St. Landry democrat., 1888-01-21
ANCIENT WATER-WORkS,
Aqueducts and Reservoirs Built NI.ny Hun.
dred Years Ago.

Aqueducts and Reservoirs Built M.ny Hun
bred Years Ago.
During the first century of the Chris
tan era the water supply of anciei.
Rome was so abundant that whe,t,
rivers of water flowed through th,
streets" 1t has been estimated a
three hundred aud Scyenty-five million
| gallons per day, or three hundred ant
seventy-five gallons for each jnbab
liant, and was conducted through nine
conduits of masonry, in the construc
ton OF which wonderful engineering
skill was shown. Their aggregate
length was 249 mics The principal
aqueducts were the Aqua Martha,
erected 431 years b. G., thirty-cight
miles in length, and partly composed
of 1000 arches; the Aqua Claudia, 4
subterranean channel for thirty-six and
one-fourth miles, for ten and three.
fourth miles Il surface conduit, three
miles vaulted tunnel, and seven miles
on lofty arcades, with capacity of
96, 200, 900 gallons daily; and the Nova
Anlo, which was forty-three miles in
length. Some of these aqueducts rose
in three distinct arches. which con-
veyed water. from sources of different
elevations.
The ancient water-works at Jerlrsa-
lem consisted first of wells in the lime
stone ridges on which the city was
built; but as the population increased
the Jews were obliged to gather the
rainfall during the winter season and
store it in tanks and cisterns placed in
secure Enclosures and within the walls
OF the temple. An aqueduct, con-
structed of stone laid in cement, brings
water from the pools of Bethlehem,
about six miles, to a tank lying under
the chief Turkish mosque The sopu-
lation of Jerusalem seldom suffered
from water famine. Strabo mentions
as something remarkable that there
was always plentiful supply OF water
within the city while Il famine prevail
ed in the region around about.
Among the great waterlworl1s of the
world those of Peru were in ,bme re-
spects the most difficult achievements
of any. The incas built aqueducts
from the slopes of the Andes for dis
lance of over one hundred
miles to the capital, car
rying the water partly through tun-
nels cut i'll the rocks and partly on az
cades on supporting pillals of mason
work to span valleys, the channels be-
ing composed of cut stone without ce-
ment. From these great aqueducts Il
of branch condults and fur
rows were laid laterally for irrigating
purposes.
In France the famous Pond du Gard
which supplied the town of
Nismes, is still an object of interest. 1t
consists of three tiers of arches, the
lowest of six, supporting eleven of
equal span i'll the central tier, sur
by thirty-fve of smaller size.
Its height is 1870 feet, with a channel of
feet high by 10 feet wide. The ca
pacity was estimated at fourteen MIL
lion gallons per day.
In the year 600 B. c., Polycrates,
King of Samos, built an aqueduct to
supply his capital, bringing water
through Il tunnel driven for over 6, ZOO |
yards through limestone rock, while
about the same time the people of Ly-
,ia, in Asia Minor. carried water across
the vale of Patera through a stone sy-
phon, which would indicate that the
were not ignorant of the laws
If hydrostatics.
Carthage was supplied by water
from the hill ranges on the
south, over seventy miles distant, and
he ruins of an aqueduct, built in the
Roman style, may still be seen,
The water-works of Athens were be-
run about $50 B. c., and consisted of
stone aqueducts lined with baked clay
md carried almost wholly on the sur
ace of the ground.
In Constantinople the capital of the
Eastern Empire, the Romans left
snbterranean reservoirs COW
red with stone arcades resting on pill
ars.
In India tanks and reservoirs were
on an enormous scale and
we're the chief dependence during
roughts. = Chicago News.
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