Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/192

 COLUM BIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES in operation their corporate privileee, n am ely: that o f "introducing w ater into the borough by means o f pipes, trunks o r acquetlucts." A water main constructed o f good-sized logs, bored with a four-inch diam eter opening, fitted and coupled with iron bands, w as laid from the town out M arket street along the road to a stream near the little village o f Foundryville, the w ater from this stream entering B ria r creek, impounded and tapped ami thus con­ veyed into the town. F o r several y e ars this system o f supply w as kept in oiwration, but as the population increase<l it eventually proved inadequate, fo r according to the testi­ mony o f o ld er citizens who recall this pipe line the l o ^ would liccomc clogged or ob­ structed. T h e pipe itself became rotten, the different kin d s o f logs used at times m aking r^ n irs difficult and unsatisfactor)*. T h is con­ dition probably contributed to the need for securing w a te r elsewhere, fo r it is also a m at­ ter o f h isto ry that children o f that d ay were frequently sent to the springs in the river below the old dug road and carried the w ater therefrom to supply the fam ily needs. T he quality and quantity o f w ater in these springs being of the best, the use evidently w as very early suggested to the citizens o f that time, and they e arly became the property of the Berwick W a ter Com pany. T h e w ater w as pumped into the mains by means o f w ater­ power at the w aste-w eir at the locks at Bcr»-kk. " T h e W o rk s" were thus established prior to the ye ar If^ 8 . In 18 52 the I^egislature extended to the Berwick W a ter Compan)^ the right previously granted the H yd rau lic Com pany of the bor­ ough o f B e rw ick to use the w aterpow er at this waste-weir. T h is old metho<l o f pumping water by means o f an old-type turbine or water-wheel w as continued with m ore o r less change and improvement until the late sev­ enties : fo r "w a te r wheel and pumping ma­ chinery" appears in (he balance sheets o f that day as one of the valued assets of the company. .Some lim e p rior to the C ivil w ar, on land still owned by the com pany on Second and Chestnut streets, a reservoir w as constructed for storage. In 18 8 3 a seven an<l a h alf foot standpipe w as added to this reservoir, and its use w as continued until about 1890, when the reservoir at Glcn Brook w as completed. Following the era in which log pipe w as used the company constructed other conduits or pipe lines 01 cement, and in late y e ars these old 1(« and cement pipes have b e ^ at times e x ­ cavated by the company's workmen. It is in­ teresting to know the manner o f construc­

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tion o f this old cement p ip e : A 2-inch w rou ght pi|)C w as covered with a layer o f cement of the thickness o f two or m ore inches, and over this ccm eiu covering a layer o f sheet iron w as placed and secured by bands o f iron. When this cement had hardened sufficiently the 2-inch pipe w as withdraw n and the ce­ ment construction w as in condition fo r lay­ ing. C ast iron pipe in varyin g sizes, 2, 3, 4 and 6-inch, succeeded this old log and cement pipe. In 1883, when the late (ieorge Dcpew be­ came superintendent of the com pany, an in­ ventory subm ittol by him to the board o f man­ agers established the fact that the company had fo u r and three quarters miles o f pipe lines, all sizes. T h e car and m anufacturing business located in the Ixirough developed with great strides a fte r the C ivil w ar and with this grow th in business the dem ands upon the w ater com ­ pany’s capacity 10 supply w ater became acute, and in turn the company w as put to the neces­ sity o f meeting the in c r e a s e dem ands fo r water. Som e time in 1884 and 1885 a standpi[)c w as erected at M arket and T h ird streets, prim arily to accommodate the Jackso n & Woorlin Com pany. In 1899 and 1900 a reser­ voir w as constructed on property located in B riarcreek and Salem townships, at the ju nc­ tion of the W olfinger and Cope creeks, which gave capacity fo r the storage o f 15.000,000 gallons o f w ater. T h is is now known a s the (jlcn Brook reservoir. TTic reservoirs at Glcn Brook w e re known as N o. i and No. 2. 'Iliis in turn w as follow ed by the construction o f another reservoir in Salem township, on the V'arner creek, in 1895, known a s t ic Salem reservoir. N o. 3, having a capacity o f some 3.000.000 gallons. T h e pumping equipment had alw ays been kept in proper condition lo operate in con­ junction with the storage .supply at Glcn Brook and Salem reservoirs, and fo r a period o f approxim ately fifteen y e ars h.” met the de­ id mands o f a grow in g population. In 1899, the large m anufacturing interests of the town having l>cen incoqioraterl in the .American C a r and Fou nd ry Com pany and a lioom in general business follow ing, B erw ick experienced a great increase in population. T h e new steel car plant, new foundries, m a­ chine shops and mil s provided w ork fo r from five thousand to six thousand men. with a de­ pendent fwpulation o f tw enty thousand to twenty-five thousand people in the boroughs o f Berw ick, W est B erw ick and N cscopcck. In 1908 and 1909 a very large addition to the storage capacity at Glcn Brook w as construct­