The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-07-14
CLEANING THE BASIN.
THE vEay INTERFERING Psotkss
.Nn.. Ky .f'fh.s y - 10 o., tIff,l.s
which 10 Annually Gone Trough With atths CITY
RsHrvoir-A Thorough Jsb Made Of Il This
i rtsr-0rsr EisAiJ Mta .Lisar. Al slsht
Ia Mud and Water to their Haiats. f,s,
Here comes the duasllo

here comes taa duuetl All n ~ .is [
This saiutAtiou greeted TWO IKrkLLIdxEcrn
reporters whoafser their nighrs, oil, climbed
the hill in the back Of tho Second ward eatur.
day morning, attracted by the glare Of big
bonfire bt,ilt on tho edge oil the city wsts,
balm 10 furnish light for The gang OF man
employed In cleaning the reservoir. Na.ur.
ally very few people havs ever witnessed thll
work. II Is alwSs done 70 far as possible in
the night, that the Inconvenience from the
necessary stoppags OF the water supply may
be az small az possible. The lob Ia done once
each year. Friday night at l2 O'Clock The
water was shut of from the pipes fed by the
southern reservoir, the water drained out
and the work commenced. C.I.
When The reporters arrived, about 4 O'Clock
In the n orning, the first basin was almost
tiniehed Tbs eight.hve men employed were
In very cheerful frame Of mind, as shown
by the greeting with which they hailed The
reporters, and by their antics as they Hound
cred about In the mud. II the visitors looked
liks dndes when they arrived, their appear
snce was changed purceptibly in very 6hori
time. A large force Ut men were engaged In
shoyeling ,aud from The bottom OF the basin
upon scatfold, and from the scatiold 10 the
ground outside the basiu. This mud was OIL
the consistency OF molasset, and as It fell
with u splash. everything In the vicinity
was caught by tho shower, aud fences. Bpso'
tatora aud the surrounding property FOL
something le.s than mile was soon covered
with coat Of whitish mud half an inch
thick. ~. ,lwW1lfyliS ~ l,.,.,...j
When the waller was drawn OF, the mud
thpon fNf II nj btal, all 4 hn hat
tom OF the basin. This was shoveled anC
scrapsd oil, and then the smooth stone Loo
was scrubbed perfectly clean with stes
brooms, and then rinBed of With clean water
the waste poniiag through an eightinct
pipe, and rushing down AZ alley to Marke
alreet, where 1t was carried of by the sewer
Occasionally stones and sticks would accu
mnlhte ut the sewer, and tho water beirf
shut out, would pour over the H.raat and rur
down until another sewer opening Was found
A man had to be Stationed at tho sewer L
keep 1t from clopsing up. 'gSzs
A number OF wheelbsrrows were en-
ployed In hauling the mud 10 one corner
where 1t was shoveled up. After the thickss
had thus been carried of the water was lie,
on slowly, and The immense wooden scrapers
operated by eight or ten men each, were
called into reqaisitior, and the thinned mud
was scraped into another corner, where two
wnste pipes carried 1t oil. Attsr cleaning thu
south bhsia, the water was drawn into /
from the north ono, and the Same thorough
cleansing WAS gone through there. III
| Tha Superintendent OF The Water Work
inserted M advertisement In the city paper
last Thursday morning, giving notice 10 wa
ter consumers, and calling for Iaborers
About ninety responded, Their NAMES wert
enrolled, aud at 10 o'clock Friday night tn,
roll wAs called. L sht! five OF the men wer,
present. These were divided into three o.
four Gangs, each having boss. The met
worked most Of the timo In water and thit
mud from foot 10 three fest deep. They
are paid s. for the nights work. Tue expos
ure and rard work are guarded against BY
liberal dcs's Of good whisky. Two woodeI
buckets OF whisky and four kegs OF besr wer.
consumed by the men Saturday. Though
most of them drank freely it had no effect
the cold water and fresh Hir aud vigorous e1
erciso counteracting the influence. A few
did not take any liquor, and ,neso apparently
worked ~ vigorously and effectively, and II
as good spirits, AZ those who did. ...p
The roll is again called after breakfast
and early in the morning the city tax col
Iector calls around, aud fanny Of the men or
the list are In arrears for their city taxes thu
sum due Is deducted from the wsges.
The work Saturday occupied longer thar
usual, more thorough Job being done. TIT
popular idea that all sorts OF filth and debril
lind resting place In ths reservoir was mo-
horne out by the explorations Saturday
Nothing but plain, common, everyday mud
was found, sl..