Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-09-21
THE PURE WATER SUPPLY
ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS IT'S
SOLUTION.
Experiments Mt the Savannah Hospital
with Days Fountain Filter-What
Medical Men Think of 1t.


Experiments Mt the Savannah Hospital
with Days Fountain Filter-WhAt
Medical Men Think of 1t.
During the past two or three months
many decided improvements have been
made in the Savannah Hospital grounds.
The work has been done under the
direction Of the Board OF Mana
gers, and under the immediate
supervision of John F. DAILY. Early
IN the summer il was suggested that fish
pond could be built north of the hospital
| and that ornamented by a fountain
rising from the centre Of the pond, IL
would form an attractive decoration.
The work was begun early in July by the
excavation of the ground for basin 4 feet
deep and from s. to 80 feet wide. In the
centre of the basin fountain has been
! erected, the base of which is II feet in
diameter, with depth of feet, filed in
with loose stones, gravel and sand, and
rooted over with a layer of brick. On
the centre of this PEDESTAL, as it might be
called, Pinch iron pipe, presented by
! Superintendent Miller, of the water
works, was set, and into this was tele-
scoped an ordinary gas lamp post, pre-
| sented to the hospital by Capt. Guerard,
! these forming a structure D feet in
utlSuLs bulOuku WHICH, lub Mdltl 10 AJACCu
| to an altitude of 40 feet. OTnamenting
the base of the fountain are four arches
framed OF rough, unpublished fragments OF
stone, four X-shaped crosses of red sand
stone standing in an upright position, and
four medium-siZed millstOnes that were
imported to this country nearly 100 years
ago, and were used in the making of the
cellar walls of the building that was
erected on the southeast corner of Brough-
ton and BARNARD GtrnpfG IN a
These stones were discovered during the
early part of the summer when additional
excavations were in progress preparatory
to the laying the foundation for the new
stores recently completed for Messrs.
John A. Douglass and Daniel Hogan.
| Certain mill men who are conVersant
with the material and pattern ofrice mill
stones assert that they were
not made for regular mill
but for band use. These four stones are
suspended over the pedestal by iron rods
attached to a ring, which encircles the
12-inch pipe. Above these stones a larger
milestone, feet in diameter and 10
inches thick, is suspended, with the iron
lamp-post passing through its centre. This
stone was used in the Habersham rice
mill in 1912, and was originally about Is
inches thick in the centre.
Three of the small size mill-stones are
attached to the main shaft of the fountain
above the larger stone, while a repre-
sentation of the cOat-of-arms of the State
of Georgia ornaments the apex of the
shaft.
Near the edge of the miniature pond are
two rough blocks of stone, upon one of
which is a statue of a negro boy holding
alOft glass of water. This figure was
presented to DR.. Duncan by John A.
Douglass.
Thirteen jets of water are thrown by
the fountain upward into the air in the
form of a dense sheet of mist of the most
fascinating beauty. A great deal of
water falls upon the pedestal and thence
percolates through the substrata of rocks,
sand and brick work to a small interior
reservoir beneath, to which is connected
fOur-inch iron pipe, leading into Sec
ond filter six feet long, two feet wide and
eighteen inches deep, divided into COM
partments three in number, each filed
with tiltering material. This filtering
chest, as it were, is in turn connected
with well that has been dug about 10
feet from the basin of the fish pond. This
well is + feet in diameter and feet in
depth, and is supplied with clear filtered
water from the fountain for the use of
the inmates of the hospital.
AS fast as the water is taken from the
well the neVer-failing fountain keeps up
the supply through the filters. Hence it
is claimed that the fountain is not only
an ornament to the grounds, but that
it has solved the question whether
Savannah river water can be filtered in
| large quantities sufficient to meet the re-
quirements of population similar in
number to that of Savannah.
A reporter of the MORNING NEWS saw
some of the water taken from the we'll
and also from the unfltered water in the
basin yesterday. The contrast between
the color of the tive was extremely
| decided. He also saw the two test speci-
mems after they had been bottled and
placed at rest on a shelf for over two
| hours. The filtered water was white ard
showed no sediment whatever in the bot
tie, while the unfltered water was yellow
and sediment had settled in the cotton
of the large vial. The reporter then called
on two or three leading physicians, who
said that the Medical Society would prob
ably make a thorough inspection of the
fountain and an analysis of the water,
both before and after it had passed through
the big filter, and hence preferred to re-
serve their opinion as to whether Mr..
Days plan would accomplish all
that was claimed for it or not. But
they agreed in the statement that
the filter rendered the river water about
as clear as ordinary pump water.
The new fountain will be in operation
this afternoon, when visitors will have an
opportunity to take glass Of the Sltered
water.