The daily gazette., 1881-10-24
MONDAY. OCTOBER "A. 1881.
THE DRouaHr.-The drought

THE DRcUaHT.-The drought in
the Middle States has been unprece-
dented, and water famine was dread
cd In many places. In New York
Mayor Grace, at the request of the
Chief Engineer of the Croton Water
Works, has issued proclamation ex
horting the people to use as little
water as possible. He says "the sup
ply will be exhausted in sixteen days
il there are not copious rains in that
time, and the city would then be de-
pendent upon the natural flow of the
Croten River, which is now only
10000, 1000 gallons per day, about one.
ninth Of the amount of water now in
u-e." The Chief Engineer says he
has given orders to close the drinking
hydrants for man and beast TO stop
the use of hose for washing s 'dewalks,
stores, areas, and house fronts to dis
continue the sprinkling of boulevards
roads and drives to furnish no more
water to shipping except in cases OF
extreme necessity, where the water
cannot be obtained elsewhere to shut
down sSill further the outer gates of
the main distributing reservoir, and
to reduce the pressure from the high
service wo ks. The further reduction
of outflow and pressure from the dis
tributiDg reservoir and high service
works may possibly deprive some
localities Of water for time, but the
Importance of reserving suffic lent
water for extinguishing fires, for alb
solute domestic necessities, and for
keeping in operation the factories
which give employment and bread to
80 many thousands of hands, is too
great to be sacrificed to mere con-
siderations of temporary inconveni-
ence or discomfort"
A few months ago when the Chief
Engineer of The Crotou works urged
that provision be made for increasing
the natural supply, many of the
newspapers, and even bome of the
political clubs denounced the pro.
position and maintained that there
was actually much greater supply |
of water than was neede j.
The Schuylkill River is said to be
lower than it has been any time during
the present century. One of our ex.
changes says, at some points "between
Birdsboro' and Douglassvllle, aud
especially at the island above Mono
cacy, the river can be crossed by pc.
destrisns without wetting the feet.
AT the mouth of The Saratoga creek
below Pottstown, there is a long bar
OF gravel and sand ex ending into the
river, and near this place there is a
low water mark, which, it is stated,
has not been visible since 1893. With
the bed of the river so much exposed,
and the decaying vegetation along the
banks, it is not strange that the peo-
pie along the Schuylkill are suffering
with malarial fever, which at POTTS.
town, Lawrenceville and other places,
has pro7trated whole families"
We are told by those who have
passed along the Schuylville lately
that in some sections the river is so
stagnant that it is covered with
green scum for miles together
The water has been low in the
Brandywine, but Wilmington has not
been apprehensiye of water famine.
Were The Brandywine as low and
hithy to the eye as the Schuylkill is
represented to be there would be
more timidity shown in reference to
the quality of the water than has
yet appeared Our people may be
thankful that they are SO highly
favored with water in such a time of
scarcity in 80 many localities.