Part 4

“In the vicinity of the Temple of Vesta stands a handsome fountain, having a capacious basin, in which some Tritons support a large marble shell. From the centre of the latter, the water spouts to a considerable height, and then descending flows over its margin into the basin beneath. Some fine fountains adorn the magnificent colonnade in front of the Cathedral of St. Peter. The _Piazza di Spagna_ has likewise for its embellishment, a fountain in the form of an antique boat. Besides the structures described above, there is a great number of other fountains which evince much diversity of taste and ingenuity in their contrivance. But at the different villas of the opulent, the abundance of water is rendered subservient to amusing as well as useful purposes, and several of them are rather singular. The description of one will convey some notion of what is common to many of them.

“The delightful promenades, groves, and gardens belonging to the Doria family, are interspersed with fountains of various forms; besides having a beautiful lake with waterfalls. Statues, antique basso relievos, and small fountains, adorn a kind of amphitheatre, where a circular edifice contains the marble figure of a fawn holding a flute, on which it seems to play different airs: the music, however, is produced by a machine resembling an organ in its construction, and motion being given to it by the flowing of the water from a cascade.”

“Perhaps the few instances recited above will suffice to demonstrate the different modes employed at Rome, for calling into exercise genius, fancy, and taste, to diversify the public edifices concerned with its abundant supply of water; thus rendering them subservient to magnificence, entertainment, and utility. Whilst John Dyer resided there, he viewed these celebrated fountains with the mingled feelings of the painter and the poet; hence, associating them with other interesting circumstances, they furnished the materials for one of his most striking and pathetic delineations.

‘The pilgrim oft, At dead of night, ’mid his oraison hears Aghast the voice of Time, disparting towers, Tumbling all precipitate, down-dashed, Rattling around, loud thundering to the moon; While murmurs sooth each awful interval Of ever-falling waters; shrouded Nile, Eridanus, and Tiber with his twins, And palmy Euphrates; they with dropping locks Hang o’er their urns, and mournfully among The plantive echoing ruins, pour their streams.’”

_Ruins of Rome._

HISTORY

OF THE

PROGRESSIVE MEASURES FOR SUPPLYING

THE

CITY OF NEW-YORK WITH WATER.

As early as 1774, when the population of the city of New-York was only _twenty-two thousand_, the Corporation commenced the construction of a reservoir and other works for supplying water; and for the purpose of defraying the expense of the undertaking, issued a paper money, amounting to _two thousand five hundred pounds_, under the denomination of “_Water Works Money_,” and bonds were executed in favor of certain individuals for land and materials to the amount of _eight thousand eight hundred and fifty pounds_ more.

A spacious reservoir was constructed on the east line of Broadway, between, what is now known as Pearl and White streets, and a well of large dimensions was sunk in the vicinity of the Collect. The war of the revolution, which commenced in 1775, and the consequent occupation of the city of New-York by the British troops, was the cause of the abandonment of the work in its unfinished state.

In the year 1798, Doctor Joseph Brown addressed a communication to the Common Council, strongly recommending the Bronx River as a source from which to obtain a supply of good water for the use of the citizens. This recommendation induced the Common Council to employ William Weston, Esquire, a Civil Engineer, to examine the subject, and he reported on the 16th of March, 1799, in favor of the practicability of introducing the water of the Bronx into the city. Neither of these gentlemen had used levels or made any survey of the country over which the water should be brought, nor was there any measurement obtained of the flow of the stream; consequently, their opinion was only founded on personal view, gained by walking over the ground.

In April, 1799, the _Manhattan Company_ was incorporated by an act of the Legislature, and the object of this Company was declared to be, to supply the city with pure and wholesome water; but instead of looking for a supply from foreign sources, they resorted to the plan of furnishing the water from wells which they sunk within the city limits. Besides these wells of the Manhattan Company there were others subsequently sunk by the Corporation of the city, as well as by individual enterprise. Some of these wells were of great depth and capacity, having, in some instances, horizontal excavations at a considerable depth below the surface, branching off from the main shaft. Efforts of this kind, however, proved unsatisfactory, and much solicitude was felt by the citizens on account of the scarcity of _pure_ water.

On the 17th of March, 1822, the Mayor among other measures suggested by him to the Common Council, brought to their consideration, the important question of supplying the city with pure and wholesome water, and requested its reference to a Committee, which was accordingly done. The Committee, of which the Mayor was one, proceeded to the principal source of the Bronx River, in the county of Westchester, known as the Rye Pond. They spent two days, the 20th and 21st of March, in exploring the country adjacent to the River and Sound, and at a meeting of the Common Council, on the first of April, the Mayor, as Chairman of the Committee, made a report of their observations, and recommended an appropriation, with authority to employ a competent engineer to survey and profile the whole line between the city and the main source of the river Bronx, and to ascertain the quantity of water it would afford, and an estimate of the probable cost of completing the project of supplying the city with good and wholesome water from the aforesaid source. The recommendation was concurred in, and the Mayor employed Canvas White, Esquire, a Civil Engineer, to make the said survey and estimate.

The yellow fever prevailed in the city during the summer of 1822, and shortly after the termination of the epidemic, on the 25th of November, the Mayor, in a communication to the Common Council, on subjects relative to the preservation of the public health, stated that a very important subject connected with the health of the city, was a sufficient supply of good water; and that on this subject all had been done that it was practicable, under existing circumstances, to perform; that arrangements had been made with Mr. White, a Civil Engineer of repute, to examine the several sources from which a supply was likely to be obtained, and to furnish correct surveys and profiles of the heights and depressions of the country through which the water must be conveyed, and that he had been requested to report as soon as it was practicable.

In 1823, the Sharon Canal Company was chartered by the State, and among its duties was that of supplying the city of New-York with pure and wholesome water. The work was not, however, undertaken.

In January, 1824, Mr. White made his report, which he prefaced as follows:--“That he had the honor of receiving a request from Stephen Allen, late Mayor, to make an examination and estimate of the expense of furnishing the city with a copious supply of good and wholesome water. Agreeably to that request, I have made the necessary surveys, levels and examinations to ascertain the practicability of the project,” &c. &c. At the same date, Benjamin Wright, Esq., reported to the Common Council on the same subject, which he prefaces as follows:--“In obedience to a request of your honorable body, communicated to me by Stephen Allen, Esq., late Mayor, in November last, desiring me to assist Canvas White, Esq., with my advice and counsel, as to the best method of supplying the city of New-York with plenty of good water, I beg leave to make the following report,” &c.

Mr. White reported in favor of bringing the water of the Bronx to the city; taking it from the River at the Westchester Cotton Factory pond. The natural flow of the River at this place, he stated to be 3,000,000 of gallons per day, in the driest season, and he proposed by artificial works at the upper Rye pond, and by lowering the outlet of this pond, to obtain 3,600,000 gallons more per day; thus furnishing a daily supply of 6,600,000 gallons. The cost of bringing the water to a reservoir near the Park, was estimated at $1,949,542. Mr. Wright concurred with him in this opinion.

In 1825 a company was incorporated by the Legislature, and called the “_New-York Water Works Company_,” with authority to supply the city with pure water. Canvas White, Esq., was appointed Engineer to this Company, and in his report to the Directors, he recommended taking the waters of the Bronx at Underhill’s bridge; estimated that 9,100,000 gallons of water could be delivered in the city daily, and that the expense would not exceed $1,450,000.

The charter of this company proved so defective in practice, that they were unable to proceed under it, and they accordingly applied to the Legislature in 1826 for an amendment, authorizing the company to take such of the waters, land and materials, by appraisement of indifferent persons, as might be required for the work. In this application, however, they were defeated, by the opposition of the Sharon Canal Company, who claimed, under their charter, all the water on the route of their canal. The Water Works Company was accordingly dissolved in 1827.

In 1831, the Common Council of the city, impelled by a sense of the importance of a supply of pure and wholesome water, began to take more decided steps towards the accomplishment of the object: a Committee of the Board of Aldermen on Fire and Water, consisting of James Palmer, Samuel Stevens and William Scott, to whom were referred various communications and resolutions on the subject of supplying the city with water, presented a report adducing facts and arguments sufficient to prove the practicability of the project and the ability of the Corporation to meet the expense; and prefaced that report as follows:--“That they approach the subject as one of vast magnitude and importance to an already numerous and dense population, requiring our municipal authorities no longer to satisfy themselves with speeches, reports and surveys, but actually to raise the _means_ and strike the spade into the ground, as a commencement of this all important undertaking.”[2]

Their attention was drawn, at that time, to the Bronx River, with the ponds at its head, as the source for supply; but appended to their report is a letter directed to the Corporation and signed Cyrus Swan, “who is President of the New-York and Sharon Canal Company,” in which it is asserted, “it has been ascertained that _that_ River (the Croton) can be carried into the city of New-York, and that without it, a supply which shall be adequate to the present and future wants of the city cannot be obtained.

This Committee drafted an _Act_ for the Legislature to pass, which was approved by the Common Council, and presented to the Legislature in the session of 1832, but failed in becoming a law. That _Act_ provided for the appointment of a Board of Commissioners of three persons, by the Common Council, to superintend the execution of the plan and make contracts for introducing water into the city of New-York.

In November, 1832, a report was made by Timothy Dewey and William Serrell to Benjamin Wright, Esq. They had examined the sources of the Bronx River and other streams, and the practicability of introducing the water of the Croton by connecting it with the Sawmill and Bronx Rivers;--they did not consider it possible to bring the Croton water to mingle with those of the aforesaid rivers without the aid of expensive machinery, from the great height it would be necessary to elevate the water. They finally recommended the Bronx as a sufficient source, with some artificial reservoirs, to answer all the city purposes.

The frightful ravages of the cholera, during the summer of 1832, gave to the subject of _a supply of pure water_ a deeper interest, and the minds of the citizens were again aroused to the importance of it. The Committee of the Board of Aldermen, on “Fire and Water,” James Palmer, chairman, pursued the subject with energy; exhibiting on all occasions perseverance and industry in their researches.

Myndert Van Schaick, Esq., being a member of the Board of Aldermen at that time, was familiar with the question of a supply of pure and wholesome water, and holding the situation of Treasurer of the Board of Health, became deeply interested in the measure, and urged it as a matter of the deepest importance to the permanence, welfare and financial interests of the city, that every method should be taken to investigate and probe the subject which cautious men could adopt, and his efforts in the subsequent measures and provisions of law in relation to it are of the same character.

In December, 1832, De Witt Clinton, Esq., of the United States Corps of Engineers, made a report pursuant to a request of the Committee on Fire and Water, in which, after stating the substance of the several reports in favor of the Bronx as the source of supply, he arrives at the conclusion, that an adequate supply can only be obtained from the Croton River.

He proposed to take the waters of the Croton at Pine’s bridge, which he stated to be 183 feet above the level of the Hudson; to conduct the water in an open Aqueduct, following the line of the Croton and Hudson Rivers, and cross Harlem River on an arch of 138 feet in height, and 1,000 feet in length. The whole cost he estimated at $2,500,000.

It does not appear, however, that any levels were run, or survey made by Mr. Clinton, of the route he recommended; but, that he depended on the information of others, together with his personal observation, for the subject matter of his report.

In a report made to the Board of Aldermen in January, 1833, it was suggested that the failure of the law asked for the year previous, was in consequence of a want of sufficient information to warrant the opinion of the feasibility of the project, and it recommended that immediate application should be made to the Legislature, asking for the appointment of a Board of Commissioners, with full powers to examine all the plans proposed, to cause surveys, and to estimate the probable expense of supplying the city of New-York with water.

The Committee recommended that the Commissioners should be appointed by the Governor and Senate, and that their number should consist of five, “inasmuch as the object of their appointment is to settle conclusively the plan to be adopted, and the amount requisite for its performance.” This report was concurred in by the Board of Assistants, and approved of by the Mayor, January 17th, 1833.

In compliance with the request of the Common Council the Legislature of the State, on the 26th of February, 1833, passed an Act,[3] providing for the appointment by the Governor and Senate, of five persons, as Water Commissioners, whose duty it was by said Act declared to be “to examine and consider all matters relative to supplying the city of New-York with a sufficient quantity of pure and wholesome water for the use of its inhabitants, and the amount of money necessary to effect that object.”

In pursuance of this law, the Governor and Senate appointed the Board of Water Commissioners, consisting of the following named gentlemen:--Stephen Allen, William W. Fox, Saul Alley, Charles Dusenberry and Benjamin M. Brown. They were directed to make their report to the Legislature, by the second Monday of January, 1834, and to present a _copy_ thereof to the Common Council of the City of New-York on or before the first day of November, 1833.

The Commissioners proceeded in the discharge of their duties, employed as Engineers Canvas White, Esquire, and Major D. B. Douglass, of the United States Corps of Engineers, and made all necessary examinations so as to determine, whether a sufficient quantity of pure and wholesome water could be obtained for present and future purposes, whether its introduction into the city would be practicable at an elevation precluding the use of machinery, and also what would be the probable cost of completing the projected work. Their report satisfied the Legislature that a supply of pure and wholesome water was of great importance to the city--that its introduction was feasible, and that the expense was within the financial ability of the citizens. Accordingly an Act[4] was passed by the Legislature, on the 2d of May, 1834, which provided for the appointment of five Water Commissioners by the Governor and Senate, and they were required “to examine and consider all matters relative to supplying the city of New-York with a sufficient quantity of pure and wholesome water; to adopt such plan as in their opinion will be most advantageous for securing such supply, and to report a full statement and description of the plan adopted by them; to ascertain, as near as may be, what amount of money may be necessary to carry the same into effect; to report an estimate of the probable amount of revenue that will accrue to the city, upon the completion of the work, and the reasons and calculations upon which their opinion and estimates may be founded; such report to be made and presented to the Common Council of the city on or before the first day of January, 1836.”

It was further provided, that “in case the plan adopted by the Commissioners shall be approved by the Common Council, they shall submit it to the electors to express their assent or refusal to allow the Common Council, to instruct the Commissioners to proceed in the work.”

The Commissioners who were appointed in 1833, were re-appointed under the Act of the 2d of May, 1834. They immediately entered upon the duties of their office, thoroughly re-examined their former work, and decided that the Croton River was the only source that would furnish an adequate supply of water for present and future purposes. In making these examinations they employed, as Engineers, David B. Douglass, John Martineau and George W. Cartwright, Esquires. Various plans were proposed for conveying the water to the city, and estimates made of the cost of the work constructed by either of these plans, but the one recommended by the Commissioners, and that for which a preference was expressed by the Engineers, Messrs. Martineau and Douglass, was a closed Aqueduct of masonry. These gentlemen each made an estimate of the cost of bringing the water of the Croton River to the city of New-York by a closed Aqueduct of masonry, and the Water Commissioners offered, as the true cost of the work, an average of the two estimates. The cost of the work, as estimated for this plan and presented by the Water Commissioners, (including the cost of the city mains and conduits,) was $5,412,336.72.

The report of the Water Commissioners was referred to a Committee, who reported to the Common Council, on the 4th of March, 1835, two resolutions, the first approving the plan adopted by the Commissioners as described in their report; and the second referring the subject to the electors at the ensuing annual election, as required by the Act of May 2d, 1834. These resolutions were adopted by the Common Council, and at the election in April, 1835, the subject having been duly submitted to the electors of the city and county of New-York, a majority of the voters were found to be in favor of the measure. On the 7th of May following, the Common Council “instructed the Commissioners to proceed with the work.”

Thus authorized, the Commissioners immediately commenced the preparatory measures for the construction of the work. David B. Douglass was employed as Chief Engineer; he proceeded in the location of the line for the Aqueduct and in preparing plans, until October, 1836, when he was succeeded by John B. Jervis, who continued at the head of that department during the construction of the Aqueduct.

The construction of the work was commenced in May 1837; and on the 22d June, 1842, the Aqueduct received the water from the Fountain Reservoir on the Croton:--on the 27th of June, the water having been permitted to traverse the entire length of the Aqueduct, entered the Receiving Reservoir at the city of New-York, and was admitted into the Distributing Reservoir on the 4th of July.

The Commissioners who were appointed in 1833, and re-appointed in 1834, continued in the performance of their duties until 1837--in March, of which year Thomas T. Woodruff was appointed in the place of Benjamin M. Brown, who resigned his office, and the Board of Commissioners thus constituted, continued until March, 1840, when they were succeeded by Samuel Stevens, John D. Ward, Zebedee Ring, Benjamin Birdsall and Samuel R. Childs. This Board of Commissioners remained in office until February, 1843, when they were succeeded by the gentlemen who composed the former Board.

OF PLANS PROPOSED FOR FURNISHING THE CITY WITH WATER, AND OF THE PLAN ADOPTED.

In the course of examinations which were made to determine sources whence water could be obtained, questions of deep importance presented themselves in regard to the source to be relied upon for a supply, also in reference to the plan which should be adopted for conducting the water to the city.

It was of so much importance to the city that the supply should be such as not only to answer the present purposes, but be adequate to the future increased demands, and that the quality of the water should be unquestionable, that it became necessary to extend the examinations over every watered district in the vicinity, in order to judge of the comparative merits of different sources. The Engineers who were employed, traversed the country, gauged the streams, reported their supply, the quality of the water, and plans which might be adopted for conveying it to the city. It was a field for the exercise of the talent and research of the Engineer: in resorting to a distant stream for a supply, any plan which he might propose for conveying the water, would encounter obstacles requiring skill and ingenuity to overcome. He would find it necessary to build up the valleys, pierce through the hills, and span the waters of the arms of the sea which embrace the city and make it an island. Structures would be required, which, in their design, would find no parallel among the public works of this country, and in forming plans for them he might study with advantage, the works constructed for similar purposes by the Ancient Romans.

The examinations embraced all the sources from which a supply of water might be obtained in the neighboring counties of Westchester and Putnam; giving a comparison of the different streams in regard to their elevation, their capacity, and the quality of the water. It was decided that the Croton River would supply a sufficient quantity of water at all seasons of the year; at an elevation precluding the use of steam or any other extraneous power, and that the quality of the water was unexceptionable. Other streams were found which would furnish water equally pure, but too limited in quantity at certain seasons of the year, and not at a sufficient elevation.

In addition to the information furnished by the Engineers employed, the Water Commissioners received communications from other sources suggesting plans for supplying the city with water.