Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-07-21
THE CABLE FILTER.
A Misrepresentation as to the Ac.
tual Facts.
why the Filter is not Raining Now
The Pumps that Have Been Tried
-Anothsr Experiment..

The following appeared in the Moline
Dispatch of Saturday evening":
Considerable curiosity is manifested in
Rock Island about the Cable filter that
was to give the city pure clear water. A
cursory inspection OF the water of Rock
Island that is supposed to pass through
the filter would show it to be at least
equal in thickness and color TO Moline
water that goes into the pipes direct from
the river without being filtered. We have
been looking with some degree of curiosl-
ty at the Rock Island papers 10 see il
they contained anything about the spark
ling streams that flow from the water
pipes of that city but they have not con-
tanned hint of it, and it may as well be
said that the Cable filter is complete
failure
We beg our friends not to consider this
statement in tie light of slur either on
Mr. Gable or the city of Rock Island. but
simply as an illustration of the failure OF
the attempt to filter river water on a
large scale. 1t may be that the Daven
port filter will last sometime, but we be-
lieve that it will finally fail as the Cable
filter has done Tue way to have pure,
clean water is not take dirty water and
filter it, but to get water that is clean
from the beginning. Pure water comes,
and comes only from deep down in the
earth. When Moline wants water that
is pure and healthful it must go down
after it. A thousand feet below
the surface of Moline there is
water that if brought up and use d
would be detrimental only to physicians
and drug stores, while on the surface
there is 10 pure water. The analysis of
the two srtesian wells here, at the paper
mill and Prospect park, show them to be
the best kind of water. Such well on
the bluff would furnish water for the city
of the best quality at less expense than II
| is nov getting water from the Mississippi
With the failure of the Gable filter and
| the prac,ica demonstration that it is not
safe TO depend on any such device for
getting pure wster our people should
wake up to the necessity of getting srte-
sian water.
The truth Of the matter is the Cable
filter has not been running since
May 20. As will be remembered the
filter was first put in operation
April 10. a Hooker pump was
first used, but after running five
weeks it gave out, being too small for
the work. AS far Is the filters ere con
cerned they are a marked success, the
only difficulty is that the pump was not
strong enough to supply them in the first
place, and the consumption has increased
so since the filters were put in that sc
cording to Superintendent Murrin's idea
their capacity will have to be increased.
When Mr.. Gable first figured on
the filters" said Mr.. Murrin
this morning land he investigated
a number of different makes of filters, he
was assured that one adequate for all
purposes of the city could be secured for
$4,000. After deciding upon the Jewell
filter. however. he saw that it would take
better plan than the ore first con-
templated. and rather than have it prove
failure he ordered the three filter sys-
TEN. costing him SIS. 900. Our pump
ing capacity was then 1000, 600 gallons
in "a hours. Mr.. Jewell guaranteed that
the filters he would put il would filter
this water nicely, sad they did,
but the first pump gave out after
running five weeks. We shut down
May % and have not been running the
filter since. Mr.. Jewell afterwsrd tried
vacuum pump, but it was not successful;
the lit was too much for it. Now Mr.
Jewell proposes to try centrifugal pump
bat hardly think it will work, either.
The Hooker pump lifted 700 900 gall
Ions in "a hours while it lasted, but soon
wore out. But since then. too, the con.
sumption Of water has increased The
power house. for instance, takes 5000
gallons day, while we also
have 100 new private consumers. Mr.
Jewell at one time suggested that the
city put in an additions! filter, but Mr..
Jewell has written Mr.. Cable on the sub
ject. and he replied that he hoped the
city would not interfere until his return
have no doubt that Mr.. Cable has sup
posed until recently that the filter was
running all right"
THE ARGUS knows from a conversation
representative of this paper heard be
tween Mr.. Gable and Mr.. Jewell in Mr..
Cables house New Years night. that Mr..
Cable was assured the filters would do
their work satisfactorily. II they don't
Mr. Cable will see that they do.
The only complexion powder in the
world that ia without yulparity. without