The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-11-05
Topeka is CLEAN
WaterWOrkS Patrons Take 3d.
900 Baths a Week.
This Doesn't Include Homes
without Water Service.
FRANK STEVENS KNOWS ALL
Assistant Water Superintend-
ent a Philosopher.
Water Gauge Tells Him Stories
in Silent Code.
FRANK STEVENS KNOWS ALL

They tell about Topeka being the
most beautiful inland city in Ameri a,
they boast of her industries, her paw
ing, her sewerage, her parks,-but at
no time to the knowledge of the casual
reader has the Commercial club spoken
of Topeka as a city where the $4,000
inhabitants use q, 100000 gallons of
water a week-and one-tenth of it is
used for bathing.
Frank Stevens, assistant superinten-
dent of the city waterworks in Tope-
ka's unique philosopher. The trick of
the little water gauge on the wall of
his office tells him seasons, flowers,
gardens, storms and showers. Frank
Stevens, surrounded by clicking type
writers-cold, black, without melody
adding Notwithstanding, shiny and
classify cold-books piled high contain
ing nothing but inky fgures-despite
this environment, this surrounding,
Stevens can see sunshine, flowers, fire
and calamity.
His gauge tells him fire pressures.
When a fire is serious the pressure
lasts for hours. The gauge in sizzling
summer weather tells of open hydrants
and baked lawns and flowers. In cold
wintry weather it tells shivering pa
drinks or dashing shower baths.
Basking in this glow of Imagination,
the assistant water superintendent has
figured out the relation between the
human Topeka bodies and the water
that comes from the deep wells along
the KaRw river.
Baths Taken in Topeka.
According to the figures on Stevens
books, $500 patrons live in houses that
rest comfortably on the end of the
threaded water service pipes in To-
peka- Again drawing conclusions from
his years of experience in the depart
ment as well as his domestic life,
Stevens figures that the average family
in Topeka takes 10 baths a week. Now
for a little arithmetic. Number of pat
rons, $500; number of baths, 10. 1t
may be against the rule to multiply
baths by patrons but here goes-it
makes total of $1,000 baths in Topeka
each week.
Again, the use of the pencil The
average bath takes 35 gallons of wa
ter. Multiply once more. Eureka.
Topeka uses more than 2, 900 900 gall
ions of water weekly-not weakly
for bathing purposes. The daily con-
sumption of water is 3,00O 900 gallons.
The weekly consumption q, 000, 900. Now
we have it-one-tenth the entire sup
ply used in Topeka goes for bathingI |
Now let the Commercial club shrek! |
This is enough to attract every resi-
dent of the city of Boston-and scare |
away every hobo that ever trodded the |
rails leading to the capital city. Think |
of it! $4,000 baths week! And remem- |
ber-thiS includes only the patrons /
who take city water. Hundreds OF |
families in Topeka are not near the |
water mains.
Frank Stevens could tell other stories
of the use of water. He knows lust
how much water is used for the
sprinklng of lawns in the summer and t
the watering of ferns and geraniums
In the winter. He can tell you how
much water you use to wash your
face every morning noon and night
and whether that water is cold. luke
warm Or hot He has a wonderful in
sight into the city's shiny white en-
aneied bath rooms-this Incompatible
Frank-the-Peeper Stevens