New Britain Herald Newspaper, February 10, 1917, Page 5

. HISTORY OF WATER SUPPLY IS TRACED * Commissioner Egan Speaks to -~ Gathering at Smalley School Water Commissioner P. J. Egan de- livered an interesting address on the history of New Britain’s water supply before the members of the Parents’ and Teachers’ association of the Smalley school last evening. The pa- ber traces the history of the water Supply from its inception. The ad- dress follows: Running water was first introduced in New Britain in 1857, when an earthen dam was constructed at tha Ppresent location of Shuttle Meadow Lake, making a reservoir with a capacity of 700,000,000 gallons. The source of supply was springs. The Pproposition was first mentloned at n meeting of the borough on April 11, 1857, when a report was made on the Rroject by A, Chamberlain, grand- father of F. S, Chamberlain, showing the feasibility of the plan. After ob- » talning legislative rights, perfecting the plans, securing rights of way, etc, another meeting of the voters wan held, June 4th, when a vote was taken, 324 voting “yes” and 45 ‘“no.” The work was begun and finally finished on October 24th, Water was conveyed through a ten inch cement lined pipe one and one-quarter miles, then through an eight inch pipe to Walnut Hill, where it was distributed through four miles of mains, around the village, to 107 families. At the Qresent time we have sixty miles of _Dibe and 11,000 families served by cit) water. In 1869 a second main, a twelve inch cement pipe, was laid to meet the in- creasing demand for water. | In 1883 the first addition to the Fupply was the construction of Pan- ther Swamp canal (so-called). The first gatehouse (the square one) wa's srected the same year. Before this the v;ater was admitted through the open pipe. In 1891 the west canal - was con- ! ¢tructed, a new concrete dam was 'alit, doubling capacity, a new gate houre and a twenty-four inch cast iron maln was laid to the center of the ity and finished in 1893. For many years previous the cement plpe was being removed and in 1894 saw the complete substitution of cast iron pipe for cement lined all over the city. In 1896 the west canal ‘was ex- tended 3,000 feeet., In 1897 Roaring Brook was added by comstructing an Intake and double pipe line to Shuttle Meadow lake. In 1901 began the re- Jaying of larger mains and additional ;hydrants Dbegan, thereby insuring ample pratection in case of fire in the center and factory districts, this work requiring foir yoo-s to complete, In 1904 the Wolcott reservoir was built, adding 140,000,000 gallons ot ~ supply. In the above yvear a new Bupply was secured in the town of Burlington, consisting of three brooks! and in 1908 a reservoir was bullLi eapacity 75,000,000 gallons and ten miles of twenty-four inch main was Jaid to' the city, which is connected with the main from Shuttle Meadow, and can be used as an auxiliary supply fn case of need. This supply is at - present used for furnishing the north- ! western part of the city, which is ton high to be supplied from the Shuttle | Meadow system. . The year of 1910 saw the raising.of the Shuttle Meadow dam four feet, the laying of the high service pipe and the construction of the high service reservoir for distributing water in the elevated district mentioned above. A peculiar hydraulic feature figures in connection with this reservoir, namely, that the same malin, sixteen inch used in filling this basin is used to dis- ‘ tribute water in turn to the various s{reets in that locality. The elevation of this reservoir is thirty-nine feet higher than any point in the city. In 1911 a large additional supply was secured in Burlington, three miles from the .present reservoir, which, when fully developed, will double the present supply. Plans are in the wirks for construction of a reservolr aff a tunnel to divert water to the br )(. which the present reservolr is firom, thence to the present main P/ leading to New Britain, ., In cennection with the above history of our plant it is gratifying to know that the entire plant is a gravity supply, each locality being higher than the parent body, one of them filling a wWant in a faSt growing locality, which the original system could not supply. Another feature is that the city does not get one drop of water .from its own territory. We are being supplied by Southington, Berlin, Plainville, Wolcott and Burlington. Another point in connection with the present position of our ample supply is the opposition the city had to con- ledd with in securing what we have, and when we got it every additfon secured since original grant had to be fought for in the legislature. Our success Is due to the efforts of our , lgading citizens and representatives And their influence with their asso- clates In the legislature. If New Britffn waited to obtain those rights until now or when actually needed, they would be absorbed by the citles and towns, which territorially be- l6nged to them. Our foresight was far superior to the hindsight which some of our neighbors are crying about at the present time. Prrification and Protection. ‘l’he most important element in a water supply, next to abundance, is its purity and protection of the water- shed. Our supply coming from sc many different localities calls for a NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, CORNS HURT TODAY? Lift your corns or calluses off with fingers and it won’t ‘pajn you one bit. Yes! You truly can lift off every nard corn, soft corn or corn betweer: the toes, as well as hardened callouses on bottom of feet without one bit of : A genius in Cincinnati discovered freezone. Itis an ether compound and tiny bottles of this magic fluid can now be had at any drug store for a few cents. Apply several drops of this freezone upon a ten- der, aching corn or cal- lous. Instantly all sore- ness disappears and shortly you will find the corn or callous so shrivel- ed and loose that you lft | it off with the fingers. | You fell no pain while applying freezone or afterwards. Just think! No more corns or cal- louses to torture you and they go without causing one twinge of pain or soreness. You will call freezone she magic drug'and it really is. Gen- . ulne freezone has a yellow label. Look | for yellow label. e —w———— careful watch with reference to pos- sible contamination and to prevent such the board have spent over $100,000 in purchasing land and buildings and the destroying and re- moving of objectionable conditions. In 1894 the first step was the condem- nation of the group of buildings (used &s a resort) on the bank of the lake, thus putting 3‘111 end to blthing, boat- ing, etc., whi had existed for years. In addition eleven buildings have been removed from the wadtershed at Shuttle Meadow Lake and 1,000 acres were bought and cleaned up. In the Wolcott section no evils exist, that locality heing sparsely settled. Only two places inhabited are on the water- shed and those are far from the source of supply. In the Buglington district the 'city has purchased over 1,000 acres. It has removed fourteen buildings and is ne- gotiating for two more which will practically eliminate all possible sources of contamination. In the upper Burlington district practically all land and buildings have been se- cured for flowage and protection. The city is receiving a rental from these until the time comes for using this supply, when everything objectionablé will be removed. In addition to this precaution we have caretakers at each source of supply, whose duties are the enforcement of orders given them by the board and a frequent patrol of the watersheds. A force of laborers is employed to help those in charge. Davenport and Keeley (city chemists) make a bacteriological analysis weekly of the supply as it is distributed to the consumers, a microscopical analysis of local and Shuttle Meadow, and the time is divided beteween construction, office, meters, general repairs and Shuttle Meadow. Payrolls are 'ap- proved by the chairman and clerk, or- ders drawn for the same and are signed bv the chairman and submitted to comptroller for countersigning. Cards containing name, number, amount and signed by the emploves, are receipts for the pay. Regular ac- counts are approved by the full board and passed upon at the monthly meet- ing of the board (second Monday). Orders are drawn for same and coples are made for the common counell, comptroller and office. Some of the contracts are made on a cash discount for prompt payment and payment for | same as executed as above. All debts jcontracted are paild by check, no “swapping” or exchange of bills or ac- counts are allowed. A Salary accounts ate paid the first of each morth. Superintendent and foreman are paid on the first and fiftcenth and receipts for amounts are filed with regular vouchers. Miscellaneous expense for office use is paid in cash at time of purchase, each six months articles are itimized and a check drawn for same and de- posited as cash, When any land for right of way, or for protection of water supply is pur- chased it is searched and description obtained, approved by the mayor and comptroller afterwards approved by board and recorded on record book of the department, a certificate of title and a warrantee deed is obtained, re- corded in town where property is located. All deeds, rights of way and water damages are numbered, in- dexed and recarded in a book for that purpose, date of purchase and amount paid. Method of Collecting Revenue. Urcer tho meter system, a record of, meters, number of house, = owner, street, date. of setting, testing and changing is kept in a card system. Books containing a sheet fap each house for two years, where the month- 1y readings are recorded and kept. During June and December of each year the readings are transferred to ledgers, bills made therefrom and mailed to owners or agents. All un- collected bills ending January and ‘July 81st are taken from the ledger, new bills with interest added and mailed, thirty days after second notice is sent. which &s a rule brings a ma- jority of them around. A few have to be threatened, All' old :accounts must be paid before the current bill. All other accounts for labor, ma- and a petty ledger. All money de- posited is entered on cash book, also on order book where balance is shown. Daily balances are made during the collection period to detect errors which migh occur. .All payments to treasurer are acknowledged by receipt. All receipts are on s flxbs which are en- tered on sheets totalled, checked by | comptroller and correspond generally with deposits. The physical management 1s under | the supervision of Superintendent J. | H, Towers, who has charge and the re- | sponsibility of the entire supply. He | has supervision aver the caretakers of the different reservoirs, the ad- the water from the different sources monthly and a semi-annual physical inspection of the entire watersheds. In addition the board have a project started for the reforestration of all the watersheds, the removal of all decay- ing growth and have already planted 10,000 pine trees on the watershed at Shuttle Meadow. The engineering department, at the expense of the board, is compiling a map of the entire property owned by the city so reference can be made at any time as to location, when it 1is necessary to secure additional prop- erty for further protection. The only filtration method is the screening of the water. We have five gate houses, equipped with a double set of copper screems (close mesh) all waters change physically twice each vear, April and September. A system of flushing the mains is carried out and we rarely have any complaints, except from those living near a dead end of pipe or when a main is first laid in a street. Concerning the method of purchasing material, the approval and payments of bills, collection of water rents, pur- chasing of land, right of way and the general management of the depart- ment. The largest expense for material is for pipe and is governed in quantity each year according to orders from the common council. A schedule of | sizes and quantity is made up usually the first of the year, and all the repu- table concerns are asked to bid for same, delivery to begin May 1. The result of the blds are submitted to the council for approval. On the award to the successful bidder a copy of the order is mailed to the concern, who have inspected pipe the last twelve yvears for the department, a list of the pipe and number cast (good or bad) is mailed to us. When pipe is being shipped a watch is kept, no pipe is loaded which has red figures. The factory send list of pipe, car num- | ber, freight bill and bill of lading, all of which are invariably correct. A debit and credit account is kept 'on a petty ledger of all contracts for pipe or any other contract that in- volves more than one shipment. Freight is prepaid, as often it happens if freight is paid at recelving end, we would be compelled to pay the bill be- fore the material is checked up. All other purchases for material, in- cluding hydrants, valves, meters and | supplies, a list is furnished by the su- ! perintendent, which are ordered from the office, copy of same handed to su- perintendent, who on receipt of bill of lading and the arrival of same checks articles and approves bill by signature, Local supplies are furnished by orders { which are in duplicate and are written in the office. Payrolls are made up each week (to Thursday night) from time books, “v-v-.v-;vo‘.v‘v‘v'-‘vo RI “Made in Connecticui” Frisbie's Rertilisers for all :rops ar High Grade Chemical THE 'F 4 2 ) | S SBIE’S ANIMAL FERTILIZERS ] s @ade of Animal Tankage, Bone, Blood and andin fine mochanical condition. Cvery farmer use (Bome, Blood and Tankage) for CONNECTICUT FA&S T e (T ) 5 S " . @ ditions and repairs locally. The engineering work has been trensferred to the city engineer who will have full charge of all new con- struction or development of the sys- | tem, his report to be made to the board. All expenses in connection | with his duties are paid from the de- partment’s funds. The executive or general manage- ment is in the hands of the members of the board, whose action is collec- tive, except in minor details which are covered at the office, as occasion re- quires, the chairman is the responsible head, who hes to take all responsi- bility in case of failures and divide co-equally with other members when success is attained. A Few Statistics to 1915, Cost of reservoirs and distributing mains $1,720,000.00; relaying in city, larger mains $96,000.00; metering city $78,000.00; land and buildings $110,- 000.00; water rights and mill 'damages\ $73,100.00. ‘ ‘Water mains are in 287 streets; 5,100 buildings; 11,000 families, 5,300 meters, 55,000 people; 90 miles of | mains; 1,300 valves; 720 hydrants; 4| reservoirs; 11,600,000 gallons capacity; 10 gate houses; size of pipe, 4 inch to 30 inch; 2,500 acres of land, including reservoir sites. Value of property (comptroller) $2,800,910.46. Receipts to 1916, $2,423,179.89, Taxes pald 1915, $1,956.75. > A daily record is kept of the rise or fall of onch reservoir, us well as rain- fall for eact month and a total for| each year, Personnal of the depart: Three commissioners( one of whom is chair- man) clerk, assistant clerk, superin- tendent, two foremen, three inspectors, three caretakers. Location of plant, Shutte Meadow | Lake, Southington; East canal; West | canal, Plainville; High Service reser- voir, City; Reservoir, Wolcott; Reser- voir, Burlington; New supply, Upper | Burlington. . The first water commissioners were ¥. T. Stanley, H, E. Russell and G.| M. Landers. The first meters were set in 1869 ac- cording to the report for that year | water was wasted, same as it is in many cases at the present date. P. J, EGAN, Clerk. WANTS RESERVATION Charley Robinson, Heap Big Chief of Panama Indians, After Land Sim- ilar to That Given in America. Panama, Feb, 9.—"Charley Robin- son,” chief of the Sen Blas Indians, has proposed to President Valdes that his people be given a reservation, from which all foreigners are to be excluded. In practice the San Bias have maintained their territory to themselves, not gllowing outsiders to remain in their villages overnight. This custom has become a source of | friction with the authorities of the Republic of Panama and with foreign- | ers who are interested in trade and plantation developments. The chief’s i nnanasitine alms &k mecurina repoani- | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1017. tion of the right of his people to live to themselves, at the same time con- ceding the authority of Panama in all of the San Blas territory outside of the reservation. ‘' The proposed reser- vation is an area about 70 miles square which is about on twenty-fourth of the total area of Panama. ‘“Charley Robinson,” is a nam of the chief’s own adoption. One of the customs of the San Blas is to give their children temporary names which they may shed with their milk teeth, and adopt their own permanent desig- nation. Robinson pays rather fre- quent visits to Panama. City, on which he calls in state on the president, at- tired in a blue uniform and accom- panied by two body servants. His idea of the reservation was given him by an American, who cited the Indian reservations of the United States. It is said that the government of Panama is inclined to co-operate with him in Working out his scheme, ——————————————— POWDERS UCCCTETETCTTTT For either brain or muscle Bakers Cocoa . is refreshing. Cocoa contains more nourishment, than beef” Walter Baker & Co. Ltd. - ‘ESTABLISHED 1780 DORCHESTER, MASS. TR = SR RnneE [t MOTHER GRAY'S BENEFIT MANY CHILDREN Thousands of mothers have found Mother Gray's Sweet Powders an excellent remedy for children complaining of hoadache, colds, feverishness, stomach troubles and bowel ir- regularities from which children suffer dur- ing these days. These powders are easy and pleasant to take and cxcellent results arc ac- complished by their use. Used by mothers for. 30 years. Sold by Druggists everywhere, 25c. ILINCOLNoo KAISER The Straight dssue, Will Be the Subject of the Address at A PATRIOTIC SERVICE AT SOUTH CHURCH VESPERS, SUNDAY, 4:30 P. M. g I MUSIC ; Organ Prelude—Reverie................... Cowen Anthem—Eventide ....... ". Lambrecht " | Anthem—“Abide With Me” ............... Shell Offertory—“God Shall Wipe Away All Tears” M:rfi Orgon Postlude—Intermezzo. . ............... 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This year’s demand seems likely to be oubled. ‘ So we urge that fine-car buyers decide the question now. section the demand is unprecedented it probably doubles the life of a motor, due to this minimized friction. First in 41l Ways All the latest Hudson bodies were designed for this top-place car. Every item of beauty and luxury shows their leadership. In engineering, the Hudson staff has held first place for years. Everyone concedes the leadership of Hudson engineers. This year, a new gasoline saver gives an- other important distinction. A shutter con- trols the heat and regulates the combustion efficiency of the motor. So the fine-car buyer who buys on merit is bound to choose the Hudson. And this is to urge that you find it out in time to get prompt delivery. The first thing, and the chief thing, to con- sider is the motor. And its chief virtue is absence of vibration. Vibration causes friction. In the average type it wastes half the motor’s power. It re- stricts performance, it causes wear, it pro- hibits endurance. The Super-Six invention—a Hudson pat- ent — almost eliminates friction. So nearly that it added 80 per cent to the six-type effi- ciency and made this type supreme. It has proved that by winning all worth- while records. That is, all stock-car records for speed, for hill-climbing, for long-distance endurance, and for quick acceleration. And Touring Sedan Timousine e (All Prices £, o. b. Detroit) It excels in all sorts of performance. $2935 8025 3025 Town Car cesee Town Car Landaulet . Limousine Landaulet $1650 1650 Phaeton, 7-passenger . Roadster, 2-passenger Cabriolet, 3-passenger ... WILLIAMS AUTO CO. 287 Elm Street, New Britain