The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-10-22

All the mOuern lm-
provements.
Phadelphians have always been proud of the
arrangements made TO furnish a copious supply
of water to all in the limits of this city and the
Fairmount Works have generally been the first
of our sights shown TO country cousins. In
early times we had good reason to boast of our
pre-eminence over other cities in the quality and
quantity furnished; and although many good
bodies may have felt some misgivings at the
stinted allowance doled out in the memorable
drought of this summer, yet there is no reason
to fear loss of the hospitable reputation of the
Quaker City. All human contTivances some
times peg out, as Honest Old Abe" used to
say. Chicago may have stray anchor
knock a hole in her Lake tunnel; and
the famous Croton Aqueduct has to dry up when
the head waters fall In old times, William
Penn, charmed with its natural beauties wrote
'My eye, though not my heart, is upon Fair
mount" and this appears to have been the
motto that has induced the tinkering away at
the old machinery for SO many years. Until
very recently the plan of late officials seems to
have been to make temporary arrangements to
run the old wooden wheels from year to
year, while longing eyes have been cast
the waters OF little stream good many miles
to town. Late scientific Investigations have
satisfactorily shown that the Schuylkill win fur
nish plenteous supply for generations to come;
and with this comfortable assurance q retrospect
tive glance at the growth of the Water Works
to their present immense proportions cannot but
prove interesting. For many of the statistics
presented we are indebted to the courtesy of the
| present efficient Chief Engineer Mr.. Frederic
| Graft. s.e -.. g..
Wells and Pumps. h..l .-
| Springs and brooks were the first sources for
| supplying water to the early settlers OF Phila-
| delphia. Watson, in his ANNALS" relates that
| the conveniences OF pumps were rarely seen for
many years in the primitive city, and that even
the wells Tor the use of families were generally
public and in the streets. These wells lying
| open in the highways, and presenting danger
| GUS traps to unwary strollers, were occa-
sionally presented as nuisanccs by the grand
| juries, the Oldest record being 1.-TWO old and
very deep wells lying open at Centre Square,"
| in 1928.
The Gazette, in 1875, urged that ''some public
| wells are wanting;" and the Union Fire Com
pany appear to have kept watchful eye over
them, as in l144 they advertised reward of e5
'for apprehending the persons who stole the
nozzles from High street and other streets"
| Kahn, who passed through the city in 174S
! states there was well to every house, and
several in the streets, all giving good and clear
| water. The folks of those bygone days, with all
| their reputation for staidness and decorum, ap-
pear to have been as great cpicures in their
modest style as their more extrayagant great
grandchildren in the sixth generation Some
of the pumps were noted for the quality of their
water, and the old wooden handles were kept
| a-oo;po The yatar in thaf ya rd nc N
house in Norris alley had the questionable ad-
| vantage OF being deemed the best in the city
and one pump in Walnut street was celebrated
among housewives for its peculiar adapta-
bility to boiling greens. auiaeE N
Although good water was obtained by digging
but few feet below the surface in almost any
part of the city, yet it was soon difficult TO
/ multiply them sufficiently to supply the de-
mands of the increasing population, and finally
even these, in many cases, became unsuitable
| for use by the contamination of cesspools.
This increasing impurity of the water naturally
excited the public mind, and the public prints oi
that day agitated the necessity OF reform.
The rayages of the yellow fever in 1893 "a
especially awoke the attention of the community
to the imperative need that more copious sup
ply of water should be obtained to insure the
health, comfort, and preservation of the com
| Long DcDJdtnln ffanklln
had advocated a recourse to some outside
source of supply, and in his will, dated June 2S
1889, is the following clause:-
And having considered that the covering 0i
the ground plot OF the city with buildings and
payements, which carry off most of the rain
and prevent its soaking into the earth, and re-
newing and purifying the springs, whence the
water of the wells must gradually grow worse,
and in time be unfit for use, as l find has hap
pened in all old cities, I'recommend that at the
end of the first hundred years, If not done
before, the corporation employ part Of the
hundred thousand pounds in bringing by pipes
the water of the Wissahickon Creek into the
town, SO as to supply the inhabitants, which
apprehend may be done without great difficulty
the level of that creek being much above that OF
the city, and may be made higher bya dam
also recommend making the Sehuylkill COM
pletely nayigable."
An Odd Plan,
The second rayages of the yellow fever In
1877 awoke Councils into AN active considera-
ton of the means of obtaining permanent sup
ply of pure water and that year the hrst Pc.-
tion on the subject was presented various
proiects were considered the oddeSt oi al ooinS
| tbat hroached i'm a communication 10 COUNCILS
NV the Delaware and SchuyllSill Canal company
Coo,v brown os the Union Canal, when was
ouowod NV its charter TO supply such citizens
',it 80 as might be disposed to purchase and
use It, They sad;-
u'U ar. t' J.. ronosed to conduct the water of the
AS - r i..,nd reservoir situated I'm Rrnad