The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1895-07-29
TESTING THE PUMPS.
Councilman Spend a Day ms pecting
at Davis Run.
WITH NO DEFINITE RESULT
ihn.and Without the
Operations WIFI
CoDdensers Attached C
Pumps Leave a Question -
Undecided.
NO DEFINITE RESULT

At eight o'clock yesterday morning
several of the Councilmen left town in
carriages and drove to the public water
works pumping station at Davis Run to
make m inspection of the plant, but more
especially to make a test of the pumps
with and without the condensers.
The Councilmen who made the trip were
Messrs. Mcguire, Kane, McElhenny, 7. j..
James, d. X. James, Gable, Kerns,
Dougherty, Hand and Reese. Superin-
tendent Betteridge also drove over.
Councilman Schoppel and Town Clerk
Kinney, of Girardville, were also in the
party. They were a special committee APP
pointed to inspect the plant and make a
report to their Borough Council, which has
an option on a water shed at Gordon and
contemplates constructing public water
works.
Several townsmen followed the borough
fathers to the valley and witnessed the
operations, among them Messrs. b. r..
Severn, f. G. Reese, Daniel Brennan,
Philip Gable and Justice j.. j. Cardin.
Upon arriving at their destination the
looked over it very carefully. They found
everything in excellent condition. Their
is an abundance of good water in the
reservoir and the surrounding grounds
look neat and clean.
Councilman Gus Gable was director
general of affairs at the pumping station
and had Benjamin Womer at hand in
working clothes to assist the regular
engineer, Fred. Scott, in carrying out
orders. Councilman Dick Reese also con-
tributed valuable service with rule, pencil
and paper, Councilman T. j. James offered
suggestions, President Mcclure struggled
with a pencil and piece of paper to figure
the capacity of the pumps, and Councilman
D.. r.. James delivered addresses on the
value of c~ondensers. Councilmen Hand,
D~ougherty and Kerns looked on, say
ing nothing, but thinking hard,
Councilman Kane looked out the win
dows Of the pumping station criticising' the
construction of township roads and Coun-
Gilman McElheuny turned over in his
mind the problem of where the party would
dine. He became nettled when he heard
that Councilman Gable had brought a
lunch in a shoe box and several of the
Councilman Joined the hungry Councilman
in a grand kick over the idea of spending
a day in public work with nothing to eat.
Superintendent Betteridge was sent to a
hotel at Brandonville and he or
dered a dinner for the party.
He returned and stated that a feast would
be ready at two o'clock. This stopped the
insurrection and Councilman McElhenny
then turned his attention to the pumps.
"Mac" doesn't know much about water
pumps, but he knows how to raise the
wind and as the Councilmen spent the
whole day on the expedition they had oc-
casion to feel grateful to him for the kick
he made.
The object of the test made was to find
out whether it is more economical to
operate the pumps with the condensers, or
by having them exhaust into the atmos-
phere. The question is still debatable.
Councilman Gable says that a six-day test
wal W AN1hAAOh W VIZ NhC DOlltNs 4uG
Councilman claim that yesterdays work
showed that the results were about equal,
but he maintains that a weighing of coal
and other tests would show a result in
favor of the operation of the pumps with
out the cOndensers.
There is sUill a big difference of opinion
among the Councilmen on the question
and it is not likely that the co~ndensers will
be dispensed with. Many of them be-
lieve that %exhausting into the atmosphere
consumes a greater amount of coal, and
Fireman Casey says such has been the
case with the pump which has been dis
connected from the condenser. The engi-
neer also claims that the pumping ca.
pacity with the condenser is greater. Coun-
Gilman d. R, James seems inclined to dis
pense with the condensers if it can be
shown they pollute the water that is
forced back into the reservoir. Council
man Gable says the pollution is a natural
consequence. One thing the latter Coun-
Gilman succeeded in demonstrating TO his
colleagues was that the glands of the
plungers were kept screwed too tight.
This, alone, several Of the Councilmen
said, was worth the trip, During the test
the pumps were operated at &c poles, or IA
revolutions per minute, This meant a
pumping of a fraction over Al, 1925 gallons
per hour, or 493, 516 gallons per day OF p
hours for each pump, and there was room
TO increase the capacity considerably, The
test was made with 100 pounds of steam.
The Coupcilmen returned at about $50
o'clock last evening.