The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-11-03
Water! Water! Water.

notwithstanding the success Of anti
Prohibition, there is little doubt that
..cold water, has been held in higher
estimation this summer than at any
time since the world began. There have
been, Of course. many localities chat
have suffered By drouth almost every
year. But mankind IN general have
never been so afflicted BY cloudless skies
as during Mother SYMPTOMS ann domlnI,
or year of our Lord, 1881.
We started, however, to speak Of the
alarm which Is prevailing in New ork
City, or was last week. The Daily Sun
has two columns describing the condl-
ton Of the water supply. 1t seems that
Croton river naturally flows less than
ten millions Of gallons of water per day,
while the demands Of the great metro
polls are from eighty to ninety millions
Of gallons per day. Hence, the great
reservoirs. and lakes. in Central Park
to store up water as a supply when
there is no rain to swell the river, and
the springs. There has been no gener-
al rain, for more than three months;
consequently the reserve supplies OF
water have been cut down until now
there is not enough to supply the city
two weeks longer if there be no rain.
Of course there is uneasiness among
property owners and insurance men as
a great fire would find many water
pipes empty. The larger FIRE engines
If New York throw five hundred gal
Ions a minute think Oft y, and when
from thirty to fifty engines are all work
ing at once, as is the case at every large
fire, they would waste half a million gal
Ions in half an hour.
Another serious feature is the stop
ping of the large steam engines. 1t
will no doubt surprise many readers to
learn that dozens of powerful factories.
shops, printing presses, etc., etc,
stretching along the street for nearly
half a mile. are all run by one big en-
CINE. 1t is situated in a large cellar at
one end of the line and It's mighty
wheel turns an endless chain stretching
from cellar to cellar under tue various
buildings, and giving motion to separate
belts and pulleys connecting with the
rooms above, SO that the one engine
does fifty different kinds OF work all at
once. As may be supposed these
engines are very powerful, 800 horse
power some Of them, and they use up
more than 20, 600 gallons of water pei
day.
The Excelsior Steam Power Company,
in Spruce street, turns the printing
presses of the SIN, the Tribune, the
InI, and 40 weekly newspapers and
job offices, employing more than 3Ot
printers, and printing probably 200,O 0C
papers an hour
The y. Y. Steam Power Company
furnishes power to 80 work shops OF
various kinds, besides hosting the ele.
vators in a dozen or more buildings.
The engine which does this astonishing
drugdcry is equal to 200 horses. What
a wonderful thing is Steam 1t has rev
e!utionized the world 1t has civiz-
mankind! The Nations that know
not the uses of steam are still in barba-
rism. They have no railroads, steam.
boats, factories, or labor saving ma
chimes. They have stood still for {
thousand years. Whereas those nations
which have used most steam have made
the greatest progress. In fifty years
past they have learned more than then
ancestors learned since the world be
/ Ca,