New Orleans Republican., 1872-08-14

MI. DUdW Edlu LuGIG was dll OillLldnNC "
regulate purchases and contracts which he
had introduced last Thursday, and which
he knew the Mayor desired to have passed,
and which he (Mr. shaw moved should be
now taken up.
Mr.. Lewis moved that the ordinance be
indefinitely postponed. There were only
two or three departments that made pur-
chases, and he did not propose that any
body should do the purchasing. for him.
He thought this matter could be better
regulated by all requisirions being sub
mitted 70 committee of the whole.
Mr.. Shaw said, in courtesy to the Mayor,
he thought the ordinance should not be in
definitely postponed He proposed to call
it up again at the next meeting.
Mr.. Lewis altered lis motion to a motion
simply to postpone, which was carried, Mr..
Shaw voting no.
Monthly Report.
Mr.. Delassize presented his monthly re-
port as follows:
DEPARTMENT or wAraHwoREs AND /
Public Buildings, August /, 1872. 5
Hon. 3. F. Flanders Mayor Of New Orleans
beg leave to submit this, my report for
the mOnth Of July, 1872:
wATERwORKS.
On the first day Of the past month, pro
p0sals for furnishing improved waterwOrks
machinery, etc, were opened, and but two
bids received, Notwithstanding a long
public notice given, and the transmission of
printed specifications to the leading fOun-
drymen Of the city and to parties in the
North. Of the bids received. the lowest,
that of Sylvester Bennett, ESQ, | recon-
mended to the Council for acceptance, the
amOunt-S573 .5l0-being, in my estimation,
reasonable, taking into consideration the
prevailing high priCeOf material and labor
throughout the country. There is guaran-
tee of faithful performance OF the contract
in the integrity and capacity Of the gentle
man named.
Since the publication Of my report, pro-
test against its recommendations has been
made by the fOundrymen Of the city, the
main ground Of opposition being "that the
pumping machinery now in operation at
the WaterwOrks is more than sufficient to
supply water greatly in excess of the present
demands Of the city and to furnish water
to the districts unsUpplied, requires only
an increase in the number and an enlarge
ment and arrangement of the distributing
pipes.
With all due Difference to the opinions of
those worthy gentlemen, | would state that
ever since | have had charge of this depart
ment / have been interviewed by persons
residing in all parts Of the water districts
complaining of lack of water for domestic
purposes, and at almost every fire the fire
department are represented by the press as
complaining of a like want; while | have
never been able to furnish the water neceC
sary to flushing the cutters of the city, a
measure, in the estimation of the Board of
Health of great sanitary Importance. As
to power Of delivery, the pressure from the
pumps is rarely sufficient to force waterup to
the second story of dwellings in the most
favored localities. The mere recital Of these
simple facts l deem a sufficient answer to
the opinions advanced.
The reasoning Of the protesting gentle
men is somewhat similar to that of the law
yer whose client was in the stocks. He
was there, he said. uncOnstitutiOnally; but
that, unfortunately for his client, did not
alter the facts Of the case. As to water
supply, according. to the opinion of these
gentemen-nO doubt properly grounded,
theoretically-th people should have an
abundant supply OF water: yet, practically,
they fail to realize it.
In this connection, | beg leave to intro
duce a letter from Colonel +. Armstrong, a
gentleman thoroughly familiar with hy-
drostatirs and well known as a practical
! engineer anu MAT ulSl. L LC NOlbLlGl lCL-
| ter shows the futility of attempting to con-
vert or adapt the present WaterwOTks ma
chinery to the proposed extension, designed
! and constructed, as they originally were,
! for a specific purpose, and that service re-
quiring but limited pumping power, with
! pressure only equal to the height Of the re-
seTvoirs,
New ORLEANS, August l, 1872.
| Hon L. T. Delassize, Administrator Of WdterwOIk5:
AS you have solicited my views on the
! question: Can the small pumping engines
! at the WaterwOrks be made efficient to sup
ply the extremities Of the city by forcing
! the water through column 100 feet high,
! that the pressure thus secured will give the
! force to do it! 1t is very apparent that you
| have omitted consulting the pressure OF
| fluids in the hydrOstatic sense. That the
pressure ie identical to the vertical height,
and the height Of the fluid, is a well known
| fact.
Computing that of water, as one cubic
foot weighs 62l2 pounds. Here is base OF
| IA inches. A column of II inches square
and 100 feet high must exert force equal
| to weight and height; 62l2 multiplied by
| 100 is equal to $3.50 pounds, or, for each
| inch, 43.4 pounds,
The diameter of the pump Is p inches
and its area equal to $50 square inches
The diameter Of the steam cylinder is 3C
inches, and its area 7O6 inches-38O mul
tiplied by 43.4 is equal to l6,492, the pres
sure exerted bv the water at 100 feet
1872 divided by 706 is equal to 23.36
| which is the pressure Of steam per inch re
quired to balance the water.
! The average pressure OF steam used il
- pounds per square inch. Then the ques
ton comes If 23.36 pounds of steam bal
auCes 100 feet of water, what will l;
pounds balance Answer-6l.2l feet Thi:
is simply balancing the forces, without any
power allowed to put the water in motion
The builders Of those engines had but
two points for consultation as their data Il
rest on. One was how much water was re
quired; the other, the height to be pumped
And from this constructed accordingly. L
you want them to pump more water, lower
the basin, as the pressure and the power O.
the engines are in harmony as they now
stand, that years of experience have estab
lished
TO assume to dispense with the basin
and force into the main at an increased
pressure, is the same in fact as increasing
the height. Equal pressures coming from
any source exact equal powers to meer
them.
As regards the large engines: Not hav
ing called my attention to them specially
| will only add my knowledge to their ca
paCity from observation. Some time since
/ had to compute the amount Of water
| eyapOrated in a given time to supply then
| with steam, in order to solve a question
Mr.. Green, the engineer. and myself counted
the revolutions per minute; there were eight
| and a half and the pressure of steam wa:
seventeen pounds per inch. Your book;
will advise YOU il this was a general aver
age. The revolutions were certainly slow
enough, and to increase the height to pump
the vyatpr tbara muSt hp pDrrasnOu1inpIy \