Evening star., 1896-07-18
Mystery Of the Supply for Fort Myer
Disclosed.
SUBC0NFRACTOR'S INGENIOUS SCHEME
A Stream Diverted Into Terra
Gotta Pi pc.
MONEY HAS BEEN PAID

ton has been made which has resulted in
unearthing one Of the most remarkable at
tempts to defraud the national govern
ment that has never come to light. 1t Is all
in connection with the plan to supply the
post at Fort Myer with an abundant and
satisfactory water system.
Not long ago it was thought that the
problem had been solved, and that here
after the fort would have all the clear,
pure water that was needed from never
failing well. Today the War Department
officials are up against the fact that the
we'll in which some Of them placed such
reliance is as a dry bone, or a cam
paign orator after long speech on a hot
day. What is more, there never was any
water in the we'll. or, at least. had 1t not
been for the ingenuity Of the human mind
there never would have been.
Some years ago, when the need of bet
ter water supply for Fort Myer became
very evident. Congress appropriated 500, 600
for the purpose. the plan being to tap the
aqueduct at the Chain bridge and conduct
scheme met with some opposition and
there were those who thought that all the
water needed ought to be obtained on the
premises. and that the nature of the
ground was such that there should be no
difficulty in finding an abundant supply
underground.
A Proposition Accepted.
AS will be remembered by the readers of
The Star. several propositions were made,
all looking to the same end Among these
one was adopted as the most feasible. 1t
was an offer from reputable parties to dig
a well which would furnish at least $1,000
gallons of pure water every twenty-four
hours. The contract price was 5000, which
meant saving Of $4,000 to the govern
derstandtng that II the flow was less than
the stipulated amount, or If the quality
was not satisfactory. not cent was to be
paid.
The site for the first we'll was selected bv
Quartermaster General Batchelder 1t was
near little stream, and very convenient
to the post.
The original understanding was that a
company vas to be organized to do the
wo'k, and ex-Representative Maish, the
&C Gnsel for the company, was to be its
pre- sident, but for some reason the com
pany did not materialze and the contract
Vas finally made, in 1893, with Colonel
Maish himself as the chief party to it.
Wcrk was at once started and the well
was sunk 1t was not long. however. be-
fore the hole had gone down far enough
to reacn stratum of granite, beyoni
which there was no in seeking for
water. The we'll was thereupon aban-
doned. An effort was made to see Gen.
Ba tchelder. 1t Is said, but the general was
busy, and the chief clerk of the office told
the contractors that II they would dig an
other we'll short distance above the first
site 1T would be perfectly satisfactory.
The Second Well Dug.
The actual work Of digging was sublet
to professional well digger from Penn
sylvania who agreed to secure the desired
amount of the proper quality for one-half
the sum named In the original contract.
he was to pay all the expenses of the
ha tor
ing neither was his money. A second
we'll was dug and the subcontractor claim
ed to have found water at a much shorter
distance from the surface of the earth
than any one had supposed was possible.
Some of the water was submitted to q
chemist Of the Department Of Agriculture,
who Is an expert in the analysis of AQUA
pura, and his report was to the effect that
the water was of the very highest quality
and far superior to the city water. This
was in the summer Of 1894 The water was
to have been tested once a month during
June, July and August, but before the Sec
ond test was made the subcontractor re-
ported one day that the well had been
filed up, presumably by some malicious
person. with scrap iron, and 1t was his opin-
ion that cannon ball had been dropped
down the hole.
General Batchelder was not satisfied with
the second well, anyhow. and declined to
accept 1t. even If it could be reclaimed
He himself named a third site. and the
Again it was not long before the subcon-
tractor reported that he had found water
IN plenty. The quartermaster general was
still suspicious. however but the claim was
made that if 10000 gallons Of water was
obtainable every day, and it could stand the
chemical test it made no difference from
what depth it came.
The water stood the test all right, and
the chemist reported 1t to be of superior
quality. But the flow was only $4,000 gal
Ions day with the assistance Of an eight
morse power pump. The subcontractor in
sisted that in a week or two time to 20 a
little deeper and increase the diameter of
the hole, 1t would be all right, and he
could secure the extra 1000 gallons.
Payment After the Third Well.
At the end of the appointed time
twelve-hour test showed that water was
flowing at the rate Of 10000 gallons, or an
excess Of 10000 over the required amount
The matter was left to Assistant Secretary
of War Doe when claim was made upon
the department for the money, and he
recommended that the sum be paid over,
Notwithstanding the fact that the quarter
master general was still not satisfied, and
insisted that the water could not possibly
be there. Last November the 5000 was
paid and the we'll was turned over to the
quartermaster generals Office for use. Up
to recently, however, no attempt was made
to supply the water from the well to the
post Some weeks ago Gen. Batchelder
sent to st. Louis for some expert well dig
gers to come on and Investigate the whole
matter, and an effort was mad, to locate
the second we'll. For some time this was
fruitless until Col Maish came to their
assistance and the site was found. The
well has been filled and grown over with
underbrush. For some reason, possibly to
satisfy his own curiosity, Cen. Batchelder
ordered an excavation. This was few
days ago, and the workmen had gone only
some six feet when they came Upon u four
inch terra Gotta pipe leading into the we'll
1t was followed along for some distance
and led to a point In the stream itself.
About hundred feet from the mouth of
the we'll, down stream and around bend
hidden away in a clump of bushes, was
small dam, Insufficient, however, to turn
half or two-thfrds Of the water into the
pipes and So with a slight downward Drop
on into the well itself.
The Mystery Solved.
The mystery was solved.
The water that was pumped from the
we'll was not diverted for any purpose, and
the result was that whenever the pump
was set to work $1,000 gallons a day ran
back into the little stream, down to the
dam, back to the WELL down wooden
trough. which had been constructed so that
rot a drop of the precious fluid should be
lost into the stream.
Like Tennyst ms brook, 1t could 70 on
forever. or at least % long az the govern