The evening world., 1891-11-17
NOT RAIN ENOUGH
New York's Water Supply Is
Steadily Diminishing.
Twenty-four Hours Loss Of Depth
In the Reservoirs.
Ralnmaker Dyrenforth Declines
sThe Worlds Invitation.

The rainfall of the past twcnty-four hours
in the CrOton watershed has done very little
to improve the situation. The condition Of
AFFAIRS is said TO be just as alarming as ever,
and the water supply Of the city is slowly
but surely diminishing up to 8 O'Clock this
morning. nnly 2B-1OO OF an inch OF rain had
fallen IN this city and Its vicinity.
At Albany the rainfall during the same
period was only .O+ OF an inch. Striking an
average between the two is fair basis OF es-
timatng the amount OF rain over the whole OF
the Croton watershed, and II is easy to see
that the drought-threatcncd people OF New
York have very slight ground for encourage
ment.
Reports from some points In Westchester
aud Putnam Counties were received Mt COM
missioner Gilroy's Office this morning. They
were not calculated TO raise the hopes OF
those who believe In tho assurances Of the
Weather Bureau that rain enough is coming
| to give immediate relief
1t Is said that last weeks rain barely mois-
tened the parched ground and that 1t had no
pcrceptib!e effect upon the brooks that sup
ply the ponds and little lakes which form the
feeders for the Croton River and the big stor-
| age reservoirs.
| Yesterdays : drizzie did not help matters in
! the slightest, anu even the heavy shower
which occurred In this city shortly after mid
night scarcely amounted to anything up in
| the country.
| The decrease supply OF water which Is now
doed out to th, city BY commissioner Gilroy
has been followed by much privation, cs-
pecia!ly in the uptown districts, where the
ground Is high.
on Murray Ilill and along the nigh ground
west OF central Park, water will not now In
F.ff IN nFin
/ dli the water that IL used In the upper rooms
has to be carried up in pals. This has caused
no end " Inconvenience, not to say actual
suffering in many OF the large apartment
direct has been entirely depended upon.
TO show how the supply Is gradually
measurements or the depth OF water IN the
city reservoirs this morning rs compared
with yesterday, is appended:
Nor, IT, Nor. 10, sup.
New rs.erv'r in csnrl Park 81 * 50 50 II II ''y5 u
2a ,e.sIyoiT in Cent p,1i ss S8 sS
From this it appears that the first reservoir
has lost two inches, the second one foot three
inches and the last one foot one inch In the
last twenty-four lours.
There Is no inore water IN the Boyd's Corner
Storage Reservoir than there was yesterday,
ana IN Middle Branch Reservoir the level Is
six inches lower. Both OF these are practi-
cally empty, and the rising and falling OF the
level at the present time has little sgnii-
cance. n only shows that more or less water
Is running In he streams which supply them.
The reservoirs themselves have practically
been reduced to narrow streams, which now
along the channel In the centre, leaving great
mud banks exposed on either side. The same
Is true OF CrOtOn Lake.
The stream In BOyd's Corners reservoir Is
now 30 feet . inches below the level OF the
dam when the pond Is full. At Middle Branch
the water Is 81 feet Inches below higl.water
mark.
All tho streams together which 90 to make
up the supply which Is now flowing through
the new aqucduct do not furnish more than
+O,0O00OO gallons OF water day, which Is
just half OF What the city is now actually
using.
The suggestion has been made that O,OOO,-
900 gallons day might be drawn from Lake
Nah0pac. but this Is impossible, according to
Engineer Birdsall. The storage capacity OF
that lake has already been exhausted, and no
II ore water can be taken from II.
More than That, IL Is hardly as large as
either the Boyds corners or Middle Branch
Commissioner Gilroy's instructions to his
water meter inspectors are being vigorously
carried out to-day. Careful watch Is being
kept or the shipping. and the brewing and
manufacturing establishments OF the city
supervision IN order that wastefulness may
De checked
Many nncs have been imposed upon house.
holders who have violated The regulations OF
the department by using hose 10 clean the
sidewalks and windows.
Among the large users OF Croton water
who would be seriously affected by IA scant y
supply, are the Manhatta an Elevated Railroad,
the New York Steam Company and the arti-
fetal icemakerS. The Steam Company pays
and the elevated roads depend entirely upon
the Croton water for supplying boilers In
their shops and locomotives.
The Turkish and Roman bath people are
also greatly disturbed over the prospect OF u
, water famine. and II would 20 hard with
|, them II their supply was cut on
! Local ForeCasl.r Dunn still takes hopeful
view u the situation. Just before noon 10
:. We have had nearly n quarter OF au inch
OF rain since O'Clock this morning, which
makes In al more than half an inch for the
past twenty-four hours.
Z" II the rainfall was the same In all the
CrotOn watershed II would put billion gal-
Ions OF water into the reservoirs. Nearly all
the rain that falls there now Is clear gain Tor
, the storage reservoirs, FOR the ground Is well
soaked
~ think we shall have some more heavy
: rains during the day, ana especially IN the
I state when the cold wave when IL advance
Ing from the West strikes this part ot the
country. The rain viii not last long, but II
will be heavy while II continues,
+, "This has been the case ali through the
Mississippi Valley and In the lake region,
where from one toonc and half inches of
! rain have laicn. Two inches II rain here
would MI all the reservoirs to overnOwing."
! gen. H. q. Dyreniorth, The rainmakcr."
) has taken second thought, and has wired
from Washington dccllnall N NJ lHE
wOHLp'S proposal to pay the eNpcns 5 Of cN-
perimcnting with the Generals plan TO pre-
ducc rain, IN the nope OF thereby rcplcnishlng
the nearly emDly storage reservoirs OI the
city's water supply system.
The proposal had been previously accepted
by the General, and he had gone so lar as TO
forward estimates OF the cost, which he
4 nguicd at $1,000.
= The only reason stated by Gen, Dyrenforth h
: In Lis latest telegram was that an editorial In
1nF WORLD spoke OF his "thcOrirs," whereas
he declares that he has no theories
Returns received nom the CrOton water
shed nj noon to-day show that ~ ot an inch
. Of rain had fallen AT IrOton Dam up To 4
I o'clock A. ". Measurements at BOydS
: Corners reservoir at 1 p. N. yesterday showed
D rainfall OF .0S II an inch, ana at the Middle
Branch OF IL OF an inch.