Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE.





Vol. XVIII.





NEW YOKK, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1876.





No. 456





Published Weekly fry

^lit geal Estate %uaxti %%BQmixan,

TERMS.
ONE YEAR, in advance.. ..SIO.OO.
Communications should be addressed to

C.   W.  SWEET,

Nos. 345 AND 347 Broadavay.





THE WATER QUESTION.
The recently tlu-eatened Avater famine tm-ns out
to have been only a needless scare, Avhich the au¬
thorities aUoAved to run almost to the verge of
panic.   Nervous and apprehensive citizens, Avho
Avere but recently contemplating a situation not
uuUke that of the IsraeUtes in the Desert, are
noAv gi-eeted Avith a moderate though Avelcome
and sufficient addition to the Avater supply, for
Avhich unspeakable boon they are devoutly grate¬
ful to Commissioner CampbeU, or to  a higher
poAver, and disposed to look upon him as a verita¬
ble Moses.   Suffice it, for the present, to say that
the supply has been gi-aduaUy increasing during
the past fortnight, and already fiUs pipes avUIcU
have been utterly dry and unserviceable during
the    previous  thi-ee  months.     The  assurance,
furthermore, is extended to the pubUc, that it is
unnecessary to look for any neAV or extraordi¬
nary som-ces of supply, as it is claimed that the
Croton Basui, supplemented by proper mechanical
appUances, is equal to the existmg needs of the
city; aud, under an extension of these appUances,
could be made to fm-nish three times tUe present
volume.   It is intimated also that, Avith a view to
preventing the recurrence of such an emergency as
Ave have just passed through, steam pumps shortly
AviU be placed in position at the fountain-head,
connected Avith a Uigh water service, from which
the areas of highest elevation can hereafter be
suppUed.   It is also asserted that AA'ithin a tAvelve-
month an additional  storage reservoir avIU be
completed and the consti-uction of another one
begun, having  such manmoth capacity  as  to
guarantee immunity from the consequences of aU
futm-e drouths   or   portentious  water famines.
These assurances avUI can-y a strong sense of re¬
Uef and comfort to the minds of cm- perturbed
citizens, who so recently were forced to contem¬
plate an invasion of estabUshed sanitary condi¬
tions, an intrusion upon their habits of personal
cleanliness, and an abridgement of the protection
heretofore extended to their Uves, merchandize
and buUdings.

Upon the heels of the intense excitement and
agitation, which prevaUed but a short time ago,
comes the base suggestion that a huge job has
been projected, haAdng for its objective point the
appropriation of a large sum of money, to be
spent in procuring an additional water supply for
the city. The community is in no frame pf mind
to Usten to propositions of needless or wasteful
expenditures of money, even though the objects
contemplated are apparently praiseworthy.

We think we can rely confidently upon Com¬
missioner CampbeU himseH, and upon the DaUy
Press, .to thwart the designs of evil-minded per¬
sons who are ever on the alert to profit by pubUc
calamities and apprehensions.-

The supplementing of our present facilities for





obtaining Avater by such mechanical adjuncts as
have been indicated, wiU afford sufficient scope
for the exercise of official energy and ingenuity
and Avill doubtless result iu an abundant present
proAdsion. Sufficient time will thus be afforded
for the calm and diipi-tssionate consideration of
the whole subject, AAdth a vieAv to the selection of
the readiest aud most economical means and the
maturing of the Avisest plans for placing our Avater
supply, present and prospective, upon a sure and
safe foundatiou.

The discussion Avhich has been so actively car¬
ried on in the daUy press during the period of
threatened famine has developed many practical
ideas and suggestions, some of Avhich we propose
briefly to summarize for the purpose of future
reference:

1. New York is found to be no longer in the
anomalous position of a city surroimded by water
but unable to procure a sufficiency for the uses of
Ufe. Suggestions have been offered and strenu¬
ously urged in favor of utilizing the salt water
which exists in such abimdance about the shores
of the island. Whatever value attaches to these
propositions must be determined by scientific
men, both m regard to the quaUty of the water
proposed to be used and in the appliances neces¬
sary for handling it. If capable of being utilized
at aU, Avith the vast ocean directly at our door,
we certainly can stand iu no great danger of be¬
coming destitute of the indispensable fiuid. Other
and bolder propositions have also been presented,
though differing gi-eatly in their feasibUity. In
the case of the total faUure of the croton water
supply, it wUl be consoUng to learn that Ave have
other mighty streams of pm-e and wholesome
water which can be draAAm upon and subsidized
for the benefit of our city, to wit:—the Housa¬
tonic, the Passaic and the waters of the upper
Hudson, whUe the magnificent reservoirs located
in the Adirondacks, though distant and difficult of
access, may be held in reserve for the supply of
New York fifty or one himdred years hence. All
these considerations leave no doubt that New
York cau boast of a greater number and volume
of accessible and reUable suppUes of pure and
wholesome water than any other city on the
globe. The necessity for reaching such suppUes
has only to develope itself plainly, when the cap¬
ital and mechanical ingenuity necessary to their
utilization avUI be promptly forthcoming.

2. This discussion has brought to Ught the fact
that the distribution or attempted distribution of
water, through om- city, by means of pipes and
the gra-vity principle, is quite as primitive and
crude in its mechanical contrivance, as is the ex¬
isting sewerage system south of 59th street. At
no distant day, this twin subject of water distri¬
bution and sewerage, so closely aUied as to be
correlative, wUl have to undergo complete re¬
vision and reconsti-uction. Fortunately the sub¬
ject of sewerage has heretofore been so thorough¬
ly canvassed and discussed by Gen. Viele and
other scientific and sanitary experts that we may
be said to have attained the perfection of theory
In i-egard to It. These theories have already been
put Into practical effect in many of the up-town
districts, and particularly along the boulevards
, and avenues suiTOunding the park.    The work





that has there been done albeit at an enormous
expense Avill stand the test of ages, and serve as
a'model for the reconsti-uction of the other work
that remains to be done south of 59th street.  The
indispensible supplement of a perfect sewerage
system is such an abundant water supply that the
sewers avIU be constantly flushed, purified and
kept in a state of motion by the passage of run¬
ning water through them.    Any abridgment of
our Avater supply avUI have the effect of leaving
our sewers in a state of perilous putrefaction and
stagnation.    We "may safely attribute to this
cause the complaints of  malaria, which  have
heretofore existed in the upper part of the city
and which exist to this day to an alarming de¬
gree, deterring om* citizens from venturing Avlth
their f amiUes into those districts which are of the
highest elevation and consequently, under the
present system, deficient In Avater supply. Sewers
have been Introduced almost univei-saUy over the
island, or sufficiently so at least to carry off all
surface drainage, and yet emanations from foul
and Inert sewers are discovered to be as destruc¬
tive to human health as any miasma, which may
arise from stagnant water on the surface.   We
have before claimed, and noAv reiterate with em¬
phasis, that it AvUl not answer for the authorities
to attempt to place any check upon the free use
of  water, particularly  in  residence  locaUties,
where the fiow through the sewers Is admitted to
be Insufficient  and  where  periodical  fiushings
have to be resorted to as a means of keeping them
clean.   The gi-eat use or waste of water, of which
we heai- so inuch, is apt to occur at points near
the river, and consequently near the outlets of
the sewers since the principle manufactories and
large consumers of water are there located, so
the interior Unes of seAverage get no benefit of
their Avash.   It is far better for our authorities to
address themselves to the task of furmshlng a
superabundant supply of water than to attempt
any repressive measures Avhlch avUI surely en-
taU sickness and disease upon our population and
render the -vUest contagious endemic in our soU.

3. Another subject to which prominence has been
given in the existing discussions, and one upon
which we desire to offer a few criticisms, is that
of the per capita use of water. Assuming the
population of the city to be one miUion, and the
daUy supply of water to be one hundred mUUon
of gallons, the daily consumption of each inhab¬
itant is there sat doAvn at one hundred gaUons.
Comparative tables are thus presented shovring
thepe?- capita use of water in various cities in
this country and in Europe, in all of which New
York is made to figure at the head of the list as
consyming the largest quantity of water per in¬
habitant. About as much value can be attached
to these statistics of water consumption as to
simUar tables prepared Avith. reference to other
recondite subjects. They convey one idea and
one only, -without comment or explanation. We
claim that the comparison thus Instituted Is Inad¬
equate, unreUable, unjust, and reaUy conveys no
more information than that certain cities are
supplied with a certain aggregate of water. The
situation of those cities, the character of the
•water supply, the uses to which it is put, the con¬
duct of the inhabitants with reference to its use,'