, 1881-07-23
PURE WATER.
How They Found a Great Sup
ply In the Berkeley
EiiiS.
A La, ge Cave and the Bed Of an
Old River Encountered.

The value and uses Of cur artesian we'll
have L,en knoan tor years. Scarcely I
valley in the southern lart of the sat,
but is hnneycombrd with them, and tn,
value oi 4 tract Of land IS n once doubled
when artes,an water IS discovered on It
Green and smiling settlements grow az
around these pure, unfaii1g fountains oi
hmpid water which the mountains SEND
down To the plains by thrse mysterious
underground channels which 10 man ha'
ever Yet bean abe to track. Tn, cite:
are following IN the wake Il ,hs country
.! IN tapping this valuable uuGcr,," ,,".I,j T, ;
! ervuir. or nvey as II Is sometimes called
which lies h.'neath rur feet In til. caun-
try no man will hesitate for ah instant
vixen the choice is given HIM between
owiin. and controlling his own water
supply and being dependent ON the Of
fentG eapricious exac;i"ns and never
/ fs.ilin- assessments Of irrigation con,pani- s
! The people of the cities are slowly learn
ing the same lesson, and are gradually
making themselves independent III cor
porate greed
The successful boring for aItesian water
in all parts of the state wlcrc it has been
tried, has demonstrated the f,ct, If de-
mousIration were needed, that there IS .
vast ard ineNhaustible rese,v, ir, or r.ver,
OF water beneath the >ttt-. Perhaps
river is the IN lCe proper term, Tor these
waters gre livin. waters III tine trucst
sense: they have all the sparkle and zest
of the water OF a mountain brook, and
are altogether free from that unpleasant
aud sometimes wrig 5ling
ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE LIFE,
With which the wate oi those stag"ant
pools, called res,rvrirs, are pregRRt.
Nevertheless. the fact that 1T e in water
is uudoubtrdly mountain wat T has no:
worked up to its legitimate conclusion,
at least to any appreciate extent The
strong pressure with which his water
issues when released from It's prison in
the bosom Of the valleys is proof positive
that it must come Fl. M the higher rnun1s
for there is no possible means of attain
mg this force excep. by pr 'ssuIe from
above ard the simple action of the law Of
gravity Al this might have suS led
that this precious s'cre OF this Vi ii rle-
ment was not confined to- the valleys;
the mountains have it IN ike m'asure.
and although not easily acc ssible by like
means, it may be made available in an
other and perhaps even more useful,
shape 1t is by means Of tunnels drisen
in horizontally into the heart of Califnr-
MAS thousand hills thai this wa.er viii
be set free. Some few of these hav.
been driven, but as Yet TIA. enterprise is
altogether III its infancy, but already 1t
has opened up visa of possibilities which
are rich ,th suggestions of mdcveloped
wealth The supply from tn s. tunnels
is permanent and mvarying, and Ell ugh
has Leen done to prove that the brown,
snb-burnt foothills # the state are per
M, ated wi'h copious veins Of this ,alua-
bic element
Within the last fea years, h never,
some steps IN this direction have been
taken in Alameda County and els where.
rhe first at empt to utilize thes., noun
tain waters stored in the hills across the
hav, WIS the tunnel driven III the C.Stra
Costa hills, 10y which the town "f West
Berkeley is supplied 1t Is known as the
Bergman tunnel, from the name of its
protector, and may be said "a be entirely
successful After diiftin9 into the side
of the mountain certain d stance, the
workmen broke into a vast open chamber
OF cave, in which a steady supply If
DELICIOUS LIVING WATER
Was found to flow In 1877 company
Of capitalists, headed by H. Barroihet Of
this city, commenced to bore in these
same hills, but more to the east and
alongside of the present Contra Costa
road Their tunnel WAS projected with a
view Of finding coal, which was then be
Eeved to exist in that part Of those noun
tains, but the enterprise failed altogether
in that direction As the tunnel pro-
gressed, however, Dumer ,us streams Of
water were encountered, and the idea
occurred TO The projectors to utilize their
work as a valuable source of water supply
for that valuable plateau lying between
Oakland and the hills, and eventually
sufficient water was found to enter into
competition with the existing means Of
water supply for tha. city.
THE WORK HAS STEADILY PROGRESSED
Ever since its inception, and now the
tunnel u in some 1000 feet. Neverthe-
less, the owners are not yet satisfied, and
mean to continue their tunnellng as long
as there seems any prospect Of increasing
the supply of water.
LARGE BODY OF WATER
Stored in these hills, which only awaits
the application Of the drill and pick to be
made available If further dsm0nstra-
ton were needed Of the existence Of
water in these hills, it is furnished by
the operations of the Contra Costa Load
and Tunnel Company. This company
was incorporated in 1873, for the purpose
OF boring a connecting tunnel through
these hills between Alameda and Contra
Costa counties, and building road ON an
easy grade. The tunnel through which
the roadway is to pass is TO be ], 600 feet
in length. and its mouth is situated 800
r In hA lf
their operations, which are not yet com
plete, they have struck many streams Of
water, and there is now supply OF water
flowing from their tunnel equal in guam
tity to that which flows from the Barroil-
het tunnel The water is now turned
into the Chabot reservoir, hard by, and Is
used in supplying water to Oakland.
Several other tunnels are projected In
this neighborhood, and work has actually
been commenced on some of then, but
they are rot as yet Of sufficient import
ance TO demand an extended notice
s. p. Call, July ID.
Exclusion To DAYroS.-It Is the int<n-
ton of the Walla Walla Guards to organize
AN excursion to Dayton on Sunday week
next provided they can obtain = train In
iurfherance Of this object the STATESMAN
will use its best efforts to make the excursion
a grand success. 1t is now little over two
hours pleasant ride TO that beautiful and en-
terprising town therefore a good turnout Of
our citizens and their families may be ex.
pected-