The pumps are from the establishment of Messrs. Rush and Muhlenburg; they are castings of sixteen inches diameter, and are placed horizontally after the plan of Mr. Graff. Their play is so simple and so easy, that when they are in motion neither the smallest noise nor friction can be observed. Throughout all the parts of this admirable monument of American industry have been executed with the same care, and it is impossible to visit it without a strong excitement of admiration for all the individuals who have contributed to its design and completion. Mr. John Moore, mason, and Mr. Frederick Erdman, carpenter, have an equal share of honour with their collaborators; nor does any one omit a just tribute of praise to the precision in the calculations of Mr. Thomas Oaks, respecting the estimate and the application of the forces requisite to obtain, with the least possible expense, the most advantageous results. The total sum of expenditure, made in the construction of this establishment, amounts to four hundred and twenty-six thousand three hundred and thirty dollars, the interest of which at five per cent, is twenty-one thousand three hundred and sixteen dollars. The annual expense for salaries of workmen, repairs of machinery, fuel, oil, &c. is only fifteen hundred dollars, which added to the interest makes a total sum of only twenty-two thousand eight hundred and sixteen dollars, for distributing in the city of Philadelphia, almost five millions of gallons of water every twenty-four hours. The original steam engine could not supply more than one million six hundred thousand gallons of water, in twenty-four hours, and cost annually thirty-thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight dollars: and in order to obtain, by steam power, a daily supply of five millions of gallons, it would have required an annual expense of at least sixty-one thousand seven hundred and sixteen dollars. Thence there has been secured, by the introduction of the new machinery, an annual saving of thirty-eight thousand nine hundred dollars. To this great improvement must likewise be added many other equally important advantages, such as the healthfulness of the city, its great security against the ravages of fire, the embellishment of public places by abundant fountains, the opportunity afforded to every inhabitant of supplying his residence with water, at the moderate price of five dollars a year, and the facility of establishing in the city various factories, &c. by the aid of water power.
All these details were received with a lively interest by General Lafayette, who expressed his satisfaction and admiration, saying that the water works at Fair Mount appeared to him the perfect representation of the American government, in which were combined simplicity, power and economy. Just as we were leaving this interesting spot, Mr. Lewis, as president, and in behalf of the committee, presented the general a mode of the machinery, and a vertical section of the building perfectly executed in mahogany. He received it thankfully, and assured Mr. Lewis that he would have sincere pleasure in exhibiting to his friends in Europe, this evidence of the perfection of mechanic arts in the United States.
Although, during the whole period of our second visit to Philadelphia, the heat was excessive, so that Fahrenheit’s thermometer was generally at the 98th degree, and rose sometimes to 104°, General Lafayette was not the less assiduous in employing every day either in uniting with his friends in the festivities to which he was invited, or in visiting the environs of the city, nor did his health sustain one moment’s unfavourable impression.
It was the 20th of June that we went to visit the field of battle at Germantown and the mansion of Mr. Chew, on the walls of which may yet be discovered traces of the cannon and musket balls, proving the prominence of its situation in the battle that raged around it. After having breakfasted with Mr. Benjamin Chew, the proprietor of this historic mansion, the general continued his route to Chesnut Hill, in sight of Barren Hill, where on the 20th of May, 1778, he effected so happily and so successfully the famous retreat which laid the foundation of his fame in military tactics: thence he returned to Germantown, to pass a short time with the inhabitants, who anxiously requested he would visit their academy, at which he was received by the students with enthusiasm. We found amongst them the young Fernando Bolivar, adopted son of the Liberator. General Lafayette spoke to him with pleasure of the hopes which the friends of liberty and humanity repose in the character of his uncle, who, until the present moment, had advanced with a firm pace in the career pursued by Washington; the young man seemed penetrated with grateful emotions, and expressed himself in such a manner as to excite a hope, that his having been sent to the United States to study her political institutions would not be without permanent benefit.
As we were leaving Germantown, Mr. John F. Watson offered for the acceptance of the general a present of great value, on account of the recollections it awakened. It was a box formed of many pieces of different kinds of wood, the origin and history of which he thus recited:
“The body of the box is made of a piece of black walnut, an ancient son of the forest, that once occupied the spot where Philadelphia now stands. Cotemporary with the trees which lent their shade to William Penn and his companions, it continued till 1818, spreading its noble branches in view of the hall in which our declaration of independence was ratified.
“The cover is composed of four different pieces.
“The first is of a branch of a forest tree, the last surviving of those which were removed in order to dig the first foundations of Philadelphia.
“The vigour that yet animates the vegetation of this ancient tree, is an evidence of the rapid growth of the city, which has risen and become great whilst the tree is still flourishing.
“The second is a piece of oak, broken off the first bridge built in 1683, over the little river Canard. This piece was found in 1823 at about six feet below the surface of the earth.