Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-11-28
Underground Berlin.

"a picture OF uIdel Ound p GRILL s.
with q detailed explanation OF its plan.
Growth and manag cement, IS given q IN ! I. q
recent number Of Q popular German !. ':i
monthly The underground wire va 81:
for the telegraph was introd uced 10 that
,ity as long ago as 1850, and It has
grad grown into 4 we'll organized
system, fully equal TO all the demands
made on It. Pneumatic tubes are also
used by the united postotffoe and tele-
graph, for in Berlin both are managed
by the one department. under the Coy
eminent. The gas supply Of Berlin
furnishes light for Il, 900 street, lamps
and 100000 private burners, and,
although gas lighting was first intro
1uced in that city III 1926, it has been
steadily improved, meeting the increased
demand and furnishing power for
great many small industries, so that the
use of electric lighting has not dinin-
ished the production of gas. The pipes
are laid under the sidewalks, and thus
little Inconvenience is caused to ordi-
nary street traffic for repairs or exten~
sions. The water supply was first in
troduced in 1854 by a private company,
but since 1873 it has been owned and
managed by the city. Twenty three
great reservoirs supply the city by
means of enormous pumps through well
devised system OF pipes, and II 900 water
meters measure the supply for as many
consumers, while a thorough system
of fltering the water has recently been
successfully introduced. A thorough
system of underground drainage, de"
vised by the chief engineer of Berlin,
recognized authority in hygiene, Ho-
brecht, begun in 1873, has been gradu-
ally introduced, providing canals IN
derground Of solid masonry, and sup
Elementary system of earthenware
pipes, through which all city wastage is
carried off to great fields where the
drainage is recovered and utilized.
Every house III Berlin is connected with
this underground drainage by an ap-
proved system Of pipes. and the rain
water from the roofs and streets is also
carried of through it. Every house,
too, must have its water supply, and
this is also regulated by law, with caro-
ful consideration Of the needs OF the
inhabitants. Twenty two steam en-
gines, with $3.50 horsepower, in
i've stations, scattered throughout the
city, supply the power for forcing all
the waste Of the million Of people that
iuhabit Berlin out to a distant point.
The cost of the City Gas Works in Ber-
lin amounts in the aggregate to 81 ,OO0.-
900, of the water works to $4,000, 900,
and of the drainage to So, O0D. 600, and.
of course, the great proportion OF tins
large CAPT al Of over twenty millions OF
dollars is invested in the work under
ground, and yet it IS not complete.
The City of Berlin has recently con-
tracted with the German Edison Elec~
trio Lighting Company for thorough
system of underground wires, by which
every street can be lit, and every house
too, If the owner chooses to introduce
it. Water and light and drainage are
now fully supplied, but Berlin is dis
cussing the American plans for heat
and power, tc, be supplied from cen
trail stations through underground
pipes under such system as may be ap-
proved by its local scientific anthori-
ties. Dr. Werner Siemens, one OF the
famous family of inventors SO we'll
known in both continents. has already
submitted plan for supplying heat
from coal mines only few miles from
Berlin. All this work IS done under
the care of men who arc recognized
masters Of their SPECIAL branches, and in
such thorough scientific method, thai
once done, it is done for al time. Ur~
foreground Berlin is, in its way, as well
ordered as the city above ground. and,
indeed the cleanliness and healthful~
ness OF the city are largely dependent
| upon and secured by the wellmauaged
work beneath it. When can Philadel
phia get to that point ?-Philadelphia
| Ledger.