Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-03-16
IIle SIRE Rress.
ANOTHER LETTER FROM MIR.
ALGER.
Tho Wa,or Committees Reply - MIR,
Lnne's Letter OH Leakagos Of pumps,
pines.

To the Elitor OF the Free FTesS and Times:
In your issue of Friday, March I'd, there
appeared communication signed by the
Water Committee intended, no doubt, as a
reply TO my communication of the 23d ult.
upon the management of the Water Depart
meut, but which was in fact mere political
squih fired off at me two days before an cleo
ton III which by chance had become can
dida,o between the two dates. do not refer
to this by way of complaint against you or
them, but merely to show the character OF
the reply.
The reply is based on letter from
Mr. Lang who is the well known fore.
man in the shops of Il. s. Nichols IL Co.
and is undeniaby an accomplished machin-
ist Mr. Nichols and the chairman of the
committee have been for some years partners
in business, and this would perhaps throw a
doubt over the question whether Mr., Lang is
wholly unbiased expert in this matter
Having given this letter he Of course becomes
liable to criticism thereon, and beg to have
my criticisms regarded as applying to the
subject under consideration and not as per-
sonal to him.
Before taking up his letter which is in fact
the entire defence, beg to call attention to
the fact that the committee, though four
years in charge of the water department,
claim no knowledge as to pump leakages and
pipe aud reservoir leakages and that they
do not call upon their competent
superintendent or engineer for informa-
ton us to these facts, persons one would
think that could tell whether plung-
or worked snug and without leakage if
they are fit for their positions. Thecommit-
tee having learned but little by experience
wisely seek information from an outside ex-
pert, and should they seek il oftener than once
in two years they might not be thought over
jealous.
About two years since" says Mr.
Lang, II examined the pumping machinery
aud found leakage amounting 10 ~ per cent.
This being so slight | did not recommend
that any expensive repairs be made" This
per cent Of leakage on the water pumped
two years ago would be 29,016,2l1 gallons
and this he regards as small leakage, and
still at the rate OF small consumers the water
would amount to Sl4, sos. l0--,oo small
sum perhaps to require attention on the part
of the committee of the water department.
Mr.. Lang's letter to the committee appears
to have been written the same day that he
received the request for it, and is based upon
his estimate made two years before, with
such increase of leakage as he guesses the
USE vi tnc pumps lOT Two years, uOlnB cA-
Cellent service without repairs" would be
likely to cause. This he thinks would make
the present leakage Is per cent. Why make
this hasty estimate, instead of going down 10
the pumps and making an examination
The hasty oil-hand reply without eXamina-
ton throws some doubt over his figures. He
may have desired to report very large leak
age. lie may have known of the statement
in the report by the superintendent of that
department one year ago Ohough probably
both the fact and the statement were forgot
ten that "thc pumping machinery has been
recently ovCrhaulcd and is working satisfac-
torily.' This work the superintendent says
was done at Mr.. Nchos's shop. Mr.. Lang
may have been absent when it was done, and
it Is only referred to here to show the proba-
bly, h,s,y nature of his letter, or his forget
fulncss.
Now, let US examine his pipe and reservoir
lcakagcs. These lie estimates, this year, at
5G,0Gi, S25 gallons, reduced to no. IS leads this
would make more than l0C hogshcads per
hour for every hour from the beginning TO the
end of the year, Sunday cNceptcd-and still
we have here in midsummer considerable
land dry enough for garden purposes, and
the streets along the line of The main pipes
are sometimes free from mud, and even
dusty-und we have no floods even in the wet
nifty OF the reservoir even there are cellars
that are considered tit for use all the year
round None of these things c uld be pos
sible if such estimated leaks were real.
The quantity he estimates for leakage is n
great quantity TO lose after We have been to
the expense OF raising it to ourrcs rvoir, and
it is to be hoped the committee now that they
have heard of it from source so reliable
will give attention to the matter OF leakagcs
and make tests and experiments to asccr-
tain how the leaks are Causel an devise
some way to reduce them. But are leaks to
any such extent real? No one possessed OF
less faith in experts than ordinary people
have in inspiration could believe in such esti-
mates. The guilclessnoss of great men is
provelbial but nothing anywhere surpasses
that OF this machinist when he speaks of the
examination he made carly in the morning
between one and four-when ''all faucet.
would be closed" Bless your heart man
Did you never hear that some men living
along the lines of sewers leave their faucets
open all night, and did you never hear OF
men who, as was stated in the report of this
department one year ago, Indulge in mid
night shOwcring Of lawns and flower gar.
dens.n
Then again let us examine his estimates Of
water used at the fire at the Pioneer Shops
Ia November. The department pumped
that month as registered 1898, $50 gallons
Deduct his Is per cent pump leakages and 30
Ier cent pipe and reservoir leakages and we
have the amount of water actually used II ),
779,4jS gallons. From this deduct his esti-
mate of water used at the fire T. 23l 200 gal
Ions and we have 4,54S, 145 gallons only fol
all other purposes for the month
quantity so small AS to reiute hi.
entire figures, guesses and estimates
A table accessible of 23 cities gives the aver
age daily supply OF water per capita for al
purposes us 80 gallons. If we use half til,
average amount these places use our IL 00
people woulhrequire for the month of Novem
Der 0, 800, 600 gallons-more than twice tn
amount left for use after making allowance
for pump, pipe and reservoir leaks as pc
Mr. Lang, and his estimate of the water TO
the fire, and still we had no water famine i
November and no appeals 10 the people to b
economical in their use of it, nor any lack o
supply in the reservoir that was considered
hazardous in case of another fire.
With these comments on Mr., Langs lcltc
submit that there is nothing in it damagin
to my position, and further that il it wer
all true it would show greater Incompetence
aud neglect of the business of this $500, 90
investment, than my original commune,
ton charged upon the water department
Still further the committee are responsible
for all this, since they publish in their rcpor
that they pump so many million gallons cac
month while now by this letter they claii
that they rcallypump 10 percent less than the
report aud that they lose 80 per cent of tina
If the committee have any faith in the ctte
after election, they should give heed to il
suggestions and go speedily to work to ste
the leaks and especially should they col
slider the matter of lcakagcs when they n