Evening star., 1933-12-17


The depth of water to be shut out by this
dam is l8 feet, and the depth of mud below
that depth of water, which mud it was neces-
sary to remove, was more than IT feet, so that
the building was begun at depth OF 81 feee
below the surface of the water. Notwithstand.
ing that so successful have been the prepara-
tions for resisting the vast external pressure
OF water that the rocky bottom was laid bare
the whole extent of the area inclosed. and
even swept clean and dry with brooms before
the cement was applied, in which, a few days
ago, the first course of stone was laid.
THE length of the pier building is. at the
base, &c feet, running in its length with the
current and the tide, Its precise breadth We
do not remember. but it must be something
over Is feet. The mason work OF the pier y
going on rapidly and successfully. 1t had yes
terday reached above 10 feet in height from
the bottom.
'The whole number Of these piers (some OF
them even larger than this) is to be eight.
besides the end piers abutments. and upon
them the canal is to be carried, at an eleva-
ton OF 30 feet above the level OF the river
Capt. Turnbul later served in the Mexican
War and brevetted colonel. In the early
construction of the Aqueduct Bridge he was
assisted by Lieut.. Maskell C. Ewing Of the Ar
tillery Corps.
1T WOULD be novelty if we could but sec
the old, original bridge when 1t was being
constructed, and especially the surrounding
country, which at that time must have looked
wild. A news item of October II, 1885, surely
indicates this 1t says:
wild Turkies-On Thursday last flock
Of 80 or 40 wild turkies were seen flying over
Georgetown in the direction of the Chain
Bridge, and on the Virginia side of the Po-
tomac. A man who happened to be on the
bridge at the time with his gun was fortunate
enough to shoot nine of the bevy, which ho
auerward sold for $125 each. 1t is an old
saying that the early appearance of wild tur-
kies is sign of hard Winter. We hope that
this sign will fail of being accomplished"
To the west Of the bridge, at Masons Island
(Analostan Island, now Roosevelt Island) at
that time, game was plentiful, and there was
abundance of wild turkey, canvas-back duck
and wild goose, and Jonathan Elliot, writing
in 1916. tells us how the sportsman killed the
last mentioned. He says: THE sportsman. BY
means Of a docile horse which concealed him
from the view, approached slowly until he
brought them within the reach of his gun"
This was about the time when there were
so many wild pigeons in this vicinity that
when they alighted in tree in great fiocks-
as the starlings frequently do today-they lit
orally stripped the branches from the tree.
Incidentally, these birds were so thoroughly
exterminated later that the last known pair
died in our Geological Park in few years ago.
One could hardly write of the Aqueduc4
Bridge without saying something about very
sad accident which occurred close to it %
Saturday, August 13, 1904, when a party a
merrynakers viewing regatta from .
launch anchored Cumberland's Boat
House. The accident was due to the over
turning Of the little boat by the rushing water
from a canal outlet not far distant. Ten per-
sons were drowned. Among those were An
drew J. Boose of Cumberland, Md; Mrs. Lulu
Dreyfuss and her sister, Miss Bertha Selbach,
both Of Findlay, Ohio, and the following Of
this city: John Walden, jr.; DIR. Charles H
Blumer OF Offutt & Blumer, druggists: J.
George Smith of r. p. Andrews q Co., J. HUI
bert Coates, william II. Smith, Miss Hazel
Hizer and Miss Helene Moore, daughter Of
Thomas p. Moore, the well known printer.
Since the bridge is to disappear no doubt
many will avail themselves Of taking last
farewell look at 1t before 1t is entirely re-
moved, and, though there can be few regrets,
under the circumstances, no doubt there WIN
often be recalled by the old-timer unfortunate
accidents. like the one Of nearly 80 years ago.
fer many drownings have occurred near the
"Three Sisters" just beyond the bridge. There
viii also be recalled and brought to mind many
Of the more pleasant incidents of the days
OF yore and the more delightful things we
have enjoyed, in which, perhaps, the old Aque-
duct Bridge might have played part.