, was $4,238.58-a small sum for the successful solution of so important a question. Several trials were also made by the Agent, for the production of steel, in the same forge. "While manufacturing iron," says the report, in the Catalan forge, a loupe of common steel is occasionally produced by accident. It was thought advisable to ascertain whether this kind of steel could be produced at pleasure. With this view, four trials were made, each of which proved successful. The steel thus obtained is not of a re. liable quality for edge tools, but it is well adapted to many uses which subject it to friction merely, as in machinery, sleigh-shoes, &c., and being made directly from the ore, its cost is but a fraction more than that of iron." Several other experiments, differently conducted and with different means, to test the practicability of producing steel of a much superior quality, resulted variously; but this is not the appropriate place for their details. In one case, however, steel was obtained from which some knife blades were made, which took an edge decidedly superior to any from imported steel. Such is a brief sketch of the preliminary proceedings for determining the proper locality of the new prison, and whether the purposes of its construction would be likely to be accomplished. The results of those proceedings having proved eminently satisfactory to the commissioners designated by the act to decide, viz: the Governor of the State, (then Gov. Bouck,) the Comptroller, (Mr. Flagg,) and the Attorney-General, (Mr. Barker,) the purchase of the land was made, and a plan for the prison adopted. The plan contemplates a main edifice 500 feet long, by 55 feet wide, with three stories of cells, which are to number 504 in all; and two other edifices, each 155 feet by 45 feet, placed transversely to the main edifice at each end of it, but 25 feet distant and connected with it by cov. ered halls. One of the latter buildings is to be used for the Agent's and Clerk's dwellings, for offices for the Clerk, and for the Inspectors and Agent, for the guard-room, keeper's hall, &c.; and the other for the kitchen, dining room, wash-room, bath-room, hospital, chapel, offices for the physician and chaplain, and rooms for the insane. The cost of these buildings is estimated at $80,000. The necessary erections for machine-shop, forges, coal-houses, &c. &c., are estimated at about $50,000 more. The Agent, however, deems an appropriation of $100,000 sufficient for the whole work mentioned, with all such fixtures as may be required for preparing the ore, and a forge with 8 fires. With the apparatus thus furnished, the earnings of the convicts would supply surplus enough for the future extension of the establishment, if needed. OFFICERS OF THE STATE. TERMS OF OFFICE, &c. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. Senators, are elected by the people for a term of four years. Members of the Assembly, are elected by the people for one year. The Senate and Assembly each elect their own officers, except the Lieutenant-Gov. ernor, who acts as President of the Senate and Court of Errors. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT Chancellor -Appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate, to hold until 60 years of age. Justices of the Supreme Court, Circuit Judges, do. do. Vice Chancellors.-Appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate, for a tern of three years. Assistant Vice Chancellor, do. do do. EXECUTIVE DERARTMENT. do. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor are elected by the people for a term of two years. Secretary of State.-Appointed by the Legislature for a term of three years. Comptroller, do do do do do Treasurer, Adjutant General,-Appointed by the Governor during pleasure. Canal Appraisers,-Appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate, for two years. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. Hon. ADDISON GARDINER, Lieutenant-Governor and President of the Senate. SENATORS. Elected for four years-the names arranged according to the priority of election. First Senate District.-Isaac L. Varian, John A. Lott, David R. Floyd Jones, George Folsom. Second Senate District.-Abraham Bockee, Abraham A. Deyo, Joshua B. Smith, Robert Denniston. Third Senate District.-Erastus Corning, John C. Wright, Stephen C. Johnson, John P. Beekman. Fourth Senate District.-Edmund Varney, Thomas B. Mitchell, Or. ville Clark, Augustus C. Hand. Fifth Senate District.-George C. Sherman, Carlos P. Scovil, Thomas Barlow, Enoch B. Talcott. Sixth Senate District.-James Faulkner, Calvin T. Chamberlain, Clark Burnham, George D. Beers. Seventh Senate District.-William Bartlit, John Porter, Albert Lester, Henry J. Sedgwick. Eighth Senate District.-Gideon Hard, Harvey Putnam, Frederick F. Backus, Carlos Emmons. Isaac R. Elwood, Clerk of the Senate, salary, .... $1,200 $3 for each day's attendance. OFFICERS OF THE STATE. HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. Albany-Ira Harris, Clarkson F. Crosby, Leonard Litchfield. Broome.-Cyrus Johnson. Cattaraugus-Seth Field, Roderick White. Cayuga William Titus, Leonard Searing, David Gould. Chautauque.-Samuel A. Brown, Jeremiah Mann, Henry C. Frisbee. Chemung-Peter McKey. Chenango-Solomon S. Hall, Charles P. Miller, Joel Burdick. Clinton.-Noyes P. Gregory. Columbia.-Elijah Bagg, William M. Bunker, Peter I. Bachman. Cortland.-John Pierce, 2d, George J. J. Barber. Delaware.-John McDonald, Linus Porter. Dutchess.-Freeborn Garretson, Epenetus Crosby, Walter Sherman. Erie.-Daniel Lee, Truman Dewey, John T. Bush. Essex.-John T. Hammond. Franklin.-Hiram Horton. Fulton and Hamilton.-Garret A. Newkirk. Greene.-Gerret W. Sager, Deliverance B. Hervey. Jefferson.-Edward S. Salisbury, Azel W. Danforth, Lysander H. Brown. Kings.-Richard L. Wyckoff, Daniel D. Wynant. Lewis.-Dean S. Howard. Livingston.-John Young, Harlow W. Wells. Madison.-Stephen G. Sears, John I. Walrath, William Smith. Montgomery.-Peter H. Fonda, John L. Bevins. New-York.-David E. Wheeler, Roderick N. Morrison. William S. Ross, Thomas H. Oakley, Abraham G. Thompson, Jr., Harvey Hunt, John Culver, Eli C. Blake, Jacob L. Fenn, Severn D. Moulton, James Jarvis, Frederick E. Mather, John J. R. De Puy. Niagara. John Sweeney, Levi F. Bowne. Oneida. Horatio Seymour, Andrew Billings, Calvert Comstock, Merit Brooks. Onondaga.-David Preston, Dennis McCarthy, Julius C. Kinne, Lake I. Tefft. Ontario.-Alvah Worden, Israel Huntington, Timothy Buel, Jr. Orange.-John Brooks, Thornton M. Niven, Richard M. Tuthill, Jr. Orleans.-Gardner Goold. Oswego.-Thomas Skelton, Luny Thayer. Otsego.-Franklin B. Carpenter, Harry G. Harden, Christopher D. Fel lows. Putnam.-Benjamin Bailey. Queens--Elbert F. Jones. Rensselaer.-William H. Van Schoonhoven, Harry Betts, Ryer Heer. mance. Richmond.-Peter Mersereau. Rockland.-Joseph P. Brower. St. Lawrence.-John L. Russell, Asa L. Hazleton. Schenectady.-William Gifford. Schoharie.-Henry Tibbets, Seymour Boughton. Seneca.-Robert L. Stevenson. 30 Steuben.-Jacob Van Valkenburgh, William C. Rogers, Ansel C. Smith. Suffolk.-John H. Dayton; Darling B. Whitney. Sullivan.-Harvey R. Morris. Tioga.-Gideon O. Chase. Tompkins-Lyman Strobridge, Sherman Miller. Ulster.-Irwin Pardee, Reuben H. Hine. Warren-James Cameron. Washington.-John Stevenson, James Rice. Wayne.-Alanson M. Knapp, John J. Dickson. Westchester.-J. Anthony Constant, Thomas R. Lee. HORATIO SEYMOUR, of Oneida, Speaker. James R. Rose, Clerk, salary,....... $1,800 David B. Groat, Sergeant-at-arms,... $2.50 for each day's attendance. (Members of both branches of the Legislature receive $3.00 per day; and mileage, $3.00 for every twenty miles travel. The presiding officers receive $6.00 per day.) JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. Reuben H. Walworth, Chancellor, Saratoga Springs,. Skaneateles, do .... do William T. McCoun, Vice-Chancellor, 1st Circuit, New-York,... 3,000 3,000 2,000 ... 2,500 1,600 1,600 Charles H. Ruggles, do 2d do Poughkeepsie,.. 1,600 Amasa J. Parker, Albany,.. 1,600 John Willard, Saratoga Springs,. 1,600 Philo Gridley, Bowen Whiting, Nathan Dayton, 1,600 Hiram Denio, State Reporter, Utica,. 500 Alonzo C. Paige, Chancery Reporter, Schenectady,. 500 fees. John M. Davison, Register in Chancery, Albany,. William P. Hallett, Clerk Supreme Court, New-York, Charles Humphrey, Clerk Supreme Court, Albany, and for clerk hire, &c., Hiram Denio, Clerk Supreme Court, Utica,.. Jacob Sutherland, Clerk Supreme Court, Geneva, Alexander Forbus, Clerk of 2d Chancery Circuit, Poughkeepsie,.. 2,500 and for clerk hire, &c...... 3,000 2,000 2,800 2,000 and for clerk hire, &c., 2,800 2,000 and for clerk hire, &c.,.. 2,800 1,500 Gideon M. Davison, do 4th do Saratoga Springs,. 1,200 |