Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-25
FACE WATER FAMINE
Scant Supply for Convicts at
0cCoquan.
RAIN IS GREATLY WANTED
Serious Situation Confronts Three
Hundred Prisoners.
MAY DELAY CAMP WORK
RAIN IS GREATLY WANTED
MAY DELAY CAMP WORK
Drilling a Well-Planned to- Build
Reservoir-Pipe, Line From
Stream Furnishes Little Daily.

Water famine is staring the three hun
dred District prisoners at Occoquan
squarely in the face, as the water supply
for drinking purposes will be dried up
completely within few days unless a
heavy rain relieves the situation, or un-
less the we'll drillers who are tapping a
rock stratum run into good sized un-
derground stream
w. A Mcfarland superintendent of the
Districts water department, spent the
day at Occoquan Friday and exam
ined every inch of the available water
supply both for drinking purposes and
power. 1t is probable that a million-gal-
Ion reservoir will be built on the reserva-
ton by the prisoners.
The prisoners are now hauling water
mile and half. This water is used for
all purposes except drinking. The drink
ing water comes from a small stream
which trickles through a rocky canyon.
One of the first things the prisoners did
was to dam the stream and lay a. pipe
line from the dam to the camp, a distance
of a quarter of a mile AT that time 1t
was believed the stream would not go
dry. The fact is, however, that there is
now flow of but a few gallons day, a
mere thread of water from which it would
be difficult to scoop a pint at a time.
A Serious Situation.
Mr. Mcfarland is of the opinion that a
ten-day drought would result very seri-
ously for the convict camp. Water, OF
course, can be obtained from neighbour
ing wells or even from a small stream in
the vicinity, but the labor of hauling and
keeping pure a water supply for 800 men
would seriously interfere with the other
pressing work of the camp. The men are
H. IL 80 h,ys1l Il
ing the winter quarters. and any serious
delay there would result in their sleeping
in tents in the cold weather.
Although millions of gallons of water
lie in plain sight Of the camp, none Of it
can be used for drinking or cooking. Oc-
Potomac is several hundred yards wide
where it washes at the foot of the rocky
plateau on which the convict camp is
situated. But it is not water for drink
farther toward it's source was believed at
first sight to be considerable Of water
power source.
Water Power Rights Sold.
Mr.. Mcfarland was considerably en-
Unused over the prospect of tapping the
creek and utilizing an already existing
mill race for water power to force river
water up to the reservoir and from there
into a proposed irrigation system that Is
designed. The creek furnishes power for
a pair of turbines in the one mill at Oc-
coauan, and was believed to have thou
sands of extra horsepower.
The Virginians sold the rights to this
water power to foreign syndicate, the
figure Intentional at Occoquan being $685.
OGO. If this is true, the syndicate paid q
high price for the power. for yesterday
there was no power at all. In q survey
of the land, Mr.. Mcfarland found men
mending little cracks in the mill race in
order to save every drop of water that
they could. A drought takes all the water
out of that part of the creek, and makes
is absolutely valueless for a plant that
would have to be relied upon at all
times.
A well drill is work mile back from
the river, boring through solid rock.
Sixty-five feet have been pierced with no
water in sight. The geological survey
experts say that the geological formation
at that point is exactly the same as in
the District of Columbia, west of Rock
creek, and that there is water to be
found there. The we'll digger will con-
tinue humping away until orders come
to stop.