Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1900-10-20
The water works.

stroke SenQiDg thirtN-SsN gaif0flS OF wafer
lhrouah the miles otwater pipes 10 qHench.
the thirst OF thousands ot consumers ard
10 supply me thirsty engines at the vari-
oas lae,oties and railroads. Is il anv
wonder thar new. machinery is needed :
Alter twcpty-seven Years of tins ce2sclesSI
tnump, thunpl lhump' isitno time that
some ping is done to relicvr + is well-bulss,i
oser-laxed piece OF machinery that has
supplied this ever growing city with rs
wa,er2
If every well.thinking citizen would
only pause TO consider he would say most
emphaucally yes. Fifteen years age,
the pride Of the city was It's water wotks.
but within the last decade Of years Il
city has enioyed such substantial growth
that it has outgrown the facilities OF this
most important piece OF machinery. TIC
very same machinery that supplied The
artlnsburg Of twenty-seven years ago,
wiki its several thousand residents, sup
plies the Martinsburg OF today with IT'S
ten thousand water consumes ard its
numerous understanding factories
The work sci Tor this machinery 70 do
is enormous and what Il has done ii the
pas has been q, great credit TO IFS mana-.
facturers. When the question Of esta3
fishing the present water system IN ms
eity was first mentioned many Of our best
citizens opposed il as impracticable Tor a
:oen the SIZE Of Martinsburg They did,
not wish to incur debt Of 500, 900 70
build the plant; but after awhile they
found the courage 70 try II and gave a
contract 10 Messrs Weir and Cawell for
putting up the- buildings and digging the
trenches. aatk
The FIRST pipe was laid down by the
New Jersey Pipe Coz, and was q sheetiron
pipe lined with cement and laid In hedge
easement. -Four and, one-hah miles Of this
pipe was laid down by this com any.
The,machinery was purchased from the
Holly Mfg Co. of Lockport. My. and
put up, by the company. The motive pow
er consists OF one Lupzppld engine and
two Turbine water whees For a nphlt
Der Of years the smaller water wheel did
the work. but as the amount Of ,waaer
used increased so the power obtained
from this wheel became insufficient and
the large wheel bad TO be, pressed into
service. This wheel did the pumping IN
Ill the constantly increasing demand, Tor
water made the work too heavy. The
engine was then put into service and was
used in connection with the large water
Wheebin order to save fuel and expense
The engine is a good one, bat so many
years of constant service is telling on the
different paris and repairs are needed. IL
is a 90 horse power engine witha cylinder
10 inches and ~ inch stroke. i he
weight OF the fly wheel, which Is nine and
one half feet in diameter, is about 1000
pounds. The plant has two boilers ex-
actly the same size, Only one IS in use
at time, the other being held ID reserve
in cases Of accident. The boilers are test
ed monthly by hydraulic pressure and are
always kept in good repair. ,5a5.i -, si.sr
The pumping is done by one set OF
qaadruple pumps and one rotary pump,
The capacity million and quarter gal
ions day. The rotary pump is only
used in case of fire or when the other
pump gets out of order. The pressure
of these pumps is regulated by Hohy's
Hydrostati. Pressure Regulator, which
regulates the motion OF the pumps prop
erly. r rs i94
Since the completion of the above
equipment three and one half miles OF adj
ditional pipe has been added, making
about eight miles now in use. On the
4 IL miles OF pipe, first used there We're
AZ fire. plugs distributed over the city. AT
the present time there are 81 belonging TO
The city and ten private plugs.
The plant was started on January IS
1874, about twenty-six years and nine
months ago, and the machinery has been
in constant use ever since. The amount
of repairs put upon the machinery since
it was first started will not amount TO a
thousand dollars. The present cost of run
ming the works is about three thousand
dollars year. which is small sum- con-
sidering the amount Of service obtained
from the plant. The amount of water
used by this city during the year 1882,
when the first repair was made by the
water board was o6,oo9,I6o gallons.
The amount used today is about
81, $40 gallons per hour or about $50 mil
lion gallons per year.
The capacity Of the pumps is too small
TO meet the Increasing demand and the
machinery is overworked. Il is impossi;
bic to stop the pumps one minute without
cutting the water supply from the entire
city. Another SET of pumps should be
added in order to insure the public plenty
OF water and to insure safety in case Of
accidents, such as was experienced las.
week. sye i Htaf
The water board has now under con-
sideration the addition of new set Of
pumps. as an auxiliary and repairs 10 the
old pumps. which would be almost as
good as new and would do another Ven
ty-ive years of rervice. IA .Ys,aJ lat3f
The thanks OF the public should be ten
dered TO the efficient superintendent. Mr.
Jacob w. Shaffer. He has been fulfilling
his duties for the entire term very credit
ably and faithfully. He filed the position
alone until five years ago when MIR. Geo,
IL. F tier was appointed for night duty.
Prior TO this time Mr.. Shaffer spent about
twenty hours every day at the works. He
has handled the machinery perfectly. Civ
the best results for the least amount OF
use.
The he a., the tsrut y,iaca rocf