San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-06-28
ghe Daily eight.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE IS, 1898.
The City Engineer Explains About
Technical Advisors.
SAN ANTONIO, June q, 1898.


/ noticed in yesterdays issue of
YOUR paper an article headed "Who
are Mayor Paschal's Technical Adj
visors?" in which article are sew
eral questions asked as follows:
What will system of sewerage
and water works cost?
Why do Mayor Paschals techni-
cal experts and advisors not come
forward with a detailed statement
as to the number of miles of
sewers, which can be put down for
100000?
What is his system?
Why does the city engineers
office not come forward with a de-
tailed statement?
Now allow me to ask this ques-
ton; What is the question before
the people? Is it to vote for $780,
600 or $l,000,0O0 for a system of
sewerage and water works? Evil
IDENTIFY the engineer who wrote the
article referred to does not know,
so | will refer him to the election
proclamation, viz:
"Shall the city Of San Antonio
borrow twenty-five thousand dol
lars and issue bonds therefore, the
proceeds of said bonds to be used
for "preliminary" work in secur-
ing complete system of sewerage
and water works to be owned by
the city of San Antonio?
Had Mayor Paschal thought it
not necessary to have any prelimi-
nary work done, before starting to
put down a system of sewerage
and water works, he would evident
ly have asked for 81, 100000 at the
very outset and commenced work
Immediately; but he has not done
so and why? Because he first
wanted to know what it would cost
to put down such systems in order
to ask for the exact amount need
ed.
There is no Engineer who would
attempt to say just the exact
amount it will cost to put down
system of sewerage and water
works in our city. There is great
y
before we can derive at anything
definite. The number or miles of the
streets will have to be aScertained
on which sewers and water mains
are 70 b. laid. The size of said
pipes. which will have to be of a
size according to the present and
prospective populations. A perfect
system of drainage will have to be
established, in order to ascertain
at what depth the sewers will have
to be laid, what lines will be self
cleansing, and what lines will re-
Quire flushing, and consequently,
the number of flush tanks re-
quired.
| wish to state that considerable
of this work has been done in the
past few years; grade maps have
been made of all the fiat portions
of the city, and ! desire to say that
there is no portion of our city that
can not be drained with surface
drainage.
Where is there another city in
world that has the natural advan-
tages that our city has for surface
drainage-the river winding all
through the city on one side, with
the San Pedro and AlaZan creeks
on the other?
After different grades have been
established for the different lines
of sewers, we next decide on the
number of man-hOles and lamp
holes that are necessary, the num-
Der of which depends largely On
the changes in grade and lines of
your sewers.
There are several things that
can be estimated with correct re-
suits, and one of which is a water
work system. In laying water
mains, it is an easy matter to de-
eide on the depth they will nave
to be laid, so we can then calculate
the amount of excavation, the
amount of lead required, the mum.
Der of hydrants, the size of pipe
and how far the different size pipes
or mains will reach per ton and
the cost of mains per ton delivered
in San Antonio, which costs have
appeared in almost every issue Of
the different papers since the ques.
ton of sewerage and waterworks
have been before the people.
With the perfect system of sur
face drainage we will have, wher
our streets are graded in accor
dance with the grades as now es
tablished, it would be fully tC
think of putting down a combined
system of sewerage in our city, thu
cost would be form times that o
a SeDeratn system with q SpnaratI