|1877 |July | 12 | 2 | 0 | -- |Calm. | | |October | 19 | 0 | 10 | -- |Calm. | +------+----------+----+-----+-------+----------+--------+ Comparing the October observations for three years, it appears that the lake rose 13 inches from 1875 to 1876, and fell in the next year 6¹⁄₂ inches. [Illustration: SKETCH OF BLACK ROCK AND VICINITY, UTAH TERRITORY. _Prepared to show the position of the graduated pillar erected by Dr. John Park for observations on the water-level of Great Salt Lake, and the position of the granite bench-mark._] The Black Rock pillar has not the permanence that is desirable. Although it has thus far been only the more firmly established by the action of the waves, it is still true that the lake is encroaching on the land in this part of the coast, and a storm may at any time undermine and overthrow the pillar. To provide for such a contingency it was determined to establish a bench mark out of reach of the waves, and connect it with the pillar by leveling, so that if the existing standard should be destroyed its record would still have a definite meaning, and the relative height of a new standard could be ascertained with precision. In this undertaking I was joined by Mr. Jesse W. Fox, a gentleman who has long held the office of territorial surveyor of Utah. A suitable stone was furnished by the Hon. Brigham Young, and was carried to Black Rock without charge through the courtesy of Mr. Heber P. Kimball, superintendent of the Utah Western Railroad. The block is of granite, and is three feet in length. It was sunk in the earth, all but a few inches, on the northern slope of a small limestone knoll just south of the railroad track at Black Rock. Its top is dressed square, about 10 × 10 inches, and is marked with a +. It will be convenient to speak of the top of this monument as the _Black Rock bench_. On the 11th of July, 1877, the surface of the lake was 34.5 feet below the bench, and it then marked 2.0 feet on the pillar erected by Dr. Park. The zero of the observation pillar is therefore 36.5 feet below the bench. The accompanying topographic sketch will serve at any time to identify the position of the bench.