The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-20
TO WALK 115 MILES
IN AQUEDUCT TUNNEL
New York Newspaper Men
Brave Cold In Long Under
ground Tramp.
VIEW ASHOKAN RESERVOIR
Start From Kingston and End
First Leg Of Journey at
High Falls.
VIEW ASHOKAN RESERVOIR

HIgu FALLS. n. Y, Jan. ia party
OF New York newspaper men, under the
guidance OF engineers from the Board
of Water Supply and In tho custody Of
the aqueduct policemen. started out to-
day to walk every inch of the aQueduct's
lis miles and to discover II after all IL
runs up hill or down.
A no one else has ever attempted to
walk through the aqueduct from end to
end and as no one else probably ever will.
especially after the first days trip. the
adventure, besides being a damp and
chilly one II unique.
To DO exact, 1t began at Kingston this
morning at S o'clock. when the newspaper
men. clothed In ms much material as avail
able, not to mention four buckle arctics.
me: Engineer ii. 5. X McCurdy. in charge
OF the Ashokan division. and started by
train to the Ashokan reservoir fifteen
miles away. Besides the four buckle arc
tics and more metropolitan articles of
dress there could be seen In possession
of the party such things as alpenstocks,
snowshoes, marine glasses. surveyors in
struments and "a complete set of medicine
intended for use at the attack OF any
stray rattlesnakes.
1t was still night time. that Is. S 80
A. NJ. when tho party alighted from "A
train at Ashokan and piled into several
motor cars. bundl!ng up carefully in fur
robes and starting for the Olive Bridge
dam. II IS this dam which. with several
others OF more modest proportions. blocks
up the mouth OF the Ashokan valleys. thus
| making a natural reservoir. capable OF
holding 10000. 100000 gallons Of water
which Is computed to be more beer than
any one could drink IN a lifetime.
Mr.. McCurdy waved his arm across the
horizon. Indicating an earth pocket OF
undulat!ns surface and told the pedes.
trlans that when filled the reservoir will
present q shore line forty miles long and
length Of twelve miles. Then everybody
slid down q fifty foot embankment TO a
manhole.
! Manholes. Il should be said. are one o,
the most characteristic parts OF the new
aqueduct. To begin with, they afford the
only opportunity left OF getting into 1,
and. what Is a matter OF lively interest, the
only chance Of getting out, once you &c,
In. There Is something human about the
manholes OF the aqueduct which makes
one think they have been well named
From the cavernous gloom Of the interior
!.c.. and they are the only things encoun
tered through the dreary miles Of cement
wall that give the lie 20 constant i'm
pre- ssion that you are dead and have beer
dead for 1000 years in the catacomb'
Of Rome.
with lanterns and candles the party
| explored frst the tortuous tunnels and by
tunnels that form the upper and lower gate
chambers. that IL, the solid cement wayi
through which the first rush Of water Is
| to be Qu!eted before II reaches tho screen
room and the long single tunnel Of the
| apueduct proper. The screen room II &c
be a filter that will prevent fish or ses
weed from fiouncing out of the faucet In
| your Harlem fiat.
This part OF the trip completed aftei
| an hour made cold by great quantities Of
ice the march 10 New York was begun
to end thirteen miles away at High Fall,
| ana low spirits. Cut and cover cOnstruc'
ton. through which most of the way lee
to-day looks quite the same as tunnel and
pressure construction. The first is mad'
by digging deep ditch and then covering
II inside and out with cement. bore
seventeen feet high and seventeen feet
sin inches wide IL the result
At the end OF Mr. McCurdy's guidar~
the party was taken In charge by A.
Buss. known as pop" engineer ruling Tn,
destnies of the Esopus division.
AT shaft one, where the newspaper mel
went up for air. they found Cripple Bush
IA village. and George De Pew. farmer
driving a pig Oh n long rope, Also Their,
WAS found a quantity OF yellow mud OF
the four buckle arctics. generous sprink
linCs OF dust ON the clothes and the pros
poet OF n nights rest at the Black Cliff
! House High Falls. with nothing but snow
and leafiess trees and Catskill Mountain
foothills as far as the eye could reach.