The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-15
WATER PRESSURE
 UNDERGOES 4 TEST
In Some Places lt is Strong and
 in Others Weak
VERY LOW ON HIGHLANDS
Insurance expert Has About Com pleted Ills Work and Expects to Have Ills Report Ready for
 Mail Monday Night.

Inspector M. D. Pierce, of the South eastern Tariff association, spent all of yesterday morning testing the pressure from fire plugs in the various sections of the city, and at places he found it sadly weak He was accompanied by George Reynolds, local representative of the in- surance association.
 The inspections were started on the South Highlands. where the pressure was found to be very low. At places the gauge only registered about 15 or 20 pounds pressure, and as the decent of the hill was made to town the pressure gradually increased until the maximum of 90 pounds was found at the fire plug at the city hall corner. The contract be- tween the city and the waterworks com pany calls for 90 pound pressure in the plugs around the union passenger sta ton, or the center of the city. from which place the numbering of the streets com menees.
 MT. Pierce tested about twenty-five plugs in every portion of the city. He tested one or two in the neighborhood of Richmond place and found fairly good pressure, but up on the hill above Richmond place, about Twelfth street and Twelfth avenue, the water would scarcely flow out of line of hose 100 feet long,
 Weak at Five Points.
 Another test was made about Eleventh avenue and Fifteenth street. and another between that and the center of the city, about at the bottom of the hill A test at Five Points and in that neighborhood showed a very poor pressure, and out on Highland avenue the same was found true One test was made near Lakeview.
 About the foot of Twentieth street hill the guage showed a much greater pres sure than on top of the hill. Although no figures can be secured from MT. Pierce 1t is understood that about DO pounds was the pressure at the foot of the hill.
 Two or three more plugs were tested on the south side nearer to the center of the city, and one or two on either side Of Twentieth street
 These tests verified the pressures taken last January by MT. Pierce when he made a very thorough inspection of the city for the tariff association. Only 8 few of the tests yesterday were new ones.
 In the center of the city half a dozen tests were made, and they were found to come close to the requirement. of ninety pounds. These tests ranged from seventy five to ninety pounds, so 1t is said In the neghborhood of Sixth avenue and Twen- tieth street the pressure had dropped considerably, and on equal attitudes the pressure was found to range lower than seventy-ive pounds.
 Low on North Highlands.
 On the North Highlands the pressure was very low; in some places 1t fell al- most as low as it did on the South High lands. MT. Pierce went from Fountain Heights to about Twenty-eghth street and Twelfth avenue, making an ooca- sional test He also tried the pressure from about Twelfth street and Sixth and Eighth avenues east until Twenty fourth or Twenty-fifth streets. was reached.
 A skirmish was made in the outskirts of the city to find where plugs were lacking, and 1t is said they were few and far between in some sections. All MT Pierce would say about 1t was that the building was being done so rapidly that the water mains could not be built fast enough to keep track with the new resi- dence portions of the city which are being opened.
 Completing His Report.
 Yesterday afternoon was spent In com pleting notes and figures preparatory to commencing today to write out his reoprt in full. He expects to complete the re- ports in time for the mail to Atlanta Monday night.
 MT. Pierce would not give any of the figures which he obtained yesterday, stating that they would form an impor- tant portion of his report, and that he did not feel at liberty to give them out until instructed to do so by the tariff association.
 It is expected that the inspector will make several recommendations regarding the necessities of the city for better fire protection. He stated yesterday that his recommendations would form a consider