The Press., 1889-08-15
HOW TO. BUILD A SAFE DAM.

thousand years have been, in all essential particulars, like thatat Conemaugh. Where, then, was the trouble? In the construction Fof the, dam there was total neglect to consider the first and fundamental prob lem-the duty the dam was required to perform. The works were not properly related to the natural conditions, and so a lake was made at Conemaugh which was for long time g menace to the people below, and at last swept them to de- strction. When the construction of such a dam is proposed, the first thing to be done is to determine the amount of water to be controlled and the rate at which it will be delivered to the reservoir under maximum conditions of rainfall or snow-melting. The proper method of procedure is to determine, first, the area of the drainage basin SUD- plying the reservoir second, the decliyi- tles of the supplying basin. The very first thing. then, is g topographic survey. The second need is hydrographic survey. The precipitation in rain and snow over the basin must be determined as an average from year to year, and also the maximum precipitation at the times of great food. This must be supplemented by the gaug- volumes and maximum volumes. All these
 
 the construction. of safe and efficient sys- tenn by making mountain lakes. Before a reservoir dam is constructed, it is of prime importance to determine what will be re- quired of it. With these facts ascertained the engineer can easily plan works ade- quate to control the forces involved he can readily determine how much water he can store, and what waste-way will be nec- essary to discharge the snrpluss The art of dam constructing is quite within the grasp of every intelligent engineer. In the case of solid masonry dams, the waste-way is over the whole surface of the dam, as at the Great Falls of the Potomac, where g dam has been constructed to divert the water into the reservoirs that supply Wash ington. But masonry dams are few earth dams, and those related to them, are many, and, with these special waste-ways must be provided adequate to meet all possible emergencies The rules for their construc- tion are well known, and have been known for ten centuries. j. In American engineer ing, that which has been most neglected is a precise determination of the duty of the dam, the conditions which it must fulfill or else be destroyed. " 1' .'' .
 Hartford Courant An incident occur red on an afternoon train on on the Con- solidated road the other day that ought to have found its way. in print before this. It has numerous lessons. Among the pas- sengers were three sweet and quiet Sisters of Charity in their characteristic dress. A drunken man, very drunk and annoying, entered the car and sat down beside one |of them. He talked consistently, drank from big bottle that he carried, and final ly stuck his disagreeable face repeatedly into the long bonnet of the sister in a most insulting way. She was evidently much frightened. The conductor had al- ready been told of the mans conduct, but did nothlg. The other passengers, in true passenger fashion, sat and looked on. No man stirred. Finally, woman, white as sheet, and full of suppressed indigna- ton, got up from her seat and went to the rescue. She grabbed the fellows bottle, wrested it from his hands, and flung it out of the window, and she took hold of him, and, after lively and unassisted struggle, got him out of the seat. s'I,m no Roman Catholic" she said, excitedly, to the spec tators, s'but can't sit still and see Sis ter of Charity insulted." sr The English sparrow is not the only. ina pprtation that troubles the people of Ro- chester. A German scientist of that city recently imported number of large white worms from his native land, and they have multiplied to so great an extend that they have become 8 menace to the trees and shrubbery of the city. This sort of a ''aiet of worms" is not exactly what the Rochester folks most admire. There are certainly enough pests which are indi- |gsnous without importing any new varie- ties. i, If any other German scientist has a Tfayorite worm let him go back to Germany and enjoy it.
 The controversy between President Green of the Western Union and Postmaster Gen. eral Wanamaker continues. The former has replied to the Iatter's letter at great length, and retires from his original posi- ton that the government never. gave the company anything that the company took advantage of, to an acknowledgement that if the government did give it anything, it gave what cost it nothing, and consequent ly the company is not beholden to the gov.