The only noteworthy thing in this pamphlet concerning the Deerfield Dam, is an absurd attempt to misrepresent the commissioners' report of its cost. They state that it is $125,919.74. It was finished last fall. Mr. Bird says "the dam will have cost when finished, at least $275,000," and thereafter to the end of his chapter on that topic, assumes that sum to be the actual cost. He obtains these figures by adding to the real cost of the dam, that of all the canals; buildings and machinery which are being constructed between the dam and the tunnel. He might, with equal propriety, have added the cost of the Walpole meeting house, or that of his own paper mill. In a supplementary note we are informed that the dam across the Connecticut at Holyoke, 1017 feet long, cost about $115,000. We may assume that Mr. Bird applies these figures to the present dam, and not to the one which gave way some years since. The cost of the first dam is not given, and the inquisitive reader might ask what that was, or whether the $115,000 should not with more propriety be considered as an expenditure for repairs of an old dam rather than the cost of a new one. However that may be, the cost of labor and material at the time the new dam was built, or the old one repaired, was less than one half of the cost of labor and material, at any time since the Deerfield dam was commenced. It is possible that a cheaper structure might have been built, which would answer the purpose, but the commissioners and their engineers, warned perhaps, by the Holyoke disaster, may be excused for constructing a work that will not be washed away, though done at some additional cost for its security. If there is one thing which Mr. Bird absolutely loves it is "porridge," and he returns to this topic with great vivacity. It may be briefly stated that in December last, after the heading from the West portal had been carried forward 111 feet, progress was stopped by an inlet of water from a brook overhead and a spring below. This water operating on the rotten rock, produced what Mr. Bird calls "porridge." It was a difficulty which had been foreseen, but was never regarded by the commissioners or engineers as of a formidable character. Soon after work was suspended at this point, responsible parties came forward with an offer to construct an arch lined with solid masonry through the "porridge" to the Western shaft, a distance of about 2000 feet, for less than $700,000; and to furnish satisfactory security for the performance of their contract. The offer was declined.