The Oskaloosa herald., 1905-09-28
THE NEW SEPTIC TANK
work d Blasting, Digging ana
scrsping Nearly Finished,

have the excavation Tor thu lSlK SEP.
tic tank almost " not quite completed,
after three weeks o. dlnglna In the big
hole.
During the past WEEK a continual
blasting haA beon necessary in order
10 loosen ~ the bottom FOR dlaalng
and progress has been slow. The
contractors have none the less done
remarkably well with the work, when
the nature of the excavation IL under.
stood. The work OF the past week has
been through almost solid rock, and
every inch Of the way has been a fight
between tho strength OF nature and
dynamite. over n hundred sticks OF
dynamite have been touched Off in the
hole.
Tho contractors have gone down al.
most four feet through the rock dur.
ing tho past week, by a liberal use OF
explosive, and In some places have
reached almost the bottom Of the hole.
There are places, however, where
three or four feet must yet conn out,
and the bottom OF almost the entire
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ing will OF necessity have to be done.
The excavation once made, the Car
Ions will rush the construction work
as rapidly as possible and will put a
large force OF men upon the job to
complete It II possible within the re.
quired time. They have been delayed
greatly by the digging, and expect to
make up the time lost II possible. The
concrete floor upon q cipder bed will
be put In first, and before the frost
comes. The rest OF the work can fol.
low and can be continued up to almost
severe weather, once the bed for the
big tank is laid.
The Ill wind that blew for the coB
tractors, the day the big ledge Of slate
and rock and coal was struck In the
excavation, has not. tailed to do the
city OF Ogkaloosa some good. Hard
az II has been upon the contractor
who took the excavation without
knowledge Of the rock he would strike.
Il g a saving for oskaloosa In fur
nishing a fine and permanent bed up
on which the tank Is 10 be built. IL
Is thought that q saving may be made
in the fact,as the engineer figured that
the tank would be builued upon clay
or earth. The bed for the tank, ac-
cordIng TO City Engineer shannon,
could not be finer In any way.
The boys working In the pit have
turned the ind Of coal to their WI
profit, and where IL has been possible
10 dig out the "duskies" without in
any way injurlng the walls Of the ex-
cayation, II has been done. The men
use the surplus time OF their noon
hour for this purpose and several
loads OF coal have been mined during
the time after dinner, eech fellow
helping the others TO load In =
The coal is good for immediate use,
although II Is SO soft as not 10 with.
stand weather for any length OF time.
II IL called blossom coal" and IL px-
tremely soft, burns with a hot flame,
and makes a good quick fire, but II
falls TO retain heat, and would be al.
most useless in colder weather. The
boys who have taken II home, howey.
or, pronounce II excellent for early
fall use.
Several tons Of coal were hauled
during the first few days after the dis
coyery, by outsiders, who sent lads
with carts for the coal, but this has
been shut off by the contractors, az
the invaders In many cases hurt the
wall Of the excavation In their efforts
to get the best coal possible In the
easiest way. y
This mining is exceedingly easy.
The coal Is ten inches TO two feet thick
or a little less, and Is Of course easy
Of access in the hole. A few sharp
blows with the pick, and a hole IL
made In the surface and strong pull
will easily release several CHUNKS. In
It's crumbIing nature II cuts out quite
easily. III
Good Sewer Work.
Jim Myers has a pretty piece Of
sewer work 10 his credit in that which
he has almost completed In the cor.
nection between the canning factory
sewer, and the storm.Water man-hoIe
from which two Pinch pipes lead TO
the septic tank. Mr.. Myers contract
ed for the labor on the sewer and has
completed all OF the large pipe except
thirty feet at the connection which
must be left until the tank Is ready
TO receive It's contents. The work
has been done In a good ann and
the men have been fortunate In the
fact that there were nc slips nor cave
ins during the work. The pipe now
laid runs north from the man.hole at
the roadside. under the Iowa Central
railroad bridge, and the excavation IL
completed for all but a few OF the
thirty feet still remaining TO be put
In. The contractor was fortunate In
striking no slate OF rock, as did the
Cartons, but he did strike some bad
clay and the excavation for several
feet was made with a pick, each shoy-
eIful having 10 be cut out OF the clay.
Mr.. Myers will now start In on his
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