USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Fall River > Centennial history of Fall River, Mass. : comprising a record of its corporate progress from 1656 to 1876, with sketches of its manufacturing industries, local and general characteristics, valuable statistical tables, etc. > Part 19
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The editor is indebted to William Rotch, Esq., the superintendent and engineer of the Water-works Board, who has been actively identified with the projection and construction of the system, for the following detailed account of this most important public enterprise :
Fall River is fortunate in the possession of a beautiful lake of fresh water within two miles of the centre of the city, whose purity is unsurpassed by any other public water supply equally extensive and so easily attainable, and yet whose advantages were so little appreciated a few years ago, that some per-
161
WATER WORKS.
sons gravely suggested that Fall River might find it necessary to go to the Middleborough ponds in order to obtain a sufficient supply of water.
Watuppa Lake, the source of supply for the water-works, and also for ยท eight mills that run by water-power, on the lower part of Quequechan River-the outlet of the lake-is seven and two thirds miles in length, with an average width of about three quarters of a mile. It is fed princi- pally by springs and small streams, which collect the water from the sur- rounding hills. The drainage area is sparsely settled, and covered princi- pally by a young growth of oak, interspersed with pine and chestnut ; and the soil is exceedingly favorable for the collection of a pure and abundant water supply, being composed principally of sand, gravel, and gravelly loam, inter- spersed with numerous boulders, and resting generally on a solid stratum of granite rock.
The whole area included by the water-shed contains about 20,000 acres, or 31.25 square miles, and is capable of furnishing a daily supply equal to half the amount of water used by the city of Paris, or about double the quantity used by the city of Boston ; so that even if the rapid growth of Fall River during the last half-dozen years should continue during the next half century, the supply of water would still be comparatively inexhaustible, so far as the demands of the city are concerned.
In fact, the lake is capable of furnishing a daily supply of about 35,000,000 gallons, and of this the water-works took less than 1,000,000 gallons per day during the year 1875, and about 1,500,000 gallons per day during the excessively dry season in the summer of 1876. The daily average for the whole of the year 1876 will undoubtedly be less than one and a quarter millions.
According to the analysis made by Prof. John H. Appleton, in 1870, the water of Watuppa Lake is remarkably pure, there being but 1.80 grains of solid matter per gallon ; while the Cochituate and Croton waters, as analyzed by Prof. Silliman, in 1845, contained respectively 3.37 grains and 10.60 grains per gallon. Later analyses indicate that the water supplied to New York is, however, purer than when analyzed by Prof. Silliman. The water of the Schuylkill, analyzed by Prof. Silliman, contains 5.50 grains per gallon ; the Pawtuxet, at Providence, contains 2.14 grains per gallon; and the average amount of solid matter in the water furnished to London by nine different companies is about 20 grains per gallon.
The nature of the soil around Watuppa Lake, and the fact that the neighboring country is very thinly settled, will make it impossible for many impurities to reach the lake, and will insure the purity of its waters for many years.
162
FALL RIVER AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
In the spring of 1871 the first Board of Water Commissioners was appointed by the City Council, and in the fall of the same year work was begun upon a road which it was necessary to construct for a distance of nearly a mile and a half to give access to the place selected for a pumping station.
During the year 1872 the foundations of the engine-house, boiler-house, and coal-house were built, and the superstructure was completed the following year, being constructed of granite quarried in the immediate neighborhood, on the lot bought by the city for the pumping station and reservoir.
The gate-house, where the water is taken from the lake, was built 225 fcet from the shore, where the depth of water is ten feet ; so that in years of extreme drought, when the lake is sometimes five feet below high-water mark, there is a depth of at least five feet of water at the gate-house and four feet in the pump-well.
The engine-house was made large enough for four engines-two for the high-service and two for the low-service-which it was thought the increas- ing wants of the city would ultimately require.
The first engine was built in 1873 by the Boston Machine Company, and was put in operation January 5th, 1874, the first water being supplied to the city on January 8th. This engine is a double horizontal condensing engine, similar to the engines at Boston Highlands, which were built by the same company, and consists of two pumps 16 inches in diameter, and two steam cylinders 28 inches in diameter, both cylinders and pumps having a stroke of 42 inches, and working from one crank-shaft with one fly-wheel, 15 feet in diameter, and weighing 15 tons. The engine possesses one important advan- tage-which on several occasions, while the community was dependent on its unassisted efforts, has proved very useful and essential-the fact that its two parts are symmetrical, and, although designed to work together, capable of being run separately, and one half stopped if it is necessary to make any repairs or to adjust or replace the valves.
This engine pumps directly into a 24-inch force-main, extending from the engine-house to the centre of the city at the corner of Main and Bed- ford streets, a distance of a mile and three quarters, and this force-main sup- plies the low-service-that is, all those portions of the city which can be satis- factorily supplied with an adequate pressure from a reservoir, which is intended to be constructed at some future time on the hill near the pumping station, where the elevation of the highest point is 256 feet above tide-water.
The remainder of the city, comprising about one quarter of the whole area, and situated principally on two hills on either side of the Quequechan River, forms the high-service, and is supplied by a distinct system of pipes fed by a 16-inch force-main, extending a distance of a mile and a quarter from
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WATER WORKS.
the engine-house to Robeson and Twelfth streets, from which place lateral pipes are laid to the two hills above referred to.
The high-service is supplied directly by an engine built in 1875 by Henry R. Worthington, of New York ; but cross-pipes with suitable gates are arranged at the engine-house, so that either or both services can be supplied by either or both engines, which is an important provision in case of an acci- dent to one of the engines, or in case of a large conflagration necessitating more than the capacity of a single engine. The guaranteed capacity of the Boston engine is 3,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours, but at the time of the fire at the American Print Works, December 8th, 1874, it pumped for an hour or more at the rate of 4,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours.
The guaranteed capacity of the Worthington engine is 5,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours, but during the fire at the American Linen Mill, June 29th, 1876, it pumped for a time at the rate of 5,500,000 gallons in twenty- four hours. This engine, known as the "Worthington Duplex Pumping Engine," consists of two horizontal, direct-acting steam engines, of equal dimensions, placed side by side, and so connected that the motion of one will operate the steam valves and change the motion of the other. Each engine works a separate pump, and has two steam cylinders, one high and one low pressure, the two pistons being connected with the same rod, which is pro- longed into the pump cylinder to form the pump rod. The low-pressure piston is connected with the main rod by means of a cross-head and two small rods with outside stuffing-boxes, thus avoiding the danger of leakage through an inside stuffing-box between the two cylinders.
The smooth and noiseless action of the engine, and the ease with which it performs its work, are very striking, and it is difficult to realize that the piston-rods, which seem to move so easily, are really working against a resist- ance of about fifteen tons.
The principal dimensions of the engine are as follows :
Diameter of high-pressure steam cylinders. 29 inches.
" low
.504
66 " pump plunger (air-pump side) .22
(north side). .223 66
" piston-rod for water cylinders 4
Maximum length of stroke. .50
66
Diameter of air-pumps.
Stroke
. 27 and 294 23
The contract horse-power of the engine is 17 6, equivalent to raising 5,000,000 gallons 200 feet high in twenty-four hours, with a plunger speed not exceeding 110 feet per minute. Several trials have been made to test the
164
FALL RIVER AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
capacity of the engine, and it has been found to exceed the contract guaran- tee in this respect.
Besides this guarantee of " capacity," the engine was guaranteed to show a " duty" of 65,000,000-that is, to be capable of raising 65,000,000 pounds of water one foot high with 100 pounds of coal; and October 4th, 1876, a trial took place, with the following result :
Duration of trial, 13 hours.
Total number of strokes, 31,376.
Average number per minute, 40.23.
Average length of stroke, 49.7 inches.
Capacity of pump per stroke, 82.3 gallons.
Total amount of water pumped, 2,582,245 gallons, or 22,535,932 pounds.
Total lift, including friction in force-main, 217.52 feet.
Total weight of coal burned, 6600 pounds.
Duty, 70,977,177, showing an excess of 9 per cent above the guarantee.
The amount of water pumped during each year since the water-works have been in operation is as follows :
Year.
Total No. of Gallons pumped.
Average per Day.
Each Inhabitant per Day.
Each Consumer per Day.
1874
185, 116,305
507,168
11.65
84.53
1875
296,007,606
810,980
18.02
70.83
1876 (to October)
297,658,014
1,086,343
24.69
49.38
The extreme drought during the summer of 1876 increased the con- sumption for a short time to 1,800,000 gallons per day, but this was caused, to a great extent, by the large amount used by some of the mills that were unable to obtain the usual supply from the pond, which, during the month of October, fell to within a few inches of the lowest point recorded during the last forty years.
The number of pipes laid and gates set, previous to September Ist, 1876, will be found in the following table :
Size.
Pipes (lineal feet).
Gates.
24 inch
11,488
I2
20
21,317
24
I6
26,823
40
I2
17,799
36
IO
18,801
30
8
52,246
100
6
89,789
249
Total.
.238,263
491
(or, 45.13 miles).
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WATER WORKS.
The number of flush hydrants in use September ist, 1876, was 291, and the number of post hydrants 170, making a total of 46 1.
The number of service-pipes at the same date was 1440, and the number of meters 484.
The amount of rock encountered in laying the main pipes has averaged 2 1 per cent of the total amount of trenching, or about nine and one quarter miles out of forty-five, and this item alone has increased the cost of the work at least $100,000.
One of the most conspicuous features of the water-works is the tower, containing two stand-pipes, three feet and six inches in diameter, one for the high-service and one for the low-service. The top of the low-service stand-pipe is 48 feet above the highest point of the 24-inch force-main, and it is provided with two waste outlets, one 3 feet below the top, and the other 13 feet below. The top of the high-service stand-pipe is 88 feet above the highest point of the 16-inch force-main, and it is likewise provided with two waste outlets, one 3 feet and the other 23 feet below the top. The lower outlet is provided with a gate, which, on ordinary occasions, is kept open, the height of this outlet being sufficient to give all the pressure required for the regular supply in the higher portions of the city, but in case of fire this gate can be closed, and the water will then rise to the upper outlet, giving 20 feet additional head for the fire streams.
The two outlets of the high-service stand-pipe are connected with a pipe leading into the top of the low-service stand-pipe, and while the daily con- sumption in the city is comparatively small, it is found to be more economi- cal to run but one engine, and pump all the water into the high-service stand-pipe, the low-service being supplied through the waste-pipe of the high- service.
The tower is built entirely of granite, quarried upon the spot, with the exception of a part of the cornice, some of the "quoins' and some of the arch stones over the doors and windows, which are made of a handsome blue stone, found in the immediate vicinity. Most of the work is " rough ashlar," the buttresses, window-caps, etc., being left with "quarry face," and there is very little hammer-dressed stone in the building.
The base is 21 feet square to a height of 22 feet 6 inches, surmounted by an octagonal shaft 60 feet 6 inches high, with an outside batter of half an inch per foot. The inside diameter is 15 feet 6 inches at the bottom, and 12 feet 9 inches at the top. The pipes occupy the centre of the tower, and around them is a circular iron stairway leading to the top.
At a height of 72 feet above the base of the tower, and 324 feet above the sea-level, is a balcony, 3 feet wide, on the outside of the tower, furnishing
166
FALL RIVER AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
a most extended view in every direction, comprising the cities of New Bed- ford, Taunton, and Providence, and most of the country within a radius of twenty miles. The whole height of the tower from the base to the vane is I2 I feet.
The total cost of the water-works, up to October Ist, 1876, is $1,328,456.14.
The cost of maintenance and the revenue for the first two years after the introduction of water was as follows :
1874.
1875.
ITEMS.
Total.
Per 1000 gallons pumped.
Total.
Per 1000 gallons pumped.
$
cts.
$
cts.
Interest on bonds, per annum
57,694 67
31.16
67,660 00
22.86
Management and repairs .
15,328 19
8.29
18,917 24
6.39
Cost of pumping
7,933 52
4.28
10,504 52
3.54
Total cost of maintenance, per annum
80,956 38
43.73
97,081 76
32.79
Revenue, per annum.
24,336 95
13.15
41,439 19
14.00
Excess of revenue over management, repairs, and pumping.
1,075 24
0.58
12,017 43
4.07
From January Ist to October Ist, 1876, the revenue has been $43,142.5 1, and this will probably be increased to $50,000 by the end of the year. The cost of management, repairs, and pumping will be about $25,000, so there will be a balance of about $25,000, to go towards paying the interest on the bonds. This balance will go on increasing every year, and, provided a proper policy is pursued with regard to water rates and the use of meters, the water-works should, in a few years, be entirely self-supporting ; for if the city can receive payment at the rate of three cents per hundred gallons, as allowed by the Ordinance, for all the water pumped, the revenue will, in a short time, exceed the total cost of maintenance. This can be done by preventing water from being wasted without being paid for, and to accom- plish this, no way is so efficient as to make the use of meters as universal as possible.
It has been the endeavor of the Water Board to encourage the use of meters in all cases, for such a policy is beneficial both for the city and for the consumer, because not only is the cost of measured water in most cases less than by the ordinary rates, but a large amount of waste is prevented, and the cost of pumping diminished.
The Fall River Water Works have been constructed in the most sub- stantial and durable manner, with a liberal allowance for the probable growth of the city. The main and distributing pipes are of ample size and strength, the fire hydrants are placed at frequent intervals, and the pumping machinery,
Engine House
EIGHT ROD WAY.
167
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
boilers, and force-mains are duplicated, so that nothing but an extraordinary concurrence of circumstances could cut off the supply of water. Taking into consideration the thoroughness with which all parts of the work have been planned and executed, the high price of labor and materials during the years when most of the work was done, and the unusually large amount of rock encountered in laying the pipes, the cost of the work will not appear excessive ; while the purity, abundance, and favorable location of the source of supply make it probable that Fall River will find its water-works satis- factory and adequate for all the wants of the city for many years to come.
The Fire Department of Fall River has necessarily been for many years a conspicuous feature of the municipal organization. Aside from the very large proportion of wooden domiciles, the value of the mill structures and machin- ery in the city-at a low calculation, $25,000,000-and the immense loss that would fall upon the community by their destruction, have not only inspired a more than ordinary spirit of precaution in this particular, but enlisted and retained in the ranks of the department the sterling and responsible residents. As a consequence of this last circumstance, the several companies are com- posed of the most worthy young men of the city, and the department has been generally superintended by some prominent citizen, whose pronounced executive ability and large material interest in the general safety against con- flagration have especially commended him for the position.
The present chief of the department, for instance, is William C. Davol, Jr., the treasurer and agent of the Davol Mills. Two years since the position was ably filled by Holder B. Durfee, treasurer of the Massasoit, and for sev- eral terms by Thomas J. Borden, whose active interest in the department will not soon be forgotten.
With the completion of the water-works, extraordinary resources for the prompt extinguishment of fire were at once assured. The system of hydrants, judiciously disposed, in every part of the city, has rendered these resources available for any unusual exigency.
The fire department consists at present of seven very powerful steamers, each with a complement of sixteen men and three horses; one extinguisher engine, nine men and one horse ; two hook-and-ladder trucks, eighteen men and two horses ; and one hose company, nineteen men and one horse.
Notwithstanding the heterogeneous population of a considerable part of the city, and the want of proper conservation perhaps to be inferred, the fires in Fall River are few in number, and show a relatively small annual average of loss. In 1875 the department was called out by genuine alarms but 37 times, and the total loss for the year was $162,052, of which $157,987 was .covered by insurance.
,68
FALL RIVER AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
The efficiency of the Fire Department has been greatly enhanced within the past few years by the erection of engine-houses in different sections of the city, so distributed as to make every point easily accessible by at least two steamers with their trained corps of firemen. The latest of these buildings, and most complete in all its appurtenances, is the engine-house upon Eight Rod Way. It is constructed of brick, with granite trimmings from the local quarries, and has within spacious rooms for a hook-and-ladder truck and a steam fire-engine. The large bascment, extending under the whole building, is used for storage, heating apparatus, coal, etc., and contains a tank sixty feet long, for washing hose. The second story contains the reception-rooms, bath-rooms, sleeping-bunks, etc. The tower, one hundred feet high, is used for drying hose, and for suspending the alarm-bell. A stable in the rear con- nects directly with the rooms containing the fire apparatus, the first stroke of the alarm opening the stall doors (fastened by springs) and allowing the horses to take their respective positions with the least possible delay. The building, as completed, cost about $20,000, and, like the other engine-houses in the city, possesses all the latest conveniences and improvements for the expeditious use of the apparatus in case of fire.
BANKS AND SAVINGS INSTITUTIONS.
THE FALL RIVER NATIONAL BANK.
Charter-Original, 1825 ; National, 1864.
THE first meeting of the citizens of Fall River to take into considera- tion the expcdiency of establishing a bank in the village was held at the office of James Ford, Esq., January 18th, 1825. The record reads as follows :
"At a meeting of the citizens of the village of Fall River, at the office of James Ford, Esq., January 18th, 1825, pursuant to previous notice, to take into consideration the expediency of establishing a bank in said village, David Anthony being called to the chair and James Ford appointed secretary, it was
"Voted and Resolved, That a petition be presented to the Legislature, at their present session, for a charter for a bank ;
" That a committee of five be appointed to receive subscriptions for the stock, and to cause the petition to be presented ;
" That Oliver Chacc, David Anthony, Bradford Durfee, Richard Borden, and James Ford be this committee ;
169
THE FALL RIVER NATIONAL BANK.
" That five cents on a share be paid by the subscribers to defray the ex- penses that may accrue in obtaining an act of incorporation ;
"That Oliver Chace be treasurer to receive the above money.
"A true copy. Attest : M. C. DURFEE."
The act of incorporation contains the names of Oliver Chace, David Anthony, Bradford Durfee, Richard Borden, Nathaniel B. Borden, John C. Borden, Lucius Smith, Samuel Smith, Clark Shove, Harvey Chace, Edward Bennett, Arnold Buffum, James Ford, James G. Bowen, William W. Swain, Benjamin Rodman, William Valentine, and Holder Borden.
At the first meeting of the stockholders, April 7th, 1825, Oliver Chace David Anthony, Bradford Durfee, Sheffel Weaver, Edward Bennett, Gideon Howland, Benjamin Rodman, John C. Borden, and Richard Borden were elected directors, and at a subsequent meeting of the directors, May 3d, 1825, David Anthony was chosen president and Matthew C. Durfee cashier.
One of the present officers of the bank, whose father was an original stockholder, recollects, as a boy, riding on horseback from Freetown to bring the specie, in bags, to pay for his father's stock. Having hitched his horse to a pair of bars where the Stone Church now stands, he then, with his heavy load, trudged down into the village, which seemed quite a distance away. It was the only bank of discount and deposit in the village for twenty years.
David Anthony, after a service of forty years, resigned the office of presi- dent, on account of ill-health, in 1865, and was succeeded by Colonel Richard Borden, who, having deceased in 1874, was succeeded by Guilford H. Hathaway.
Matthew C. Durfee continued as cashier until 1836, when he resigned and was succeeded by Henry H. Fish, who served twenty-seven years, re- signing in 1863. George R. Fiske was elected his successor and served until 1873, when he resigned and was succeeded by Ferdinand H. Gifford.
The first banking house of the Fall River Bank was a brick building, erected in 1826, on the corner of Main and Bank streets. It was destroyed by the great fire in 1843, but rebuilt of the same material the same year.
The Fall River Bank started with a capital of $100,000, which was in- creased to $200,000 in 1827, and to $400,000 in 1836. In 1844 it was reduced to $350,000, but increased again to $400,000 in 1864, when it was incorporated as The Fall River National Bank, No. 590. The management of its busi- ness has been conservative and far-sighted, resulting in continued prosperity. It is also a fact worthy of note that, taking into account the many years of its existence, the changeable condition of trade, the monetary crises, etc., which it has experienced, this institution has never been obliged to pass a dividend.
170
FALL RIVER AND ITS INDUSTRIES.
THE FALL RIVER SAVINGS BANK.
Incorporated in 1828.
The first savings bank in the United States was established at Phila- delphia, in the year 1816. The second was organized in Boston in the same ycar, and during the next ten or twelve years several were established in dif- ferent parts of the commonwealth. The intensely practical and sagacious men who had to do with the early business interests of Fall River quickly discerned the advantages of such institutions to a community largely made up of day-laborers and people of small means, and accordingly made appli- cation for a charter for a savings bank. A charter was granted March 11th, 1828, by which Oliver Chace, James Ford, Harvey Chace, Bradford Durfee, John C. Borden, Clark Shove, and Hezekiah Battelle were constituted a corporation by the name of " The Fall River Institution for Savings."
The declared object of the institution was "to provide a mode of ena- bling industrious manufacturers, mechanics, laborers, seamen, widows, minors, and others in moderate circumstances, of both sexes, to invest such part of their earnings or property as they could conveniently spare in a manner which would afford them profit and security." The organization of the new institution was speedily completed by the election of Micah H. Ruggles as president, Harvey Chace secretary, and a board of eighteen trustees, viz. : David Anthony, Samuel Chace, Nathaniel B. Borden, John C. Borden, Harvey Chace, Joseph Gooding, James Ford, Bradford Durfee, Richard Borden, John S. Cotton, Clark Shove, Philip R. Bennett, Joseph C. Luther, Jesse Eddy, Enoch French, Hezekiah Battelle, Matthew C. Durfee, and Wm. H. Hawkins. James Ford was elected treasurer, and Enoch French, David Anthony, Matthew C. Durfee, Jesse Eddy, and Harvey Chace a board of investment.
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