New-York tribune., 1874-05-19

porter OF the Republican to-day that no
engineers plan was accepted fully in the
construction, and that the engineer in charge was
entirely subservient to q committee Of the company
owning the water power, who frequently modified
DIE suggestions to meet their notions Of economy.
some OF the work was done without the oversight
OF an engineer at ALL In the matter of the much
talked OF stone wall, in the center of the embank-
ment, the contract did not call for eight feet in
thickness at the base, but thickness of between
five and six feet, which was what The Republcan's
reporter found to be the actual fact This notion is
strengthened from memory Of the singular word
ing OF the specification, which began by providing
that the wall should bc two feet thick at the
top, increasing in thickness to certain
width at the base, rather than rice versa, is
usual. Still this central wall was considered of
little moment by the Building Committee.
The main entire strength of the dam
was supposed to lie in the thick earthen
emoankment. and one of the Committee
even soberly suggested that eight-inch
wall OF bnck would answer every purpose
Ihe idea was that the principal Office
OF this wall was merely to prevent the burrowiDS
OF water animals through it or its perforation by
sticks and timbers
OPINION OF THE STATE RAILROAD COMMISSIONER.
A. ID. Briggs of Springfield, State Railroad Com
missioner, who was the first to make bid
for the construction of the reservoir was also
nterrogated. His estimates proposed to make
the cost of the work between $4,000 and
Sl0O,oOo, sum so much larger than the Company
was willing to pay, that his plan was Immediately
rejected and he had further interest in the affair
Mr. Briggs places all responsibility on the shoulders
of the Building Committee.
As to the theory that the masonry in the embank
mon " "a mat rnfoa nj i,nn hat Mr.
Briggs said, depended on circumstances The earth
work, If honest and awless would, accidents aside
probably have furnished the requisite strength
but there was always chance of its per-
foration from one cause another and the
object of q central wall was that
Of breakwaer This wall. if built Of good
material and fairly intrenched in hardpan, should
be element of strength. If, however
loosely constructed, and not deeply laid
beneath the shifting surface earth, then
there the probability of the
water ultimately insinuating its way beneath, and
the volume increased and the spaces widened this
wall would become worse than useless.
To one of these causes, Mr.. Briggs suspects, may
he traced she fatal weakness of the Williamsburg
Reservoir.
This impression is emphasized by some observa-
tOns by Mr.. Briggs while Oh fishing excursion to
the reservoir four or five years since.
He noticed that considerable water oozed from the
base Of the dam, all along its length, evidently
caused by the heavy pressure on the
other side, and called Gov Haydens attention
to it, uttering words of warning and telling him
that if the dam did go of, it would sweep every
thing on its way into the Connecticut River
Indeed, the more intelligent people down the val
ley Mr. Briggs says have lived with the shadow Of
this disaster haunting them for years.
Gov. Hayden himself particularly nervous
about it, and any casual conversation concerning the
reservoir was nearly always accompanied with some
allusion of presentment.
Some one, short time since, asked Mr. Skinner,
he believed " What do yon have for excitement up
here nowadaysY "Wel," he said I'VE occasion
ally have "A freshet then there is general alarm
that the reservoir has broken loose"