Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-02-06
DANGER IN DELAY
Council Should Immediately Pre-.
pare to Meet Emergency
at WaterWorks.
DISPUTE OVER THE OLD PUMP
Some COntending it Can be Satisfac-
tOrily Repaired and Others
That il Cannot.

There should be no further delay in
providing adequate pumping facili-
ties at the Rock Island waterworks
plant. The council has for months
been discussing plans, but if one is to
judge by the proceedings of the last
meeting of that body it is no nearer
to solution of the situation than it
was when the conditions existing were
exploited in the last annual report Of
the superintendent Of the waterworks,
Plumb +. Bancroft. II is his judg-
ment that the city would be making
poor Investment in expanding any
| large sum of money in repairing the
older of the two pumps. He faNors
the purchase Of a new one. The mem
bers OF the council are divided on the
proposition, and therein lies the eX-
PLANTATION Of the delay.
The two pumps are claimed to have
daily capacity Of 100000 gallons.
| the new Holly. installed 10 years ago.
100000 and the old machine, which
was bought by the city in 1882. 3,0OO,-
600. The latter is the quadrupleX pat
tern, but is said to be i back num-
Der.
bDRIucoEB 100
Engineers who have operated this
pump in the past several years differ
as~tO its real worth. at least two of
those who filed the position of super
intendent priCr to the appointment Of
Mr.. Bancroft contending that it has
not Outlived its usefulness by long
way; that if a few hundred dollars
were spent in repairing the worn
parts it would be capable Of perform
ing as efficient service as the day on
which it was first installed. They hold
also that the present condition of the
pump is not due 50 much to long us
age as to allowing it to stand for
lengthy periods without operating it;
that idleness is more dangerous to
machinery than usage.
But the public has little interest
in the fact that men may differ on this
question compared to the danger of
the city some fine day finding itself
without means to draw the water
from the river. The new Holly prac-
ally i being solely depended upon
now and has been for months, to
maintain the supply. The daily con-
sumption averages 100000 gallons,
ana some days it passes that figure.
While this pump is in first class CON
dition. and there is no apparent pos
,iEility Of it breaking down, still the
danger Of doing so * not removed.
and should an emergency Of this ma
ture confront the operatives of the
wat eTwoTks plant they would be help
less. and should there be a fire the
consequences might be more serious.
should Prepare for Emt rgency.
What the public demands Of the
council is to make immediate pre-
parations to meet just such an en-
Urgency. If the old pump can be re-
paired 50 that it will do service for
the time being it might he well 10 have
it placed in shape. In the interim
take up the question of securing Il
new pump. Longer delay under such
circumstances ought net TO be CON
sidered, and is ineXcusable to say the
least.
There have been marked insinua
tions from some quarters as to the
real motive of those favoring the buy
ing Of Il new machine at the pumping
station. Fearless aldermen should not
heed these thrustS when they are con-
scientiously endeavoring honestly to
perform their sworn duty in behalf of
the municipality. On the other hand.
if those who are utteTing these innu-
cndoes have any information of the
character mentioned. let them hold
their peace until the purchase has
been made. and then il they can
prove their charges. they will have the
public at their back in an effort 60
punish any who might deserve TO be
punished.