The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-11-14
THE CITY'S DRAINAGE.
THE WORK OF THE DRY CULTURE
DEPARTMENT IN NINE MONTHS.

eastern Part of the City Reclaim ed.
The Bilbo Canal Being Dug Out and
Much of the Water Which Used TO
Flow Into It Turned Back to the
Casey Canal-A Splendid System of
Drainage on Springfield Plantation.
The Work to Be Kept Within the
Budget.
The dry culture department of the city
government has done good deal Of excel
lent work In the last nine months. The
work has not been in parts OF the city
where people can see 1t and has gone on
quietly. The improvement in the sanitary
condition Of Savannah, which necessarily
follows, will be great.
The most important work has been done
In the southeastern part Of the city across
the Savannah, Florida and Western rail-
way tracks, from Gwinnett to Anderson
streets. The lands In that section, which
were low and always filed with water,
have been reclaimed and opened up. The
natural course of the waters in that section
was north into Bilbo canal, but by a thor-
ough system of bitches and drains it has
been turned into the Casey canal and away
from Savannah.
OLD WORKS REPAIRED.
The old jackson street ditch through the
Hull property, which has been worthless for
several years because of its being filled up,
has been dug out to depth OF from one and
half to four feet, aud drain pipe has
been put In, which turns the water south
ward into the Sixth street sewer ditch, from
whence it flows rapidly into the Casey canal,
The Reynolds street ditch has been treated
in a similar manner, and box drain 800
feet long has been attached and covered
over. 1t likewise flows into the Sixth street
sewer. The work on these two bitches alone
is an improvement. The Hull and the Chat
ham Real Estate and Improvement Com
pany properties, which even In dry weather
were nearly always covered with several
inches of water, have been entirely drained,
and the heaviest rains leave no water be-
hind them.
Along both sides of Anderson street new
bitches have been dug, which carry the
water into spur sewer emptying into the
jackson street ditch. This street used to be
almost impossible from water nearly the
entire year, but now it is in as good condi-
ton as any OF the streets in the city proper.
DIGGING OUT BILBo CANAL.
A big force Of hands was put to work
digging out the Bilbo canal from Gwinnett
street TO the river. They have reached the
crossing of the Thunderbolt road, and
| thrown up immense quantities Of mud and
all sorts of distractions, which have pre-
vented the proper flow Of the
waters for several months. causing
unpleasant and unhealthy odors to be
waited into the city. Nothing could be
| done to relieve this during the sumner
months beyond the dumping in of lime and
other disinfectants. The drainage depart
ment has now taken mold of the. matter in
| earnest and proposes to have the canal ex-
cavated and graded in such manner as to
prevent If possible any recurrence of the
troubles of the last few years.
| DRAINAGE WEST OF THE CITY.
On the western side of the city excellent
work has been done in draining Springfield
| plantation. The three bitches running
north and south have been deepened and
| graded and small drains have been cut
into them from the lowest parts Of the
| tract. These bitches and drains run into
| what is known as the Hog2 sewer, Just west
of the Ogeechee canal This sewer runs
under the bed Of the canal and across to
| the river, emptying at the Central railroad
| wharves. A MORNING NEWS reporter
visited the place yesterday, and despite the
heavy rains of a few days ago found no
water lying on the northern portion of
| Springfield, which several months ago was
| little less than O swamp The bitches and
drains are in q splendid condition, and the
water flows through them without a parti-
Gle Of trouble, the bottoms being of hard
clay.
| SEWERS CLoGGED UP.
The Screven sewer which runs under
West Boundary street, from above the canal
bridge to the river, is undergoing a
thorough cleaning out The sewer oon-
| meets with the Springfield ditch, commenc-
| ing at what Is known as the back dam.
| Some time ago it was noticed that the water
instead of flowing through the sewer was
backing up on the lands. A 12-inch pipe
was placed in the sand trap at the mouth of
the sewer and the water turned back into a
side ditch emptying into the
Hogg sewer. Then the trap was
| pumped out and, to the sur
prise of the engineers, was found to have
almost entirely filled the mouth of the
sewer. The nanholes along West Bound
airy street were opened and they were found
to be in almost as bad condition respecting
| the choking as the mouth of the sewer was.
A SLOW WORK.
| A force Of colored men was put 10 work
excavating, and found it necessary to crawl
threw the sewer on their hands and knees
| from one manhole to the other, digging
as they went to get the sand obstruc-
ton out. 1t was big job,
but a necessary one. The work is
nearly completed and the sewer will be all
right in few days. The sand trap has
been 80 reconstructed that no sand of any
consequence will be allowed to pass into the
| sewer.
Besides the work done in the city the dry
culture department. has had six miles Of
bitches constructed on Hutchinson's Island
| WILL HAVE MONEY LEFT.
The department has kept within the bud
| get appropriation in making its improve
ments, and will have money left over at the
| end of the year. Alderman Haines was
chairman of the drainage committee until
the last meeting of council, and it was I'M
der his management that the work was car
ried on. 1t is certainly a credit to him
| Alderman Carson succeeds Alderman Haiues
as chairman of the committee, and as he is
an enthusiast on the subject of drainage,
the sanitary interests Of the city will be in
good hands.
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