The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-08-09

ply OF water for New York. This reservoir alone
would carry the city through the longest
drought that is likely to occur.
=" lhe water shed Of the Croton river has an
area OF So SOU re miles, and Il capable " sup
The character OF the water shed guarantees
water Of the best quality. Mountains and bills
OF I'urenti n gneiss receive the raiD iall which
is filtered by pure sihceous ssnd and gravel. 1t
leaves the mountains and hills In sparkling
IN ponds. From the latter Il form ed the Croton
river. which, D-ing damned, forms Croton lake.
Nowhere along the stteams tributary o Croton
lake can anything that Il likely to affect the
| quality OF the water be found. A few CT ories
have been established on eome OF ito tributaries,
but they do not pol ute the wlter. when the
snow meits In the sprinR, and the water scours
the frozen earth. 1t often re ches the city dis
| colored. and excites alarm. But have never
| been abIe to IND any sickness resulting hom IL
while ir this state.
During the war there was intenee dread that
| the Croton water supply OF New York would be
poisoned But u waa shown tnat 70 imprevnsts
Quoted to the CITY daily with stryohnine, the
most certain poison avail ,ble. suppos'ng eacn
pint OF water t. take up the smallest fatal dose,
three and half tons OF stDcbnine, a quantity
tnst could not be collected In all the markets
| OF the world, would be required. and the puolio
| mind quieted.
90 The ncstoc In nv orin lon. Is not harmful. 1t
is unusually abundant In the reservoir now on
account of the recent extraordinary hot weather.
The plant is little past mat urlty and will die
| shortly. then the oil that II contains will be
mucn more offensive tnan it Is. Filters should
be seneially USED. A sponge litter is. in my
| Dr. Elwyn Waller, OF the Columbia College
| School OF Mines. whose once VI Ia to eX anime
implies Of the Croton weter that New orkers
use, and NJ. ke weekly report to the Board OF
| Health, was iuunu In his laboratory. Dr. " sller
nlied q deep glas- Jar from aCruton water faucet
In the aborat nv and lacing II on table y rtly
! covered with white paper, invt d TIE rel rter
to looS iutu t..
| murky the water Ia. II should leave the jar
wber. it il, the surface o the water Tomorrow
vase lshowing slender glass vase contl ming
Croton water with a green surfacel that has been
nearly the same specific CAVITY ns Crnton water,
and II l shake tnis vase it will spreau itself
throughout the weter and be unGiscoyerable by
the naked eye. The reservoir could lie rid %
the eunpleasantssmellins plant spseoily II u were
blown out Toe reservoir, believe. has not
been blown out Of late ON account Of the dread
of drought"
the water into the vase beneath pt se'ful M
croscope, Dr. Waller invited the reporter to look
1Sem w' with pao
bling strings VI tiny black beads an inch long.
interspersed with laraer TRANSPARENT white
beads. Tue plants seemed to e. In q telly-like
setting.
The white cells" explained DR.. W waller, " arc
believed to contain spores, and when they burst
new issue Of the plant snrings into life. 81
that the plant ia PRACTICAL, undying, for when
plants, II certaioly, though Of a disAgreeabls
odor, has not, in any known case proved injur-
DR.. AIonIo CLARK cf u East Twenty. nrst street
said that the impur,ty VI the Crotun wa er was
unquestion.tly Que to ve.etsblo matter. T.e
water that New Workers are using is not nearly
40 impure as That watch Is sometimes used
through necessity in other cities Of tue United
States.
To reach Croton Lake. the source OF New
York's water sup. lv. tne most convenient route
Is bv train 10 sing sing aud thence to drive over
the intervening i-ht nnes along shady coun-
trv road tined at this season with blackberry
bushes bending beneath thsir burden OF ripe
fruit. within mll- OF the lake the road bends
to the right and folio IS the windings Of
sometimes CrOtOn RIVER. Nov the only water 10
It lies In scattered LOols OF green Shiny stun,
"s Sben New eve Yoqners % 'ns are 'h. :smii,nI msh
The erst place eznl' ed Yesterday wss the eieat
dan. and In ' hich Is the niouth OF he squeduct
that carries Troton to New Work, thirty-eight
ss srs. ,ss has Ss. Ysfks1 gree
draws a glass Of water frJm the ucet. De-
sceudng long light Of heavy stone STEPS. the
reporter react ed tho c-yerpous mouth OF the
aqueduct, and toe olac,., see,hing volume of
water was seen az It took It's nna plunge into
he oqueduct for ITS t-enty-fOur nuurs' journey
20 the cit,. Tue mouth OF the aqueduct is per
fectly open, there being before II not SO much
as wire screen. Emerging from the gate hou.s
and proc eding a few steps, the reporter reached
the edge of tns Lake. the spot al which the Ws,er
enters the house Eyer here there Is no s,gu Of
either screen or nter, there being .lerely a
few DerpendiC Jiar bars nxeI across tue opening,
which keep GU. the larser pieces of floating de-
bri-.
The smell here il horrible. and the water for
some distance ABOVE III "a house Is covered
with n iick greenisu wtite scum. d little II
which Is Kept from Rolug into the Aqueuuct
by a temporary boom OF logs stretched ac ross
the corner between the vase sste house aud
tue shore since the lpeNduce of tnls scum
Superintendent Wood us Aept gang OF men at
work night and day skimluins II on with loue-
handled tn pans, anu throwing II over the dam.
| That the work has been faithfully performed Is
shown by the mass of n.h lying at the outer
base Of the great stone wall.
: The water In toe lake is eighteen inches below
| :he iu Of the dam, aud thiteen inches lower
= than It WAS at the me Gate year ago. Equally
great Quantities If n!tn aud scum have accurnu-
rled over the uaIl.
Along the pleasant road that follows all the
windines Uf the shore, the same white scum Is
nOatins m detached masses, al being slowly but
SURELY urawn toward the engulang whirlpool
collected IN auhntltiea about the great beds u
weeds that, at tLe pi,seut stage OF tue water.
lit their he ds .bove II.
Tue upper art of the lake Is comparatively
free from hoalng scum, Iut even there II Is
nilrd 10 all unkDowa depth with little perpeD-
dicuidr slrea.uers OF a furry ytget bic matter
tne. make II look thick and muddy. rne Su-
! perintenLent ,hinks that the scum and otnsr
impurities that reuCer the water 50 unpleas .ut
are 10 measure que to Il use Uf water from
the stor Ee reservoir at Boyd's Corner, eigLt
miles aoOve Lak4 Mahopac. lie vs. that moth
ins OF the kinc vas ever seen 10 the lower luxe
before tue opening Of this reservoir ive years
ago, ana tbat there has b EN- more or less oi II
ever since
he scum seems % be gradually disappearing,
The water t, at y. sseu tue gate house yesterd ~
was smuch ciealer mat any seen curing the pro
. .slng week. lt NAV, however be fet to cer-
tam degree until tins fall ta!Ls carry tho mater
over this dam. In the opinion Of the superlL-
tendent ana II others connected with toe
adequ'te ni erins arransement jist above tho no
gate hOuse. There II no inter a any Kind at
the lake or on the whole line II the aqueduct
save the oopoer screen al Hi9h Bridge.
lhe Inhabitants OF the lake resiOn are ex.
penenong some difficulty in obtaining sui
hoient supply OF water Tor daily use Tor tney
viii not use that OF the ! and the various
streams, aud tne Springs nTt Apdly dryiug up.
Meeting ex Police Commissioner Gardner on
the steps u the Police Central Once, the re-
pogter asked MIN what he knew aoout Cotton
water.
Don't he afraid Of IT, mon" he said, "it
I. viii na nurty ye DRINK plent, OF 1t, ana lot the
other TIM. alone