USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > City Officers and the Annual Reports to the City Council of Newburyport 1880 > Part 12
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R. Fowler, rent of Washington Hall. 68 75
$168 75
MARCH.
Mrs. L. T. Batchelder, three months' rent of hall 31 25
APRIL.
Estate of S. W. Marston, three months' rent of armory .. 100 00
R. Fowler, rent of Washington Hall 68 75
MAY.
$168 75
L. T. Batchelder, rent of Washington Hall .
31 25
JULY.
Estate of S. W. Marston, rent of armory 100 00
R. Fowler, rent of Washington Hall . 68 75
AUGUST
$168 75
Mrs. L. T. Batchelder, rent of Washington Hall 31 25
OCTOBER.
R. Fowler, rent of hall and ante room. 68 75
Estate of S. W. Marston, rent of armory . 100 00
$168 75
NOVEMBER.
Co. B, 8th Regiment, M. V. M., rent of rooms . . 50 00
230
TREASURER'S REPORT.
DECEMBER.
L. T. Batchelder, rent of Washington Hall. 31 25
State aid paid in 1880 to date 3,569 00
Military aid paid under chapter 252 Acts of 1879 1,398 00
$4,998 25
RECAPITULATION.
Bills paid in January $168 75
March 31 25.
April
168 75
66 May
31 25
July .
168 75
66
August
31 25
October
168 75
66
November 50 00
66 December 4,998 25
· Total expenditures for year ending December 18, 1880 $5,817 00
BOARD OF WATER COMMISSIONERS.
Amount transferred from Incidentals to meet the follow-
ing expenditures. $1,150 75
EXPENDITURES
Authorized by the City Council.
JUNE.
Patrick Niland, four days' labor $ 5 00
L. D. Stevens, labor with team 23 00
Charles R. Sargent, uncapping water pipe 1 00
$29 00
JULY.
James J Shattuck, board of sundry persons
$41 40
Thurston & Colman, lumber 16 26
Amount carried forward. $ 57 66
231
BOARD OF WATER COMMISSIONERS.
Amount brought forward. $57 66
J. M. Tappan, distributing reports. 3 00
J. H. P. McQuillen, labor and stock. 12 27
William A. Gould, service of assistant engineer 84 35
George Lucy, horse hire. 49 50
S. H. Thurlow, 15 pounds of nails. 83
Joseph C. Batchelder, services with surveyor 3 00
Albert W. Bartlett, 66 4 50
. John N. Pike, services rendered. 6 00
$221 11
Heliotype Printing Co., 500 copies map of water works .... $45 00
SEPTEMBER
Henry M. Wightman, services as engineer $560 42
Board of water commissioners, personal examination. 106 50
Nathaniel Pierce, examining water question. 100 00
$766 92
OCTOBER.
Karl Castlehun, analyses of water $60 00
Joseph M. Greenough, horse hire 19 00
W. H. Noyes, expenses to Boston 3 00
$82 00
NOVEMBER.
Martin Higgins, labor on water works
$4 37
DECEMBER.
Charles R. Sargent, order for water commissioners $2 35
RECAPITULATION.
Bills paid in June
$ 29 00
July
221 11
August.
45 00
September
766 92
October
82 00
66
November
4 37
December 2 35
Total expenditures for year ending December 18, 1880. . $1,150 75
31
AUGUST.
232
TREASURER'S REPORT.
ABATEMENTS OF TAXES.
1874.
Credit from Incidentals ,$186 30
Allowed on assessors' orders 186 30
1875.
Credit from Incidentals 133 00
Allowed on assessors' orders
133 00
1876.
Credit from Incidentals®
91 28
Allowed on assessors' orders
91 28
1877.
Credit from Incidentals
85 20
Allowed on assessors' orders
85 20
1878.
Credit balance December 20, 1879. 1,731 35
Credit from Incidentals 515 75
Allowed on assessors' orders
2,247 10
1879.
Credit balance December 20, 1879 323 85
Allowed on assessors' orders 313 13
Balance December 18, 1880 to new account
$ 10 72
1880.
Appropriation .
500 00
Overlay of taxes 2,357 63
Supplementary committal and reassessments 322 32
$3,179 95
Allowed on assessors' orders
1,525 08
Balance December 18, 1880, to new account $1,654 87
233
MISCELLANEOUS DEPARTMENTS.
WIDENING MERRIMAC STREET.
Amount transferred from Incidentals to meet the follow- ing expenditures . $406 75
EXPENDITURES Authorized by the City Council.
NOVEMBER.
William A. Gould, plan of alteration on Merrimac street. . . $27 25 Elisha P. Pride, dinners furnished county commissioners ... 8 00 J. W. Evans & Co., services rendered laying out Merrimac street 36 50
$71 75
DECEMBER.
Felch & Dodge, labor and stock $10 00
Thomas Waters, for damages awarded 225 00
Ira L. Davis,
75 00
Michael Bennett, .
25 00
$335 00
RECAPITULATION.
Bills paid in November $ 71 75
December 355 00
Total expenditures
$406 75
NON-RESIDENT BANK TAX.
Collected from city banks $4,915 13
Credited in state account. 4,064 54 $8.979 67
Charged in state account.
$6,723 63
Cost of assessing and collecting 49 15 $6,772 78
Balance transferred to Incidentals to balance account .. . $2,206 89
234
TREASURER'S REPORT.
INCOME FROM PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
Received from C. E. Adams & Co., rent of two stalls in
Market house $125 00 Received from W. T. Colman, rent of one stall in Market house 100 00
Received from County of Essex, rent of Market hall.
225 00
City hall . 871 25
$1,321 25
Paid E. F. Bartlett, clerk, amount allowed by county for rent of office to January 1. 1880. 50 00
Transferred to Public Property to balance account.
$1,271 25
RECEIVED ON ACCOUNT OF TAXES.
Tax of 1873 from collector $ 11 48
1876 66
21 39
.6 1877 251 00
. 6 1878
6,220 21
. 6
1879 66
14,368 38
. . 1880 98,669 72
$119,542 18
SINKING FUND.
Appropriation $3,000 00
Excess of income over expenditures for 1880 3,309 89
Paid sinking fund commissioners $6,309 89
235
MISCELLANEOUS DEPARTMENTS.
COMMSSIONERS OF ATKINSON COMMON. EXPENDITURES
Charged in account as per page 127.
September - James Knight, 26 sugar maple trees $16 00
LIQUOR LICENSES.
Received for liquor licenses granted $7,800 00 Paid state of Massachusetts 25 per cent of receipts 1,950 00 Balance transferred to Incidentals to balance account. .. $5,850 00
STATE AND COUNTY TAXES.
Appropriated and paid for state tax of 1880. $6,555 00
66
66
county tax of 1880
7,135 54
·
REPORT
OF THE
BOARD OF WATER
COMMISSIONERS,
To the City Council of the City of Newburyport:
The undersigned, Commissioners elected by your honorable body, by virtue of Chapter 235 of the Acts of 1880, and charged by said Act with the duty of " investigating all questions relative to the introduction of pure water into the city," and to ascertain the cost of the same, have the honor to submit the following report as "the result of their investigations and deliberations upon the same."
Upon receiving notice of their election, the Board at once met and organized by the choice of E. F. Bartlett as chairman, and Francis Curtis as secretary, and proceeded to consider the matter confided to their hands by your votes. It was determined by the Board that the interests of the city wonld be best served by the employment of an engineer whose reputation and standing in his profession would be such as should secure the confidence and re- spect of our citizens, and it was also considered that it was every way desirable that in procuring such service it was essential to have the aid and advice of some person who should be wholly clear of any and all personal interest or prejudice in favor of a particular system or works, and at the same time one who by practical experience and education should be thoroughly competent to advise and assist the Board in asertaining the best and most
238
REPORT OF THE WATER COMMISSIONERS.
feasible source of supply of pure water, as well as to give as nearly as possible accurate and reliable estimates of the cost of procuring and distributing the same for the use of our citizens and for the use of the city by its Fire Department. And in pursuance of this plan the Board proceeded to interview the City Engineer of Boston, Henry M. Wightman esq., and are under obligations to Albert Stanwood esq., a native of this city, and now of the Boston Water Board, for an introduction to Mr. Wightman as well as for many valuable suggestions, and as a result of said interview it was de- cided by the Board to secure the services of Mr. Wightman.
A meeting of the Commissioners with Mr. Wightman was imme- diately arranged to proceed to view and investigate the various sources of supply that have from time to time been discussed by our citizens in the term of years in which the question of a water supply has had prominence in the minds of many of our people, and in pursuance of this plan the Board, accompanied by Mr. Wightman, on the 13th day of May visited Bartlett and Jackman's springs at the north end, and also the lands in the Common pasture district at the rear of the city, as well as taking a general view of the topography of the country surrounding the city with a view to the probability of noting some possible source of supply that might have been perhaps overlooked or not considered heretofore. It was, at an early day after the selection of your Board of Com- missioners, apparent to them that they were unanimous as to the great necessity of obtaining a source of supply on this side of the Merrimac river, if possible to do so, and this for a variety of reasons, among others that, although in these days of engineering science it is every way practicable to cross such a river with a sup- ply pipe, still, the expense is very much enhanced thereby, and then again the greater expense and time required in case of any break or other casualty to the portion of the pipe under water is another objection to crossing a river if it can be avoided. Acting thus in this direction (the views of the engineers and commissioners being in entire accord), a thorough investigation was determined upon to test and ascertain the probable amount of supply to be obtained from the Bartlett and Jackman springs, and under the di- rection of the engineer, proper arrangements for measuring the amount of water flowing therefrom, were made by the construction of weirs at each of said springs, and measurements have been made from time to time since, so that it has been ascertained, as
239
REPORT OF THE WATER COMMISSIONERS.
will be seen by the report of the engineers hereto annexed, that the average amount per diem to be obtained by consolidating the waters of these two springs is 550,000 gallons, which would prob- ably be increased somewhat by the water shed immediately sur- rounding the springs, but as the area of such water shed is quite limited it would not be safe to make a very large estimate thereof over the amount of evaporation taking place from the area of the storage supply after the construction of proper dams for retaining the same.
The excellent quality of the water to be had at this location, it will be readily conceded, makes it a very desirable source of supply, could we be assured that it was to be had in sufficient quantity to answer the demands of the city for the present and a reasonable time in the future, and for a further elucidation of this source of supply the Board would respectfully refer to the report of the engineer herewith submitted, as well as to what may be found therein relating to any possible supply to be obtained by means of artesian wells or boring on Common pasture, so called. At an early period in the investigations of the commission and engineer in making a personal inspection of the topography of the country surrounding the city it was observed that nature had provided a most excellent and capacious basin for a pond of water by utilizing the valley made by Turkey and other smaller hills in Newburyport, and Indian, Ilsley, Archelaus and other hills in the adjoining town . of West Newbury, which had the appearence of having a most ample area of water shed, thereby ensuring almost an unlimited amount of water for the use of our city, provided the water could be retained by suitable artificial dams. The commissioners, under the advice of the engineer, at once determined to cause proper surveys of the premises to be made, to ascertain the amount of area of water shed into said basin or valley, and also to procure reliable data as to the area of land available for the purpose of flowage for a pond as a storage supply.
These surverys were at once entered upon and prosecuted with great industry, as was absolutely necessary, owing to the very lim- ited time allowed by the act of the legislature in which the com- missioners are to report. The. results of these surveys (for the particulars of which reference may be had to the report of the engineer) were extremely gratifying to your commissioners, as we have no doubt they will be to our citizens generally, for by it we
32
240
REPORT OF THE WATER COMMISSIONERS.
learned that Mr. Wightman's practical experience had enabled hin to detect that which had before been overlooked, and that nature had generousely provided all that was necessary for her to do, to give us a beautiful and pure sheet of water, needing only the brain and labor of man to utilize the same, and bring the best and purest of water to our very doors. The extent and advantages of this water shed are without doubt to most of our citizens comparatively un- known, and therefore the commissioners feel called upon to report more fully the "result of our investigations and deliberations thereon " than would, perhaps, otherwise be necessary ; and would therefore invite your especial attention to its claims as regards quantity, quality, contiguity and economy. as well as its security from future contamination.
And first as regards the quantity of water to be here obtained it may be said that by a long series of experiments and obser- vations the amount of rain fall to be collected in a basin such as is proposed is no uncertain quantity, but is susceptible of very close calculation as to the quantity that may be depended on ; it may be safely stated that experience has shown us that each square mile of water shed will yield 1,000,000 gallons per day, hence as our engineer's report shows a water shed of over five square miles we could rest satisfied that from this source could be obtained enough and to spare for the use of our city, far beyond the life time of any now living, even if we should be favored with quite a rapid increase in population, as will doubtless be the ten- dency if a public water supply is introduced. Relating to this point the following extract from an article on this subject is here given : " The Board of Water Commissioners of the city of Nor- wich, Conn., selected a water shed of only 483 acres, 1 rood, and . 31 rods, no water being impounded by nature, but, having the ad- vantage of a sufficiently elevated position to supply the city by grav- ity. The area of the artificial reservoir was 66 acres, the capacity of the reservoir by careful calculations was determined and the estimate made that it should fill by retaining the water that should fall on the surface of the 483 acres in 474 days. By experience it filled in 450 days, the explanation being that the rain fall for that term was in almost that exact proportion more than the average. The quantity stored shows the daily average of water saved while filling to have been 817,778 gallons ; this would be equal to a daily supply of 40 gallons per day to 20,444 persons." A further quo-
241
REPORT OF THE WATER COMMISSIONERS.
tation from the same report says : "In the antum of 1868 the dam at the city reservoir was fully completed, the waste gate finally closed, and the storage of water commenced. The results accom- plished by months of labor and large sums of money expended were about to come to a practical test. How few, then, among all the citizens dared predict even moderate success from an experi- ment, a doubtful experiment, as many · believed of gathering suffi- cient water in an open meadow, from a small stream, with only three-fourths of a square mile of gathering ground for an adequate supply of wholesome water for the needs of ten or twelve thousand persons ? The skeptical asked, can this little streamlet give us pure. soft and wholesome water? Those who desire may now test its qualities and witness a large and beautiful lake clear and deep, lying among the hills, with its arteries extending past almost every door ready to supply the wants of the people, and powerful against devouring flames." It will be seen by the above quotations what has been done with a water shed of less than one-sixth of what we have at our command.
Of the purity of water from such a source of supply no person can reasonably doubt, and annexed hereto will be found the result of various analysis of water made by Dr. Karl Castlehun. at the request of the commissioners, and also annexed to the report of the Engineers a table giving the weight of impurities in various public water supplies. The contignity of this source of supply is also very favorable to its selection, and it is most fortunate that we have here at hand the high land of Turkey hill which is most favorably located as a sight for a reservoir, and is also the most desirable spot to be found in the city, as regards its elevation, being at its top 132 feet above mean high water, and having excellent area on its summit on which to construct a reservoir, and it will be readily seen that its location is much nearer the central point of distribution than any other supply which is now or ever has been considered. (if we except what may have been said in regard to the water of Common pasture. ) The short distance for a forcing main from the proposed lake to the reservoir (only some 1,600 feet) is also very desirable, when considered as much reducing the expense in consumption of fuel for pumping and also lessening the possibil- ity of any break in the forcing main.
In the light of economy without doubt this source of supply is the most favorable one for the city, both as regards its first cost,
242
REPORT OF THE WATER COMMISSIONERS.
as well as looking to any future needs of the city, from growth in population or increase in manufactures, as with its great water shed we should have an ample supply for a city of 50,000 inhabitants, using at the rate of 50 gallons per day, per capita.
Water reports show the daily consumption of water from public supplies to range between 30 and 120 gallons per capita ; Chicago for instance using 120, and Fall River about 30. Most, if not all other cities and towns in this country supplied with water works coming within these extremes. The area of the water shed at the source of supply under consideration is without doubt as free from impurities as any like number of acres to be found, nor is it at anr time in the future likely to be contaminated by the growth of our city in that direction. For the estimates of cost of introducing water from this and other sources of supply, see estimates of the engineer.
The board have also given careful attention and consideration to the plan of obtaining water from Kimball's pond in Amesbury, and in the report of the engineer will be found his estimate of the cost of water from that source, which it will be observed is without the damages. The quality of the water is excellent and the quantity to be had ample for many years. The report of the engineer is in the opinion of your commissioners, sufficiently full in regard to Lake Gardner, and also the Powow river and its affluents to make it unnecessary, for the purpose of this report, to make any addi- tional suggestions in relation to them ; and the same may also be said of the plan of taking a supply from the Bartlett and Jackman springs, and looking elsewhere for an auxilliary source.
The board in concluding this report would say that having visited various cities and towns that have a public water supply, they have without an exception found the people of such places pleased and thoroughly satisfied with the action they have taken in procuring a supply of water, and in many instances it has happened that the most strenuous opponents to it before it was procured, have, since they have seen it practical advantages and value to the town be- came its warmest advocates. We believe that our city cannot longer afford to go without a good and sufficient supply of water, but the advantages to be derived by our citizen in the mattters of health, convenience and prosperity, as well as the great necessity of a better protection against the devouring flames, have been so many times presented to the public, both in this city and elsewhere,
243
REPORT OF THE WATER COMMISSIONERS.
that we believe it unnecessary for us at this time to enlarge upon these points, but to simply say that the more your commissioners have investigated, and the more they have seen in other places, the greater has been their conviction that Newburyport ought not longer to delay in acting favorably on the question of procuring a sufficient supply of good and pure water ; and believing as we do that the prosperity of our city in the future must depend on its manufactur- ing interests, we consider this to be an important step in that di- rection which should not be ignored.
And if we are to have a water supply it seems to the board that the franchise is well worth retaining by the city, and taking the whole question as it stands to-day, the interests of the city will be best subserved by accepting Chapter 240 of the Acts of 1878, it being "An act to supply the city of Newburyport with water." And the voters of the city should bear in mind that by a vote of Nay the city loses its right to put the works in themselves, and con- trol the price and management of it, and the franchise then passes to a private corporation. Your commissioners would say that they have, in no instance, found any person versed in the many ques- tions relating to a public water supply, who advise any other way than that the city should own and control the works themselves, being enabled thereby to construct them not only with an eye to their profitable use for the present, but with due regard to their sufficiency for the future ; while the works constructed by a corporation might be dwarfed, both as regards capacity and permanency, by the pos- sible limit of their proprietorship.
From examination of reports of the income and annual expense of running the works of other places, and from other information gathered from various sources, your commissioners feel warranted in making the statement that should the city construct its own works they will be self-sustaining, after a reasonable time shall have elapsed in which to distribute the water to consumers.
Various table are submitted herewith relating to the subject mat- ter of this report, by one of which it will be seen that the estimated cost of constructing works for our city. when reduced to the cost per inhabitant, is very much in our favor as compared with the same cost in other places, and that by another of said tables there is ev- ery reason to believe that the works will be self-sustaining.
The board, in closing this report, desire to express their full sat- isfaction with the valuable services and advice rendered them by
244
REPORT OF THE WATER COMMISSIONERS.
their engineer, Mr. Wightman, and also thanks for his readiness to make the most of the short time allowed your commissioners in which to make their report.
All of which is respectfully submitted for the consideration of your honorable body, in the hope that it may be of value to our city and that the labors of the commission may not have been in vain.
E. F. BARTLETT, SAMSON LEVY, B. F. ATKINSON, FRANCIS CURTIS, JOHN L. DODGE,
Water Commissioners of
Newburyport.
Newburyport, June 11, 1880.
Report of Henry M. Wightman, Civil Engineer,
TO THE
BOARD OF WATER COMMISSIONERS.
Gentlemen : I had the honor to be employed by you on the 13th of May, to investigate and report upon various sources of water supply for your city.
The time you gave me to do this work was necessarily short, and the investigations which I have made have in many respects not been as thorough as I could wish, although as thorough as the lim - ited time would permit.
The sources which I have considered and examined, are the Common Pasture, Little River, Bartlett and Jackman Springs, Ar- tichoke River, Kimball's Pond, Lake Gardner, Back or Colchester River, Powow River and Merrimac River.
COMMON PASTURE.
This large expanse of flat country has been supposed by many to contain an inexhaustible underground supply of water. It was investigated to some extent in 1873 by S. F. Thompson, C. E .. and the tube wells were sunk in two places from which a very good
245
REPORT OF THE WATER COMMISSIONERS.
How resulted. Mr. Thompson states in his report that the sat- urated stratum was only from twelve to fifteen inches in thickness, and if this is the case no very considerable supply could be ob- tained.
A long continued series of observations which could only be made by sinking large numbers of tube wells and pumping contin- uously from them would be necessary to settle the question of how much water could be obtained from this source.
I would state generally that no invisible source of this kind would be recommended by a competent engineer, if any other was avail- able at a reasonable expense.
LITTLE RIVER.
This stream has a water shed of about three square miles, which would yield if it was possible to obtain a storage basin of sufficient capacity. a supply that would be ample for the wants of the city. There is no place where such a storage basin could be formed, therefore a supply from this place is out of the question, as the summer flow is very small.
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