The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1888-04-19
MARVELLOUS.
Busy Scenes Around the City
Water Works
Wonderful and Beautiful Ma
ohinery for Generating Elec-
tricity-A Monument to
Enterprise and
Energy.

The other morning a oIAIEsMAN
porter visited the city water works. ana
was astonished at the busy scene ne VIII
messed there.
Scores of men we're at work on the ne"
pump room now beiIg erected, ADJOINING
the old one and Just south OF Il, aga 'ile
addition will soon be completed. some
months ago, Indeed, away long last summer
If was discovered that the great pumps
which supply the city with water WoulG
operate much more satisfactory ana at
much less wear and tear II they were
placed lower and nearer the surface OF the
river.
It was determined to lower them, and
a large force of men were put to work ex-
cavating, and about a month ago they
had an opening sufficiently large and
masons are now wa'ling 1t up with mas
sive masonry which will soon be COM
pleted. ,
Then the great pumps, one of which
has a capacity of 100000 gallons daily
will be placed in a position 10 feet lower
than they now are, and the change Will
insure clear aud pure water at all times,
no matter at what stage the water IN the
river may be.
To make this change, the company has
been at an expense of nearly 100000, the
pay roll last Saturday night, in addition
to the regular roll, being little over
81, 100.
A nest of five boilers, Skis feet, are be-
ing Overhauled, and, when completed, will
give the works two batteries of boilers Of
* Dc Tho o. toned tlhpSp
boilers will afford power for running both
pumps when necessary, and the seven
arge and beautiful Bull engines oper-
ating the dynamos in the electric light
establishment. This department. il a
curiosity, and is we'll worth
visit. 1t is scrupuously clean, and the
bright, unique lightning producers ana
the fine, beautiful engines are very at
tractive.
There are seven engines and nine dy'
namos, from which wires lead to great
and wonderfully constructed switch board
This board is so constructed that the ope-
rator can tell from registers what lights
are burning in any part of the CITY. 1t is
so arranged, too, that the operator can
extinguish the lights on any one or all of
the streets, and this is wise provision.
For instance, fire breaks out on East
or West Sixth street, ard it may endanger
the electric wires, and shCu' they tumble
to the ground the arc light wires coming
in contact with any living thing would
cause instant death; but by the ar
rangement mentioned, at the very first
alarm of fire the electric current is cut off
from the wires in the danger district with
out interfering with the lights i'll other
parts of the city. There is also here a
delicate, ipgeniously arranged little in
strument which measures the volume
and force of the electric current, and in
dicates with uufailiug accuracy how many
incandescent or arc lights are burning.
In this room when the dynamos are
running there are many danger points.
That is there, are innocent, calm, seductive
looking wires leading from each dynamo,
that if you were to so much as touch,
death wonld be instantaneous, and as
painless as sudden. There would be no
fooling about it-no broken bones, no
cry for help, no breaking away, no strug-
gle to escape, no anything, a touch
would be cold, solid chunk
of death in the millionth part
of a second. OF course. these
danger points are vel guarded and, to
make sure, an iron railing fences visitors
off from the dynamos and no one is
allowed near them while they are in
motion.
AS said, the establishment is we'll worth
visit. 0It and the water works are some
thing TO be proud of. All the machinery
is the best and the finest made in the
world and Captain Mather has gentlemen
in charge as courteous to visitors as they
are skilled in the management of the
wonderful constructed appliances which
furnish the city with light and water.
The water works, with its two great
pumps, has capacity four-fold greater
than any other works in the state, and the
mileage of the mains and laternal pipes is
much greater than that of Dallas and
Fort Worth combined. The entire sys
tenn is perfect and satisfactory in every
way.
There are no such works in all the state.
There are none superior in all this broad
land, in city the size of Austin. They
are monument to the energy, enterprise
and vim of Captain Mather, but beil in
the nature of things public works, they
reflect honor on the Ell tire city. If Won
will go down there and take a look at the
works you will feel tier and think more
of your home.