Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-07-02
Comparison of the Proposed
Sewer Routes.

EDITORS HERALD: In CnlS lie, next 10
ones children, the offspring of ones
brain have place. 1t is therefore per-
fectly right and proper that Mr.. Eaton
should come to the front and defend his
scheme for the outfall sewer, the route
of which crosses the Centinela rancho.
AS he states that the owners OF that val
liable tract OF country no longer feel in
clined to advance their 100000 towards
the construction of an outfall sewer, by
means OF which they could fertilize an
area of 10 900 or more acres, it is evident
to the ordinary mind that the question
of taking that route is thus disposed of
by their action. And for that reason had
Mr.. Eaton seen fit to preserve silence, no
one would have accused him of not being
true to the plans which he prepared for
the Council and city, for which purpose
he was appointed and paid.
But as he has seen fit to grant a
HERALD reporter an interview, and as the
ideas therein advanced appear to have
been carefully collected for presentation
to the public, it may not be amiss to say
a word in answer, to show that if the
Council should adopt another route
which should be approved by the Mayor,
it would not be acting unwisely.
The scheme of Mr.. Eaton proposes to
give the sewage to the owners of the
Centinela ranches, and when they do
not need it, to convey it to the ocean, in
consideration of those gentlemen advanc-
ing 100000 towards the cost of the out
fall sewer. To this end he is forced to en-
ploy tunnels the joint length of which must
be about two miles. His estimate for the
outfall sewer is $466,154 This may be
assumed as minimum, and is undoubt-
edly his conscientious belief of what it
should not exceed. But estimates at best
are approximative, and no one knows
when he undertakes piece of tunnel
work whether he will make or lose
money. Test pits may be sunk to grade
at short distances apart, and yet the in
tervening spaces may show altogether
different conditions below the surface.
Therefore it is fair to conclude that the
actual cost of the driving of the tunnels
as proposed by Mr.. Eaton, would far ex.
ceed his estimates. Engineers figure in
one way, contractors in another-the
former for their employers-the latter
for themselves.
1t has always in the past been the rule
with American engineers to avoid diff.
cult ties-not to drive tunnel, for in
stance, when it was not necessary so to
do, thus avoiding extra expense and cost
of maintaining in the future. Why
should not that rule hold in this case?
Again, if the city adopt either a route
to some slough on the Dominguez rancho
or to some point on the Ballona rancho,
it may by management make the sewage
matter at least pay the cost of keeping up
the sewer system. AS the country de-
velops it may even become a source CT
revenue and enable the city to increase
the capacity with it's growth in popu-
lation. would ask Mr.. Eaton if this
would not be better state of facts than
paying interest on his estimate for the
outfall sewer via the Centinela rancho
for the pleasure OF giving the sewage
matter to the owners thereof. Had those
gentlemen the true appreciation of its
value-Mr. Eaton, by the way, says that
the sewage matter of city of 200 900
could fertilize 10000 acres and make the
orange crop worth 100000 per an
mum, and they would have come forward
and offered to take charge of the sewage
matter at the city boundary in lieu of ask
ing the city to expend 1866, 900 to make
them richer. An area of 10000 acres
brought under irrigation could we'll pay
tax of $50 per acre. But if they
can forego the attendant advantages
it is yet within the boundary of proba-
bility that the city will survive and even
take care of the matter in question.
AS regards the route via Ballona, it
may be said that all the work will be in
the open air. Any school boy can figure
out how deep and how wide q trench
would be required for pipe of thirty or
forty-two inches in diameter, and know
ing the number of cubic yards in ten feet
Of such q trench he can then calculate