Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-03-16


no Damage to Speak of to Proper
ty-City Loss is sIight-supPIy Pipe
Broken.
Zeal to give to the people the
benefit of clear and pure water at
n time when the clarifying pro-
cess was greatly in need, resulted
in the reservoir plant suffering a
slight misfortune today, break
occurring in the east wall of basin
No. l and letting out some 100000
gallons of water, which bathed
the thoroughfares below, but caused
no damage to speak of to property.
The break. it is the belief of Supt.
of Waterworks j. a. Murrin, was due
To the severe weather that the wall
withstood during the winter season.
Seven feet of water had been kept in
the settling basins all winter. The
ice having left the river and stirred
up the sediment and riled the water,
occasiOning the usual complaint on
the part OF consumers, it was the de-
sire of Mayor Medill that they be per-
mitted to enjoy the benefits of the
reservoir as soon as possible. To this
end the filling of the basins was begun
ut ; o'clock yesterday afternoon, and
was continued throughout the night.
The operation of the filters was to be
begun tonight, and the clarified water
sent coursin9 through the city mains.
The first intimation that something
was out of killer at the reservoir came
between and o'clock this morning,
when streams of water carrying 4
mixture of yellow clay were seen
int "
first and Twenty-second streets.
Pumping was Immediately ceased and
the promiscuous flow from the bluff
terminated about 9 o'clock.
Break Near Bottom of Basin.
The break in the wall. which con-
sists of concrete with cement facing,
occurred near the bottom overflow
pipe. The supposition is that the cold
cracked the wall and the water worked
on the concrete until the latter
gave way. The water followed the
pipe line and emptied into Twenty
second street just northwest OF the
reservoir. 1t flooded the three streets
mentioned and several of the inter
sectin@ avenues as far north as Fourth
avenue. On Twenty-secOnd street the
water got into a few yards.
The frozen dirt wall of ditch in
which the supply pipe is laid near the
reservoir was softened by the water
and caved in, breaking portion of
the pipe. This will he repaired at
once, Supt. Murrin having Il large
force of wen at work already digging
for the buried pipe. The damage to
the basin will not amount to much in
financial way, and evidently can be
easily and readily repaired.
Views as to Cause and Effect.
Mayor Medill, accom- panied by Supt.
Murrin and Chief of Police Fender,
went to the reservoir the first thing
| this morning. The mayor was quick
to take in the extent of the damage
and the necessity of promptly repair
| ing it. 4 force of men was at once
put to work on the bursted pipe out
side basin, while word was telephoned
to Engineer Harmon, of Peoria, under
whose direction the basins were
put in, TO come to Rock Island to-
night. This afternoon. at the invi-
tation of the mayor, number of
citizens familiar with construction of
this kind inspected the reservoir this
afternoon. Contractor Larkin, who
had the contract for the masonry and
concrete work, who was among the
mum Der, stated that be was not sur
prised at the break and regarded it
of a most trifling nature. The work of
placing the concrete had extended so
far into the fall that the
frost had got into the ground,
Mr. Larkin said, and as was natural
in a winter of such unusual severity,
the frost in places had gotten under
the concrete in some places and raised
and cracked it. The break, as soon
as the frost going out of the ground
and permitting settlement, was not
unexpected. The first test. he ex-
planned, was expected to show some
defects. The cost of repair of the
damage so far done, Mr.. Larkin said,
would not amount to 800, and even
counting that there were more SINH
lar defects, such as he would not be
surprised to find, the total expense of
overcoming all would not exceed 5000.
Capt. &. Med. Townsend. engineer
in charge of the upper Mississippi
river Improvements, after inspecting
the reservoir, said The break was not
unusual, and that after the first win
ter on piece of masonry,
the construction of which had
run so far into the fall some defects
might materialize. 1t was his opin-
ion, however. that from the frost or
some other cause the water had been
working slowly under the concrete at
this particular point. and that the
break would have been inevitable
whether the water had been turned in
Yesterday or not.
Messrs. T. b. Davis and S. 5. Davis
both spoke of the mishap As some
thing that could not have been avoid
ed in great undertakings of this kind
No reservoir was ever built without
Just such accidents.
+. +. Robbins, superintendent of
he RncL Island hridue attributed the