St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-12-12
THE OTHER SIDE NOW.
Worthington People Take n Hand
in the Pump Investigation.

in the Pump Investigation.
The WOrthingtOn company is now
about to take a hand in the investiga-
ton of the state of affairs at the North
side pumping station. Capt. Farr,
representative of that concern, arrived
in the city few days ago, and has Oh
tanned PERMISSION of the commission to
bring ont the Worthington side of the
story, and from present indications il
would appear that the investigation has
begun all over again.
The first witness placed upon the
stand at the session yesterday morning
was Thomas r. Chowen, of the West
side station. He stated that he had
helped put in the No. pump in 1871.
and had worked for the city for twelve
years past.
lie had worked at the North side sta
ton helping to line up and repair the
No. l pump.
81 don't think the pumps are very
economical" he said, in reply TO a ques-
ton from Aid. Hunter. IF il was left
to my Judgment, by no means would /
put that kind of pump in direct pres
sure SYSTEM
Asked what course he would advise
under the present conditions at the
North side station he said that the only
way to remedy the pump now was to
cut the capacity down to a twenty eight
or twenty-nine-inch plunger, as expert
ence had shown that the pump was liza
bic to hit her heads pretty hard and
knock them out.
In speaking of the West side station
he said: "If | was down there now |
could have every pump running in fif-
teen minutes. The steam plant is IN
UnOH
that the North side station, when COM
pleted, would render the West side plant
useless, and it was not deemed neces-
sary to keep the steam plant in order at
a great expense"
James Il. Fair'7eather. a fireman at
the upper river station, was next called
and stated that the pumps had always
been in charge of an engineer. Later
on he said that the engineer on watch
had not always been there. II can re-
member of two or three times when he
was absent from two to five hours.
Nothing happened to the pumps then.
There were no engineers in the build
ngS az these timeS.''
He explained that when the engineers
were away of course the fireman and
oiler were in charge.
As soon as this witness had been re-
leased. Capt, Tarr, the WorthIngtOn
representative, arose and spoke as fol-
lows: Il have received permission
from you to subpoena such witnesses as
l deem advisable TO present our side of
this matter. l shall endeavOr to apply
myself as closely to the matters in ques-
ton as possible. and shall be as concise,
definite and convincing as | can. l
shall endeayOr to meet you i'm as cour-
teOus way as you met NE. We have a
witness hnVp today EDuiunar Of
the SiXty-eighth street pumping station
in Chicago, whom we would like TO tes-
tify. The WOrthington pump is exactly
the same size. The system is direct, as
yours is here. and the conditions are
about the same; therefore we have Sc
cured Mr.. Parker to come up here"
Aid. Hunter objected to this last
clause of Mr.. Parker's testimony, but
Capt. Tarr insisted that it was impOr-
tant in view of certain facts which he
proposed to prove. Aid. BradiSh sus-
tanned Capt. Tarr.
Capt. Tarr claimed that he should be
allowed to show what would result if 4
pump were left to men who were not
licensed engineers and not competent to
run an engine. If he could establish
this point he would prove that the fault
did not lay entirely in the pumps.
4. .. Parker was then allowed to be
sworn as a witness. He stated that
there was at his station in Chicago a
1900, C00-gallOn high-duty pumping en-
glne of the Worthngton make. They
never had any accidents, and there had
been no breakage of rods or cOmpenSat-
ing cylinders. or, in fact, of any other
portions of the engine. He further
stated that the high duty attachment
saved 30 per cent in the cost of fuel. ana
that he considered the Worthington
pumps equal to fly-wheel high-duty ma
chimes in regard to economy of coal. He
said he did rot consider it proper that
an engineer should leave his engines
while he was on duty.
After some discussion Capt. Tarr
was allowed to proceed with his Ques-
tons to Mr.. Parker. He stated that in
Chicago much better results had been
secured from a thiTty-siX-inch main
than from smaller one.
Questioned by Aid. Rollins, Mr.. Par
ker said that the employees in Chicago
were under the direction of the CITY en-
gineer, and were not subject to orders
of men who laid the pipes in the street.
The pressure was reduced at one time
to zero by break in the main and the