Evening star., 1895-07-29

The Illustration printed herewith shows
the character of the break in the bye-con-
duit. This was taken Saturday by a snap
shot, and shows that the arch was broken
through cleanly by the water. 1t also en-
poses the rather fimsy character of the
work in the conduit. Maj. Knight pointed
out this morning in the photograph that at
the haunch of the arch, where the pres
sure was probably about two pounds to
the square inch at the time of the acci-
dent, when the conduit was running full.
the joints between the stones are wide open
and the masonry Is very unstable or
course, as he explained, this arch was not
built to resist pressure from within. hut
from without. It's function was to keep the
soil from falling into the water and TO
keep clear passageway for the current. 1t
would be difficult TO build a masonry aque-
duct that would stand entirely alone in
circular form without the aid Of consider
able pressure from outside by means of
the earthen embankment.
North Gute to BE Used.
1t is Maj Knights plan to allow the
water to flo Nv through this break until the
level in the reservoir reaches practically
normal stage. when he will open the north
connection, as 1t is called, and let the
water enter by means of the regular gate
that was closed when the reservoir was
abandoned some years ago. The flow
through the bye-corduit will then be stop
ped, so that it will make difference to
the supply whether there are any further
breaks in the masonry or not. A fence
will be built around tie place of the break
On the bank, so as to keep people away
from the edge, which is now unstable and
might cave in. 1t is barely possible that
the roof of the tunnel may fall after the
water in the reservoir has risen to it's reg
ular height, as the crcwn of the arch will
then be covered. There is danger in a
premature opening of the north connec-
ton. as if the water were allowed to flow
into the reservoir at this point before the
level is brought to the regular stage there
would be such rush at this point that
the soft banks might slough away, just as
they did lower down Saturday morning.
Fortunately there were no demands upon
the water supply Saturday from the fire
department. There We're three alarms turn
ed in, one of which was false, and in the
other two cases the fires were extinguished
before the engines arrived. 1t is certain
that the supply could OF have been suffi-
cient for any large confa grafton, and this
was one of the greatest dangers that Mai
Knight and his assistants feared. Mai
Knight said this morning that he thought
the city had got out of its strait very nice
ly. and he was anxious that credit should
be given his assistant Mr. Sneed for his
promptness in reaching the scene of the
accident and causing the gates of the con-
Cult to be closed. Mr.. Sneed was at the
reservoir within forty minutes of the time
of the accident, although when the break
occurred he was asleep at his home in this
city Maj. Knight said that SO far there
has been no apprec.able discolcration of
the water caused by the accident, and he
does not think there will be any excep-
tional turbidity now. He will make for
NAL report of the accident to the chief of
engineers in his regular monthly returns.
The illustration printed today is made
from one of The photographs taken to ac-
company this report.