The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-11-07
PECK SHOWS THAT HERRING PLAN CALLS FOR LAYING OF 100, 900
 FEET OF EIGHT INCH SEWERS

His Honor, the Mayor, The Hon. Com
 mon Council, and the Citizens of
 the City of Bridgeport:
 Gentlemen:-I'ventur to address you in this form concerning the question of great financial and sanitary mo- ment, in the matter of the sewers of our City, now before both the Com mon Council and the people
 A committee of most reputable citi- zens having been appointed by the Common Council for the purpose of considering the sewering of the City, called into counsel MT Rudolph Her ing, an eminent engineer, and receiv- ing from him certain advice and plans, appear to have been so impressed with the personal magnetism and reputa- tion of MT Herring. that they were and are incapable of entertaining fur ther thought upon the matter, or en- tering in;o any independent investi- Satipt. S,;Cf .. us as are, in tFa ir- i>,.t vernaluIar. from Mlssou.,.. must be excused from being the sub jects of such hypnotic powers, and as it is not only a sanitary question but also one involving large expense, to which we are compelled to contribute by taxa tiOn, if adopted, we are in duty bound to exercise such powers of in- dependent thought and analysis as we may possess, nor may the magic of any name so paralyze our judgment as to be a detriment to our pockets
 The specific matter at present under consideration is,-"Sha1l a sewer be constructed in the east and west ends, under the Herring plan?''
 No consideration at present is to be given to any other portion of the City, and while it is true that it is stated that the building of these trunk sew CTS according to the Herring plan is but a single step ultimately tending to in clude the whole City, nevertheless att tention must not be diverted from the conditions existing in the east and west ends. nor ought stated conges- tion of other portions be held as ap- plicable to4 these sections for reasons which will be fully considered later in this paper.
 Equal to Demands.
 Confining ourselves therefore, to the territory subject to the resolution be- fore the council. we find that in the up to Maplewood Ave-, a sewer al- ready exists, size 60x40. and in the east End, running along Wilmot Ave, one of the size of 54x36, is also built These both empty into estuarys of Long 1sl- and Sound. in the west end one called Ash creek being used. and in the east end Johnson creek being the terminus. These sewers were designed to run generally in 8 northerly direction, and by laterals and branches serve to gather the sewage and storm water from their respective territories, and as far as any engineer, MT. Herring or any other is concerned, there has no question been raised but. that as to grade and capacity, both are equal to the uses of their districts for the present and estimated future. There fore there can be no intelligent desire to substitute other sewers for these Herring or otherwise-unless' the ques- tion of SEWAGE DISPOSAL from these sewers is raised. It has been stated that Bridgeport had no ''sewer system" What is meant by Sewer system?' We have about fifteen miles of water front, into which our sew CTS empty. That is all the sewer sys- tenn we need. We drain to the Sound. That is our system. But it is not true. that no intelligence has directed the establishment of our sewers, for I quote that eminent authority" MT. Herring, as stated by him En the ev- ening of Oct. 23rd., 1911, Bridgeport has many miles of sewers. generally well built and doing efficient work." !"
 ''Want to Be shown
 If the question before us is the ques- not at present criticize MT. Herring or his. plans, but it will be remembered that the question of sewage disposal has now been abandoned by the gen. tlemen of the committee. Upon the first evening I had the honor of be- ing present at the discussion of this subject, Tom-toms were beaten, and bug-a-boos raised about local State and National Boards of Health, that were about to enfold our City like an Octopus, and in the way of penalties, orders, and publishments most prob ably destroy our happiness. After all this had been met and refuted, and 1t was found that despite the awful name of Herring, we still want to be shown,'' it is then stated that it is not question of SEWAGE DISPO- SAL at all, but modified Herring plan' providing, as now, for the emp tying by gravity of sanitary sewers of very. much smaller capacity, but serving the same territory, into either absolutely or practically the same pla- ces as the trunk sewers have describ- ed, and it is stated that there is no question now or probable before us of SEWAGE DISPOSAL. If this be true. ligent do we want Hering's plans, which are stated to be plans for sew age disposal, and nothing else, and as Mr. Herring frankly admitted to me at the hearing, if the question of pol lution was not present that is, sew age diSposaD it made no difference whether the sewage was deposited by his sanitary sewers or by combined sewer, and it would seem as if any man who could read the English lan- guage could know that as well as MT. Herring.
 Statement Questioned.
 Bearing in mind therefore, that the question of sewage disposal has been abandoned by the advocates of the Herring plan, in the modified plan, which, as I say, is as chargeable as our present sewers with the question gentlemen claim to this modified scheme; first, that it is cheaper what? cheaper ito substitute another for one already built ?-absurd,- = cheaper ''to dig a trench for a small sewer than for a large one'' (Mr. Her ing), any trench dug from ''ten to six teen feet below the surface (Mr. Her ings statement of ordinary sewer depth), must be dug wide enough for workmen, for snoring and of necessity therefore always wide enough for any sewer we could ever lay, either 30 inch MT. Hering's size, or 40 inch, the width of our largest sewer, isn't this really little discouraging to us, who wish to be shown In addition to all this apparently irrefutable evidence against the smaller size being laid cheaper, there are still other things to be con- sidered MT. Hering's plans call in addition for storm sewers and also for flushing tanks, and yet we are told that it is cheaper to lay 30 inch sew CT, than the trunk sewers we now use. Well, if it is, i've have got to | d.