The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1890-01-26
WORK AT RHQUNNOCK.
The East jersey Water Com
pany Pushing Work on
Its Reservoir.
AIDED BY THE FINE WEATHER.
The Mystery of the Newark System
Reyealed--A Jersey City
Pointer.

of incalcnIabie advantage to the East
Jersey Water Company, which is to
furnish Newark with new water
supply. 1t has permitted the prosecu-
ton of work which was not contem-
plated until spring. The big corps of
engineers and surveyors, with an Office
at Paterson, has completed fully one
half of the work, and the woods of
Passaic county are full Of chainmen,
rodmen, axmen and levelmen working
cross sections and laying out reser-
voirs and pipe lines.
A new road, and an admirable one
has been built around the location of
the main storage reservoir, near Oak
Ridge, to take the place of a county
road which crosses the site of the big
pond yet to be created. Hundreds Of
men are clearing away the trees from
the valleys and hillsides, and foremen,
gangbosses and superintendent are
fitting hither and thither giving
orders and seeing that they are exc
cuted
NEWARK INSPECTION.
Last Monday Superintendent Gray,
Commissioner Wismer and Kuhn and
Engineer Jacobsen visited large part
out from Butler. They travelled
nearly thirty miles in a spring wagon,
and got back to Butler ut night after
visiting all of the works but the Gin
ton reservoir, which is two or three
miles from the route, which closely
follows the Pequannock river. They
were all day on the road, and took
lunch in the wagon, not wasting any
time at hotels.
RESERVOIRS AND INTAKES.
The lay of the land and the sites of
the new reservoirs will be understood
il the reader will take sheet No 4 of
the new Geological Survey of New
Jersey and follow the Pompton river
from Bloomingdale west to a point
half way between Smith Mills and
Charlottesburg ne will find a COM
parativeiy level valley just below the
point where the outlet of Echo Lake
joins the river. Here the railroad
parallels the river on the south, and
on the north the hill slopes up gently.
At this point the distributing re-
servoir will be located, and it will be
nearly half mile in length and a
quarter of a mile or more in width
with the Pequannock river running
through it. Here large force of men
is working and effectually changing
the face of nature by cutting down
trees, blasting rocks and grubbing
stumps. The steam drills are putting
away at the site of the dam and sur
veyors are to be seen taking levels
and measurements in every direction.
Below the dam the surveyors are
stalking out the line for the conduit to
convey the water to Newark The
public road at this point is being
diverted to a point higher up the
hillside.
The distributing reservoir is so stu
ated that it will take the overflow
from Echo Lake, 800 acres, as well as
the generous supply from the Pc
quannock River and all of its tribu-
taries above the dam. Turning to the
map again, the reader will find at New
Foundland a strong brook running
into the river from the north. 1t
courses down through the meadows
back OF John p. Browns hotel. and
his guests of former years regarded it
as one of the finest trout streams in
New Jersey. 1t is known as Moss
mans brook, and it drains three ponds
Of the following dimensions Hawks.
rs acres; Buckabear, 50 acres, and
Cedar, SO acres. AT Clinton. on this
brook, there is natural waterfall of
great beauty. and Just above this fall
a second reservoir is being laid out. 1t
viii be over a mile in length and half
mile in width.
THE MAIN RESERVOIR
Going back to the Pequannock and
following its course to a point mile
and an eighth southwest. of Oak
Ridge where the road crosses the river
the reader will see the site of the dam
Of the main reservoir; within sight of
the bridge the river turns and takes a
course directly north for two miles to
Wallace Corner. Itruns in gently
sloping valley from one-half to three
quarters of a mile wide, at a minimum
elevation of 800 feet above tide, and is
confined on the west and north by
mountains of from / 100 to 1900 feet
in altitude, and on the east by noun.
tains $50 feet above the sea This
basin is now being cleared of trees and
will be converted into the main reser-
voir of the system.
1t will make lake almost as large
as Green pond, which covers $50 acres.
This reservoir will receive contribu-
tions from Bunker pend as well as
FROM the Pequannock River. and at
some future day bunker pond may
easily be converted into another biz
storage reservoir by damming the gap
between the mountains at the foot of
the pond and making an artificial lake
a mile or more in length. half a mile
wide and 100 feet deep if necessary.
The river above Bloomingdale or
Butler is q crystal stream with a rapid
and turbulent current In ten miles
it falls 400 feet and at the intake
which is to be some distance below
the Macopin distributing reservoir.
the bed OF the stream is at least 400
feet above tide and nearly 200 feet
above the highest ground in Newark,
consequently the water will be deIiv-
cred under good head by gravity.
/ How the water is to be brought into
Newark has not yet been discovered
but it seems that unless the pipes 20
around the mountain by way of
Paterson or tunnel under the noun
tain somewhere, they must be brought
over an elevation of $50 feet at Great
Notch, the lowest point of the Orange
range of hills.