The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-02-19
TIE oIsTRRNs NECESSARY.
The superintendent Of the Water
WORKS Opposes Filling Them Up.

Works Opposes Fillin9 Them Up.
1t is hardly probable that the old fire
cisterus were talked Of by as many people
when the cisterns were in process of con
struetion as now when they have been
virtually abandoned. The city was small
in those days. and while the older citizens
looked upon the fire cisterns as a great de-
1 slderatuDn, and tha editors of that day wrote
/ ponder7us editorials to prove Their utility in
case Of fire, they could have hardly dreamed
Of day when the community could divide
I on proposition to fill the clsterns UP as
/ cumberers Of the ground and unsauitary
factors which had outlived their usefulness
! Supt Miller, of the water works is de
/ cideily opposed to removing the ancient
| landmarks which the fathers set The
/ superintendent says that the cisterns were
an important part Of the old Savannah fire
| department, and we're under the control
/ and care OF the committee on fire, VIII oh
| looked after all needed repairs to the cis-
/ terms and also saw to it that thew we're well
supplied with water. Measurements were
taken in all the wells on the last Friday Of
each month, and report Of the measure
ment was made by the fire committee to
the city council. The base Of the arch in
the cistern was the high water
limit. If any well was found deficient
in supply resort was had TO contiguous
wells to meet the deficiency, aDd in some
cases a Are engine from the river was or
dersd to do the work. and after fire, if the
cisterns had been partially emptied, they
were retilled from the river. The work
was slow, for the water was pumped into
one Of the cisterns nearest to the river, and
from that cistern into the uext, and so on
until all wer@ filed. 1t thus happened that
while fire might be subdued in from three
to five hours by the slow and laborious sys-
TEN of rehlling the cisterns, it would re-
qulre twelve hours to replace the water in
the cisternS pumped from. In such cases,
as soon as cOnhagration had been sub
dued, the work of refilling the csterns was
Immediately begun.
Supt. Miller says that there was a cistern
in each Of the old squares, and one directly
in the center of the then market building,
which is now probably filled up, and in
which the drainage and washings of the
building were received.
The capacity of the csterns range from
$500 gallons to 5000 gallons. They were
the safeguards Of the city from conf agra-
tions up to the year 1854, the water works
wing been built at that date. Supt. Mil
Ter SAID, that to his knowledge none Of the
cisterns have been emptied since the adOp-
ton of the water works system thirtY-fiVe
years ago, but that during the time when
they were in use, the cOndults from the
wells were kept in order, and the waste
slOppage was delivered TO the cisterns, be-
ing sufficient to make good leakage and
evaporation.
Referring to the proposition to fill these
fire cisterns up Supt Miller says: "To en-
tirely discard tIem, relying wholly upon
the water works, would be dangerous.
There is only one main, which is two miles
IN length, conducting the water supply
from the water works to the city Should
an injury occur to our pumping engines,
or to this main, requiring days or even
hours to repair, the city would be, in the
meantime, in a sad predicament for water,
and could be relieved only by drawing upon
the Savannah river. In case of fire the
river could be relied upon only as far south
as BrOughton street with the addition
of probably 1900 or 5000 feet of hose, but
the remaiuing portion Of the city would be
without water for any aud all purposes
until the repairs were Completed
DO you anticipate any danger of break
down at the water worksp'
Not that Our pumping engines are in
good condition with slight danger of seri-
GUS injury. One will deliver 100000 gal
| Ions of water in twenty-four hours. with
reliability and without danger of injury.
The other can be relied upon for 5, 500 900
gallons, driven at high speed, which occa-
slons frequent but slight repairs, and delays
]
Then. where is tho apprehended danger
| that leads you to urge the retention of the
cisternsr
The greatest risk" replied Supt Miller,
lis i'll our only conducting 24-inch main
from the water works to the Ogeechee
canals western bank. The strength of this
main as to pressure has been proven on sew
eral occasions since it has been in use. 1t
was originally of great strength, and under
the inspection Of an expert employed by
the city, wlthstood pressure at the factory
OF 800 pounds to the square inch, and is now
resisting a pressure of fiftv-five pounds, meas
ured at a depth of feet below the bottom
OF the canal which it crosses, and having
been in service eight years. and ninety
pounds pressure put on it for a few hou 5,
it may reasonably be considered beyond the
danger of ordinary casualties. But after
leaving the canal going toward the water
works the main passes under warehouse No.
L OF the ocean steamship wharveS Be.
tween Musg1ove creek and the water works
it is crossed by several railroad
tracks over which heavy trains are
transported. In one place where the
track crosses trestle the upper surface Of
the main over Musgrove Greek is but six
teen inches below the face of the track
Should the train at any time in passing
leave the track at this point it would carry
away our main without doubt aud inflict a
damage which would reqlire days to re-
pair. Should there be conflagration at
warehouse No. /, and the eastern and west
ern walls fall outwardly. 1t would cause a
fracture Of the man. After crossing Mus
grove creek the main is laid toward the
water works in soft ground, just below
| the surface. The railroad crosses
it in several places, over which heavy
trains are transported day aud night and in
this passage to and fro 1T is using the
main to sink with the pressure, aud rebound
when relieved. This Of course weakens the
main daily, and endangers it in time. These
are the dangers which might prevent, at
any time, the delivery of water to the city
by the water works, and this is WHY | do
not deem it advisable to fill up the fire els
terms, as they can be readily pumped dry
and retilled once a month at a small ex-
pense, and the connecting wells in the
squares left for present usen
UNSOuND MEAT CONDEMNpn