The herald., 1893-05-01
| THE OUTFtLL SEWER WORK.
A Work of Which the Angel
City Should Be Proud,
How the Filth Of A Great City Goes
Down to the Sea.
The Big runneis in Maokay and Young e
Contract-Frick's Long Brick
Conduit-The Barrel Work
of Mansfield & Co.

The outfall sewer of Los Angeles is a
work In which every citizen and tax
payer feels deep personal interest be-
cause 1t is the only means by which Los
Angeles can become a large manufactur-
ing city without risking her prestige as
health resort. Hence it was that a
reporter was detailed by the HERALD, a
day or two ago, to make a minute ex-
animation as to what work was now in
progress, together with what Ia about to
be opened up during this coming week.
The first work examined was on Sec
tions 5 and 8, wkich begin at the edge
of email crescent-shaped lake about
200 yards east Of Centinella station on
the Santa Fe road. The contract was
let to F. O. Young and Capt. A. E.
Mackay, the latter OF whom welcomed
the reporter at the headquarters' cabin
OF their work. Yonng & Mackay have
on their pay rolls about ITO men who
work day and night in ''ahifts" of eight
hours each. The little donkey engines
which hoist up the earth out OF these
shafts never are suffered to cool off ex-
cept on Saturday night.
Beginning at the little lake aforesaid,
the fret and longest tunnel runs in
mainly west direction for distance of
1850 feet, until it strikes a small ravine
just south of the "office tent" and about
a half mile southeast of Mr. Freeman's
residence. Here is an open cut of "a
feet in depth and about 550 feet in
length, after which another tunnel OF
1900 feet is reached, and much longer
but not so deep under ground. To pre-
vent a deviation of the course of the
work, an extra shaft OF 40 feet in depth
has been sunk. The first shaft is 12xl4
feet for the first 20 feet, and then 8x8
for the remaining SO feet. This is oper-
ated with q car like those In use in Vir-
ginia City, run by wire cable over a
poppet head derrick. The engineers
trial shaft is operated by two mules and
boom derrick, bucket being used in
stead of cars. The third shaft, which is
1850 feet from the first, ia also operated
with bucket and boom derrick, save
that steam is used instead of mule
power.
Day and night the work goes on with
ceaseese swing Of the pick while dozen
candles flicker through the gloom like
stars on winters night. The click of
the picks into the soil was incessant and
they soon require sharpening anew for
the gravel is very hard and sharp. But
all these evils have their good side for
this finty sand, when mixed with Port
land cement 10 going to make the finest
article of concrete ever seen. Mr.. Camp
bell iB time-keepe on this work and Mr..
Vincent is the city's representative in
the engineering work.
A drive through the pretty but half
deserted streets of Ingewood, brought
the exploring party to the open plain.
On through waving fields OF barley and
oats, nearly up to level with the bed
Of the carriage. Collins trotted his big
team of mares at q spanking pace and it
was not quite O'clock when the party
alighted at "Fricktown," as the camp
OF Frick Bros. is called. This is on Sec
tion and contains no tunnel but as
heavy piece of work in the way of an
open cut ae one ever saw. The most
profitable way of handling earth is with
q steam paddy, which is here wholly inn
practicable; next comes Ecraping with
two horse road scrapers; third ie casting
out with long-handled shovels; fourth,
ehoveling into dump carts fifth, shovel
ing into loose-bottom wagons; and least
Of all, shoveliug into hand-barrowsl No
contractor ever calculates to make any
money where he is obliged to use bar
rows.
Some of this cut in Friclx's work was
is feet in depth, and instead of slop-
ing the cut at the rate OF one and one
half TO one (Which would make o Is
foot cut "a feet wide at the top, they
dig down the walls perpendicular at a
width of IL feet and then brace them up
at short intervals with beards held
apart with horizontal jack screws. To
depth of 10 feet this earth had been
scraped out with scraper teams, but be-
low that the long handled shovel was
the only resource. So at intervals all
! along this cut which is nearly mile in
length, there were men standing on
scaffolds made like troughs, into which
man ehovelled earth from the bottom
of the cut, and the man on top cast it
out again and threw it upon the earth'f
surface.
Tha. brick work on this portion oi
Frick's contract ie hardly one-fifth com
pleted. but the mortar beds are lest
than 80 feet apart, and the air is darh
with the dust arieing from teams en-.
gagged in hauling the bricks from Mr.
Freeman's mill at the Centenela station
where they are turned out about as fas
as one could shell green peas. Th'
Frlck brother6 nave q large nuinpoI
men employed in one way or another
certainly not less than 200 in ell as ten
ants, labcrers and bricklayers, but the,
do no work at night. AS soon as they
finish ON section seven, where they ar
now engaged, they will trsnsfer to sec
: ton 8, the intervening section beinl
, under contract to Hughes &sMayer, VIII
have also the contract for section 10.
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