The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-01-17
PLENTY OF WATER
The East Jersey Company
Reservoirs are Full. and
One Runs Over.
ANXIETY OYER THE DROUGHT.
NeWark's Authorities Are Con-
sidering the Proposition to
Lay a New Main.
That Last Offer Not So Generous
As Appears on the Surface
What 1t May Involve.

what IL May involve.
A visit was made to the reservoirs of
the East Jersey Water Company for the
purpose of ascertaining whether the COM
pany had at hand sufficient amount of
water to supply Jersey City with the 20.-
100000 or 23,0000O0 gallons per day which
it gave the authorities to understand was
the quantity it would furnish after New
ark had been supplied A tedious ride
of two hours over the New York. Susque-
hanna Railroad brought the party to
Newfoundland. were carriages were TAX
en-. After delightful hours drive
through the crisp mountain air the party
arrived at Oak Ridge. the second largest
storage reservoir in the company's sys-
tenn This basin. roughly estimated. is
is a fine specimen of masonry and en-
gincering. 1t lies in a gully between
hills and extends back for several miles.
"A massive stone wall nearly forty feet
IliSu Qdl1lS IIlS ulOulu Ol lu6 Rully dl1O
holds back the water. A narrow gorge
has been blasted out of the solid rock,
and through this the water flows until it
reaches the meadows below. where it
becomes a swift running stream, exposed
to the air and sun all the way to the
Nacopin intake. about ten miles away. To
one side of the stone dam is water wier
over which the water runs into the arti-
fetal gorge when the reservoir is high.
But no water was running over the wier
yesterday as the reservoir was exceeding
ly low It was at least fifteen feet below
high water mark. and that was consider
ably below the top of the dam. It was.
however. rushing through the outlet at
the base Of the dam with a roar that
cosyQ Ss heard Tor -ssme distance. The
surfAce of the reservoir twas covered with
ice. hnd away in the distance could be
seen}small dark objects moving about on
its surface. They were fishing through
the ice. The big lake is bountifully sup
piled with large fat pickerel. which are
easily caught through holes in the ice
The same is true of the other reservoirs.
as pickerel always seek new ground The
ervoirs and does all it can to prevent it.
but the territory to be guarded is so large
that their precautions are Intellectual to
prevent what the company considers a
nuisance.
The visitors shook their heads omin-
ously when they saw the low state of
the water in this reservoir and watched
the rapid rate in which it was all the
time becoming lower. Another drive
through the county of about four miles
brought the Clinton reservoir in sight.
This is the largest storage basin the com
pany has and will hold third more than
the one at Oak Ridge. 1t lies in an i'm
mense bowl-like valley among the noun
tains. which looks as though nature
scooped it out expressly for immense
reservoir. 1t stretched away until it
was lost beyond the distant hills, and it
was much wider than the Oak Ridge
basin. 1t was also much more full In
fact it was at its normal depth, and the
superintendent who was on the ground
said that they had not used drop of it
yet It was said in the village before
the party left that the East Jersey Com
pany had been drawing upon its reserve
waters of Echo Lake. This the super
intendent emphatically denied, and said
that all the water the company had been
using came from the Oak Ridge reser-.
voir.
1t was close onto ten miles to the Ma
copin intake, where the water enters the
pipes which carry it to the consumer.
But the drive was enjoyable and none of
the party regretted it.
After leaving Oak Ridge the water
forms rapidly flowing stream which
winds in and out among the hills, and
through several small settlements until
it comes to the intake. There it broad
ems out into large reservoir at the
lower end of which is the gate house,
through which the water passes into the
pipes which carry it to Newark. The
Macopin reservoir was full and water
was pouring over the dam in steady
stream. Men were kept busy all the
time clearing the top of the dam of ice
SO that the surplus water would have
an uninterrupted now. The company
evidently has plenty of water at the
present time to fulfn it's contracts if it
can be carried to its destination. But
the prolonged drought is a source Of anx-
iety to the officers Of the company as
well as the residents Of the rural dis
trscts The oldest inhabitant has to
think long and deep before he can re-
member a year Of such phenomenal dry-
ness as that Just passed. If anyone
Stops to think he will find It dif1cult to
remember when there was q fall Of rain
ana an ela-fsshioned storm of more than
one day. duration = ss scarce y Denos