New-York tribune., 1879-04-23
TIE MURRAY-HILL RESERTOIR.
A STRONG PROTEST AGAINST us REMovAL-A CARD
FROM GEORGE n. BUTLER.
IL. Il Il NJ he Pr

A STRONG PROTEST AGAINST IFS REMoVAL-A CARD
FROM GEORGE r. BUTLER.
To the razor OF The Tribune.
SIR: Mr. Allan Campbell Commissioner of Pub
lie Works. in a letter To Slr. James NJ Varnum
published yesterday IN Tde kreaiRG Post, urges the
removal of the MurrayIill reservoir, on the ground
that the average amount of water in il on the 18th
inst. was only G,500,000 gallons. As bis own
records show 1G feet ard inches on the 2Oth
and il contains, when full, over 80 feet, or
24.OOO,OOO gallons his calculation must be
erroneous But the low head is easily explained,
as the Acting Chief Engineer states in his report.
published March II, 1879, in The city Rocord, that
while the aqueduct had capacity of 81 square
inches. and the pipes proceeding from the Central
Park Reservoir of II square inches, the outward
flow was allowed to be of only II square inches,
the gates of the several mains being closed to that
extent. The Object of closing the gates Is very
evident; it is to create head in the Park reser-
volrs so that the annual inspection of the aqueduct
by going through il aud making such repairs as
require the water to be turned from it, may be made
In order to turn the water off and on, forty-five
hours are consumed, and as there is at present in
all the reservoirs combined only about six seven
days supply it will he that after deductng
the consumption during tie forty-fve hours, but
five days time is left for repairs at the end of
vo.rs except what bad flowed in during the five
davs, thus creating time of absolute danger.
The head on the 21st of April in the two Park
reservoirs was as follows: Old reservoir, north
division. feet 9i2 inches; south division. 13 feet
0l2 inchesi new reservoir west division. 10 feet
ii inches; east division, 23 feet inches. Both
the east and west divisions of the reservoir hold
when full SO feet. and | respectfully submit that
without presenting these facts. it is wrong
to hold the Murray Hill Reservoir responsible
for the low head Of wafer IT contains. Mr.
Campbell closes the gates Of The supply mans. and
after shutting of the water from H. states, Just n
he were not the of il. chat the reservoir has
low head, when he well knows that il wOuid Gise
70 the level Of the east division Of the now reservoir
If allowed TO do so. | am delighted to find that
Mr.. Campbell, who sta ed IFS contents when
full at 2O,GO0.000 gallons. now states that
It. holds $4,000 COO gallons, which amounts
to 500 gallons daily for each Of the 5000 houses
below il which the reservoir dominates. That IT
can be filled easily every day. if The waste iu the
city be pTcycnttd-WhIch Is more than hecOnSlinn-
tiOn-uO Hydraulic engineer d lbt5. In TINS aspect
il is magnificent provision for all the
houses which 1t supplies. and to have that
quantity Of water two miles nearer than
the Park reservoirs on commanding cmIneuce,
the only existing, that an instantaneous pres
sure may be communicated through the pipes I'M
dents below Thrty-fourlI-st should not yield. The
reservoir gains IN the night when the dIalU upoh IL
Is az IT minimum, from thfce 10 hNe irtt,.
gain which lifts the wafer IN the Mgnt
M some parts, story higher, a9 20 I'M
tanks over important cOnycnicnces and permit the
use Of wash-basns for time, thus making less iiu-
portaut the elevation at which II subs qucnuy
delivers from 1JOOO.OJO 10 2b,OOO,OOO gallons
per day. II for the purpose OF distribution
that II was constructed-so ITS builder; Joln B'
JcrviS statcs--InoTe than for storage and yet Mr.
Campbell considers tie question only III TINS view,
and IN this respect his statement should Dc eA-
On the goth inst. inspected the aqueduct in
NiIctIetl-st. now exposed in two places, and
f!tl.'p lines,
1900 feet long, of G-ioOt pipes, built to take the
place of the old masonry aqueduct leading from
Nnh-ave. 10 the old Reservoir, and found To my
surprise that the water was shut of from
both; that many OF the plpe5 were broken,
some Of them having as many as four IRON bands
around them TO hold together their longitudinal
splits and cracks aud that while one line woud be
repaired the other was for the present practically
abandoned so that no water enters the old reservoir
except the back wafer from tho pipes of the new.
The closing of this branch places upon the other IN
Ninety running INTO the new reservoir
double strain, and II is of masonry, and Is repre-
seutcd by an inverted arch-a l0Tnl dllncult 10
MAINTAIN under water pressure from the inside-it
would be much better If the other could
be constantly used, 20 that the press
mg need of more storing capacity III the
ctv should lot bC constantly presented 20 those VINO
know OF the situation, and have their apprehen-
SONS excited as to the consequent danger. Instead
OF diminishing we should double our storage ca
pacIty. But there Is stu greater need Tor saving
every gallon of our storage than results from the
total IuCap4ctr of this portion OF the aqucduct to
DO any reliable service aud u rises from the cond-
of the IlicuuCI ICdUluS 10 tue CllJ lIom CIO-
Nr. Birl.ail in charge Of the Chief Engineers De
partineut, itcr stating among other things that IN
lS1S lJI lucal feet of roofing arch had been bulit
over the aQuCduct, and 81 cubic yards OF pTOtcc-
tiau wa, says: The masonry OF the aqucduct
over several embaukmcnts where II was badly
cracked as been repaired IN this way, and has shown
lis pIud effects by stopping former leaks There has
been N all about $3.50 hneal feet of this
vOrl; done and there still about 1000 feet Of the
aqueduct that Is badly fractured and requires i'm
mediate attention, and 10000 feet Of the aquoduct
! built on embaukment where il IS necessary TO be
| strcugl heued i'm order 10 prevent future injury
! from the OyeIstTain which the aqueduct Is now
| undergo ing from tho excessive quantity of wafer
that is necessary TO through 1t Tor the wants OF
! the city, :,
! Mr Allan Campbell, IN his report printed March
! IL referring TO these bad fractures, says: Per
! hans no break may occur, but the matter is too
sprIous to allow consideration Of few thousand
dollars to stand in tho way OF sucn repairs as shall
| insure the safety OF this structure"
| lu case of q break, the Forty -secOnd-St reser-
yOir IN the very midst Of our habltatOns would be
| the true source of supply for perhaps an hour
| through tho mains, and afterwards, III some very
restricted manner, and If the net should be passed
now before the Legislature regarding Its removal,
| 10 be commenced IN ninety days after the passage
| Of the act, tho last man in the community to be
! enyied would be Allan Campbell.
| GEORGE b. BUTLER
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AN ACCIDENT TO Mr.. BELMONT