New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-10-22
nuRSTIyG OF A CRoToS WAFER MAIN.
lTbirsty Metropolis De'uged Park
vxcrrrNe SCENES ABOUT THE PUMPS.

vNIrs pervsdng intermetropohtan Indignation, &c
eoppsned BY polyglot expressions used IN g1ing vsn
% the same. In feet, when the City OF Ne"-1oA
,eA 20, some hot water TO make bis lather prepara
g. q, his aprnsl shave and learned from his servant
On, he had neither hot nor cold 10 offer, he did
,o,x.b..snding his high respectsbiiy and g1sran'
a..d no,,l,y-use words which, under different cir
ermr.pces be would have called profane. And Mrs
f,v of New York did scold at being deprived Of her
coffee and the little c. Of n. VS. were night jolly
because they didn't have to be washed and batned'
Everybody wished for the pamber, and nearly every
body discovered that the plumber was out; and
various comments were made IN extreme disgust that
chose rsscally fellows should be always away the
p.rtcular juncture when they are mostwantsd. Then
commenced course Of hydraulic and hydrostatic
perments with the pipes, stopping Of the water
here and letting il on there by the strength Of the
company, from psteifsmilss TO the scull1n, who
extempoIzed a democracy below stairs, admitted
withou. offense in the exgency. When the heads Of
families went out Of DOORS with features indicating
disturbance Of their mental equilibrium, they found
their neighbors with vsages similarly affected. Sour
looks was an epidemic. If Van Schoovenboven
rushed toward Doohttle 10 inform him that his
Croton was shut off, Doolittle eagerly sought to TO-
form Van SchoovenboveD that his wasn't on. All
had the same story to tell. 1t Was new American
Cyclopedia Of episodes in domestic life, al turning
ppon want Of water. Hence every body wac anxious
10 know
THE CAUSE or TIE AQUEOUS DEFICIENCY.
About o'clock yesterday morning the competent
gentleman who holds dominion the Receiving
Reservoir on Fifth avenue, between Forty first and
Forty third streets ascended the steps to the hight
of that modern substitution for water cart and took
saunt at the Vastly Deep which his astonisned vision
LYfo, otx hall
Distributing Reservoir in the condition of the
Mississippi treasury when coupons were presented-
ebort. AZ the water was down j. was evident that
something was up and the official aforesaid walked up
the ceter of Fifth avenue over the line Of the main
nine betwe en- the Receiving and Distributing Reser
vors fully convinced that there leak in the
Croton- Water Department somewhere, Dotwlthstscd-
ing its reputation for integrity, and COM
pared with which that 10 the Government of
the CITY of NewYork would bear comparison.
A. he reached point feT rods south Of Fifty ninth
street, the lower line of Central Park, he saVa hole
in the ground which was significant OF the Cause. At
this point Fifth avenue has been graded oniy and
neither side are there any buildings The grade of
the avenue s 81 feet above the level Of the surround
ing grounds, and in these gulles within and without
the bounds of Central Park, was water from one 10
four feet in depth. The ponds, several in number
are in splendid condition for ska.ing-s$cept tina.
there is no ice on them The discovery of these sud-
denly formed lakelets confirmed the officer in bis
opinion that the hole in the avenue straw TO
chow which way the water ran.
Word was at once dispatched to the Office of the
Croon Aqueduct Board in the Park. Mr.. Craven, the
Engineer, Immediately repaired to Fifty-nntn street
and found the condition of affairs as described. 1t was
evident that the large 50 inch cast iron pipe connecting
the two reservoirs had burst been broken by e&ter
nal pressure and water had been gradually working
its way through the earth until il found an exit from
the embankment into the hoows The grade has
been formed of heavy rocks and earth, aud it is prob
able that the weight of the rocks above caused rac-
tu1e of the pipe. Messrs. Van Schaick and Tappan,
the other embers of the Board, subsequently arrived
st the Office, and at entered into consultation
with reference to providing for any emergency which
might arise from the want OF water
THE REPAIRS COMMENCED.
In the meantime Mr. Craven had got together over
sixty laboripg men, under the charge of Mr.. Corn
wall foreman of the out of door repairs of the Croton
Department. derrick was raised and the work of
digging up and removing the earth and rocks was
commenced in right good earnest At 3 o'clock they
had excavated about feet leaving from l6 to is feet
still to be removed which Mr. Cornwall was confident
would be accomplished by daylight this morning.
the dsmsge be confined to that could be completed
by tonight, and the water again opened into the
Distributing Reservoir.
ALARM or THE PEOPLE.
But soon the water in the Distributing Reservoir
disappeared; and, as Mr.. Craven had shut off tue
supply from the Receiving Reservoir, in order to en-
able the repairs to proceed the MAN, there was no
source whence it could in quantities sufficient to
supply the demand. Thousands of steam-boilers were
,ooa cor scious of low head of water, which was
rapidly becoming less
The facts were communicated to the Police Head
quarters by the Croton Board, and al order was i'm
m.datey teegraphed to the different StationIIouses,
directing the men to visit the different establishments
where steam was used to tell them TO cease their
operations until the repairs wer emade The order
was promptly executed, and was obeyed
PANIC AMONG THE NEWSPAPERS.
But as newspapers Ike time and tide, wait for no
man. and must come out at the appointed hour
whether or no. it became question how they were to
do il. Though editors and reporters get up steam
without the aid Of the Croton Aqueduc Department,
engineers are rot 60 independent. Pumps used only
a. land marks, now were sough, ont; the primitive
water cart appeared in the streets from which thirsty
printing office boilers were supplied at the moderate
rate Of dollsr drpk-thirty gallons being the
measure Of the libation. The Tines, Express, and
some Of the other journals thus enabled TO get
out their evening editions. But the AbcRd ZsttHng
could not get any water, and lager beer was too e1
pensive to pour into the depraved and insaate stom-
ach Of their steam boiler. The German Republicans
not only threatened with the loss Of water, which
thew might dspense with so long "a the lsper. beer