Croton Water Works: From The A. S. Standard

1 went the other day, tu look at rhis magnificent enterpriee: and na longer wonJered th:it the estinialed cosf was twt-lve irtiiliohs of'ddllarsl h might vvell be deemed ihe labor oí 'Tíi:ns, deter niii:ed tö triumph over the gorjy. The rcc ivipg reservoir, at Yorkville, 'm divided inio two parte botli covei inr :i spaceoi (hiry-iive acres. Jtcan hokl one hundred aml sixty inillionsot' gallons. - J'. isenclosed by thiek gtanhe waihs of mansonry. 80 8olid thal it séema 83 il the world miglit lenrn against it, wiilioul making nn i.nptession. The mtur.il soil fonns the bouotn of this hugc basin. 'f!ie dis.:nbutiiig reservoir, in forty-second street. Covers nbout fiye ncres; und it is computcd to h uil about iwcnty-iwo millions of' gallons ]t is divided in tbc centre by a gram te wiiït, nineteén foet tlnck at the bottom. and Cour at the top; and the whole is sturouiided by a wall of tietnendous strength, consisting of three distinct columns oí solid masoniy, high as-a three story house. Th summit of the Wiills around the area have bee flagged, and are lo be guarded bv a stout ron mil ing; ihey will then i'urnish a boautilul promenade twenty ftet wide. Thick cross walls, with solii nrchee, ten feet apart, bind the whole together. - The architecture is Egyptmn; no other woul have süited n structure of such massive strent and vast proportions. The main water clnnnel of the aqueduct "con sists of an immense mass of masonry, six fee and a half wide. nme feet high. and forty mili long, formed of'walls tluec foét thick, cetnentet into 6olid rock. The 'hun across the Crotón, which retains the water in a grand reservoir, is a mound of eartli and masonry, forty-feet high, and seveniy-tive feet at the bottom, and has connected with it mtny complicatcd but perfect contrivances. to cnable theenginecr to have complete control over rhe miglity mass of water. The rivcr. thufi ihiown back lowards itssource, will forrn a lake ot iive hundred acres, which will rctnin a supply foreinergencies ofsoine thousand miMion gallons, and al6o ff-T as a collateral advantage, many picturesque sites for country seats, upon the woody points which will jut out into into tí smooth basin. A tuvn l leads the water froti' this reservoir inio ihe aqucdiict; and eleven more of these subierraneous passages occupied before reachiug iiarlem river. baving an agy regate lengih of seven-eighths ofamile, and many oí fhem being cut through the solid rock. At intervals of a milc, ventilators are cmstructed, in the fprrn oftower?, of white marble, wluch ' givc to the water thnt exposure to the atmospherr wjliout it becomés vapH ind insipid: and thée dozzling ttinets m.aïR out the line oí theaqueduct to the passengers upon the Hudson."New York Tribune. It is abo ut foür 3'ears since this gigantic project was undertnken, and during that time, foin hundred men have been constantly ewployed on it,when the soaso n permitted. The undertdktng s now coinpletód, with the exception of th bridge ocross IJailein rivcr It is suppoped ihiiwill cost three-quarters of'a million of money nnd two yenrs labor. It is to be one hundrod aü'é sixieen feet above high water. Across it will b In iü large iron pipps to convey (he water, proteo ted from the Trost by four eet of earth. Tempo rnry pipes have been laid over the cofferdarns which will supply the ci'y wilh wator until the bridge is cornpleted. ... Oi the great stone culvcrts 10 convey iniorse Khng siieains iimler the slucture. and of' the immense .ron pipe, big as hogshends. which traverse miles and muc-s. and briní the water ro our verv doors, no adequate conception can beformod, excopt y those uho have pknnéd and execuied tliis attnost superliiiijian structure. The coinnuesioiierof Water Works hnve latoly returnod !roin a minute siibterraneoh êxamïnation, and tbeir report is hihly satisfnetory, with regiud to me iiylnuess and condiiion of the works. They oiüeied Úw iqueduct at iis mnu'h. af the Crotón river, and pursued the examinatiou down to Sihg Sing, atid continoing lic examinatípn under Kioiind to Hüilem river- a distance of ihntij fivb mifa-wlii li under-ground èxaniinatipn enip.oyed three days. In the lowcst cut, svhich is .■ibove Stng Siny. ihey were eeventy ieet bi low me euriace ot the oorth; and at the Alill River enbankment they wero eighty-five fcet above ihe surfnep o( the carth below. The average flow of the water ia found to be forty-live minutes a mile. Tt is supposed liiat neres of ico. obtaincd froin the reservoir, will be a source of considerable reven ue to the city.