New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-12-24
THE SODOMDAM TO BE BUILT
ACTION OF TUE AQUEDUcr COMMISSION.
DISCUSSING THE FEASIBILITY or THE cUAKtR
EEIDGa FEOJT.r

o,scrss1yG THE rkAssEIMTY or THE QUAKER
EEIDGa FIoJrS.
The Aqnc1Gct CommissoHcrs Confined yeaier-
dov fbeIr hearing IN regard to the proposed Quaker
Vrid0e d am ami reservoir. com. lunICdt'Oh. N"S
rr1d iron, !he Cooperation CoUDfo', setting loitn
That the plans and spcciiratons o, ti' i ecu
dam, already. prepared ana submit" ~ 'n' -"
piuaere are all that the las requires , -
Commissioner Spencer offered tue owing IesO-
,"'ssioncrs Dowd Spenoar Baldwin, and Squire; the
MavOr and Controller were absent, Attending inc
noeting OF the Board OF Estimate and AVpoluOh-
mcnt: -,
grSolrs4 That in the juigmcu. ara opinion Of the
Aqneduct COMMISSIONER tho seldom DdmS ana fcIGr,
voirs known on the maps "a 4" Reservoirs ana ~
,houid he strItc ed umedatcy ana mat me pupc
hearings in regard thereto s&1'l ~ hay coSeu Oh e
3On day ~ December 1880; ant the Committee ON Con.
structiop are hereby directed to prepare ana submit
20 the Commissioners fOr adoption az their mex de5.'ar
and formal resolutions, embodying in detail this
decision and conclnsioh
Robert L. Danagh spoke at length on tie coStoi i'
dam He expressed 4 decided opinion tNat rug SStii,
mates OF the engineers were 100 low, lAo ny H"'
uGch experience % q practical bnld9T ana coz
tractor and could, Therefore SPEAK Win so,,1 ~
gree Of certainty. Tie asserted that the estimates
werciot more than threc-hiths of the actual cost.
lie spoke also of the great probability that me Jam
would not be able TO stand Inc pressure OF ~ IL C"i-
Yied 10 the cxtIcmc height that IS pIopJscd:,
,J.mcS RenwlCk, q civil eng !icc-t .tdtVu lhaO nc
was Onc Of The cnCIgoa." 81 jae ola trotOn Aquo-
duet at the time the dam was carried away lna1
was an infant compared 10 TINS proposed dam' anu
vet IL carried away everything IN us Go3o Ip2
one feet above the level of tho river below ne Gam
II the dam now planned should give way IL WouIu
cause an enormous loss of life and property
Professor Charles +. Chandler sent communlc0-
tion 10 the Commission stating that the allegation
that the Quaker Bridge Dam VIII tend TO Ich"er tne
Croton water still more unwhOlesomc was aoso-
lutely without foundation III TACT ana eNpeIicuCe'
and that tie CrOtOn water WAS ~ every way "a rs
factory water supply Inc DRAINAGE couu U9
ken care Of by means Of lnlerceDung services
There was no watershed of 800 square lll!cS ara
which presented more satisfactory coHollohS tDr
furnishing an abundant water supply tu"h 'Ho
Cornelius 0'Reilly presented a tabular statement
showing the increased cost o. pumping water IN
bindings. the plant, ETC., since 1851. 1t amounts
'V r. Potter said after the conclusion Of the
meeting that tie gentlemen associated WIN NM
were well satisfied with the detCrnnHatlun 10 puIlu
tie Sodom dam THIS would practically Go onn
1hc storage supply at cost OF about Sl, I0V'u"".
This was q good thing accomplished. Inc oe 81
Thing the Commits siOners could DO now was 10
abandon for the present the Quaker Hrldse o"h
uroicct leaving it for future conslderatloh
The Commission then took up the rcgniar business
of lie dav. A discussion arose over the adEiS-
ability OF terminating the new aqueduct al one
Kindred and birty-Glth-st. or continuing 1t by
pipes to the Central Park reservoir NJ; squire
took the ground that the Commission c9l" noV i,i
tertcrc with the present reservoir OF the SItenI "a
nIncs uuder the control Of the Department OF run
liz Works lie thought that it would be better 70
distribute the increased supply by system OF
80 y9dIatinr from Observation-Disclosures
st. rather than to carry Il back to the upper par
of the CITY from the Central Park reservoir. AlC
added that he had asked the opinion OF thc CoTpO,
ration Counsel on the matter The matter was i'lu
beethoven Hall, in East Ffth-st., was filled last
night with taxpayers, mostly Germans, VINO llau
gathered to near speeches faVOung the cohsuuc-
tion of SOdem dam and opposing the quaker
bridge dam. Anthony Rcchardt president OF me
Tenth Eleventh aud Seventeenth Nard lax
PAYERS Association. presided, aud made
speech in German setting forth the purpose
OF the meeting. Tax Commissioner feltner NlRof-
ously objected 10 the Quaker Bridge dam ulgiiG
that il was yet uncertain whether the water SilH-
cred in that reservoir would be pure, that as
piece of engineering work it might prove iall1Ie,
and that its cost would prooaoL!
nal estimate of something over $5;0o00OO.
He insisted that the work should net be unleT-
taken unless the taxpayers we've assured that NV
expenses would be kept down to the estimates. ne
SOdom dam, he said, would cost only ST. 1V.oQo
and could he completed IN three years, WINE lho
Quaker Bridge dam would take at least ten years
and the S0lom dam wop.d furnish all the
additional waterneeded by TIE city for many years
Coroner MESSENGER attacked the Quaker Bridge
dam in German so vigorously that the little plat
form ON which he stood trcmhled and threatened
TO give way beneath the weight OF his eIoqacaaeSs
aud avOidupois but his cOuntrymen appiauoeo
him heartily. FL, 49,. ,o,
Resolutions were adopted setting 1olIh NC led-
sons for constructing the SodOm Gam ana nol coh-
sfructing the Quaker Bridge dam and calling Oh
the State Board OF Health TO make lnVesi galoAo TO
determine what would be the elec on the water oI
storing all collected III the Croton watershed III
one reservoir