The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-06-07

VOLUME IX.---NUMBER
THE CITY WATER SUPPLY
THE LATEST PLAN FOE THE RELIEF
OF CHARLESTON.
Water from the Edisto via tho Ashley
Details OF tho Project-EIRhty Gallon,
or Water per Day for Every Man
Woman and Child In tho City.
It will be source of undoubted grutifca
ton to every reader of The News to know
that active operations are soon to be inaugu
rated with view of giving to the City Of
Charleston an ample supply Of pnre water, to
be distributed by pipes throughout the city
and brought into every house and every room
if need be, In the place. The Importance o
this undertaking demands no comment. 1t is
perfectly well known and well understood
that the present supply of water in the city
furnished by such antiquated devices as wells
and cIsterns, is lamentably deficient and un'
satisfactory; that the introduction Of fresh,
sparkling water in profuse abundance from
the pure and exhausiless streams In the coun-
try would be an inestinable luxury In thous-
and ways; that 1t would Insure, as nothing
else can, the thorough drainage OF the city,
afford the means of perfect cleanliness, vastly
increase the healthfulness of the city and won
derfully lessen the death rate. All this Is
known, and has been known for ever 80 many
years, and during all those years the subject
has been more or less "agitated," but In the
meantime nothing has been done. Now, how
ever, there appears to be reasonable pros
pect OF action.
COMBINED MOVEMENT.
80 to speak, has been made along the whole
line Of those bodies In the city which repre-
sent the property, the business and the opin-
Ions Of the people. The lead has been taken,
as was natural and proper, By the Chamber OF
Commerce, the Board Of Trade has promptly
wheeled into line, and definite action Is about
to be taken by the Mayor, under recent reso-
luton of the City Council. One Of the great
est difficulties in the way of the accomplish
ment of this enterprise hitherto has been the
want of capital. The city Itself has never
been In a position since the war which would
enable 1t to command the million or million
and a half Of money which would be required
to prosecute the work, without ruinous sac
rif1ce, and 1t Is evident that private capital
must be sought for the purpose. Now, the
Chamber of Commerce is prepared to furnish
one quarter of million toward the first cost
OF the works, and as there Is always an album
dance of capital In the money markets OF the
world seeking for employment In safe and
ultimately profitable enterprises, 1t should be,
and IL, quite possible to secure the remainder OF
the iamount required. In fact, there are
certain combinations already made, of which
we are not at liberty as yet to speak more
definitely, which will insure supply of capi-
tai sufficient for all purposes as soon as the
necessary legislative authority shall be OBJ
tained, and the other preliminaries to be
arranged here shall be effected. In the mean
time surveys are being made, and the prepar-
atory operations are being pushed rapidly
forward, on the basis Of the following plan,
which Is the latest that has been proposed,
and which appears to meet with much favor,
although, OF course, 1t may be materially
modified, as the result of the surveys and in
vesugatlons now In progress:
The typographical position Of the City OF
Charleston may be described, for the purposes
Of this article, as at one angle Of triangle,
whereof the base is the Atlantic coast, the
northwestern leg the Ashley River, which
empties into the ocean at this point, and the
northeastern leg the Edisto River, whloh en-
ters the Atlantic at point about thirty miles
down the coast from here, and which, in Its
course to the ocean, almost 9Sins the head
waters Of the Ashley, aud at thai point forms
the apex OF our imaginary triangle. 1t ap-
pears to be conceded In all the plans which
have been proposed for bringing water into
this city that the Edisto Is
THE NATURAL SOURCE OF SUPPLY
to be looked to, and It Is evident from the
above description that tho couse Of the Ashley
Rlrer completes the suggestion offered by
Nature, and shows the point where the Edisto
could most advantagecusly be tapped, and
the route by which Its water could best be
conveyed to our doors. The Edisto could, to
be sure, be tapped at any point from the coast
up to the point now suggested, but If tapped
too low down the water would always be
brackish, and when high tides and east
winds prevail It would be as salt as the water
Of our harbor. Again, II it we're tapped at any
point below the one named, there would be
the difficulty of bringing the water across the
triangle Of undulaling surface between the
Edlsto and Charleston, where there Is no natu-
ralgrade, aud where the source Of supply Is
little If any higher than the point of delivery.
The plan now proposed is, therefore, to tap
the Edlsto River at Glvham's Ferry, point
about thirty.two miles from the coast, and
about four miles across the country from the
head waters of the Ashley. Here dam Of
solid timber will be built across the Edisto to
supply nearly uniform height Of water, and
this dam will be supplied with two canal locks,
30 as to Interfere as little as possible with the
NAVIGATION OF THE RIVER.
On the east side Of the Edlsto will also be
built massive "guard lock-" which is simply
an immense rectangular box Of massive tim
bers, capable of holding forty or fifty million
gallons Of water. The average height of the
Edisto River ct this point is ten feet, and it's
level above high water mark is twenty-seven
feet. The main supply pipe, which will con-
vey the water to this city, will enter this
,,,a ard look within ahont twelve inchcq of the