CROTON AQUEDUCT AT HARLEM RIVER.
To a mind fond of antiquarian researches and accustomed to invest objects of such a nature with associations of the past, this ancient wreck would furnish a fruitful theme. We are now laying the foundation of a magnificent work: at the day when this vessel was sunk the American people were laying the foundation of a new form of government composed of principles which should support a fabric of enduring strength and beauty. We are now building a work which will stand as a monument of the genius and enterprise of the age, but it may be regarded among the fruits of that civil and religious liberty which has been reared upon the foundations formed by the people of that day.
The water is now conveyed across this valley by an iron pipe of 3 feet interior diameter. In the progress of preparing foundations for the piers of the bridge, an embankment has been formed across the River and the pipe leaving the Aqueduct on the north side of the valley follows down the slope of the hill, and crossing over the River upon this embankment, ascends on the south side again to the Aqueduct. At the bottom or lowest point in this pipe, a branch pipe of 1 foot diameter has been connected, extending a distance of 80 feet from it at right angles and horizontally: the end of this pipe is turned upwards to form a jet, and iron plates are fastened upon it giving any form that may be desired to the water issuing. The level of this branch pipe is about 120 feet below the bottom of the Aqueduct on the north side of the valley; affording an opportunity for a beautiful jet d’eau;—such an one as cannot be obtained at the fountains in the city. From an orifice of seven inches diameter the column of water rises to a height of 115 feet when there is only a depth of 2 feet of water in the Aqueduct.
To those who had watched over the work during its construction and looked for its successful operation, this was peculiarly gratifying. To see the water leap from this opening and rise upwards with such force and beauty, occasioned pleasing emotions and gave proof that the design and construction of the work were alike faultless, and that all the fondest hopes of its projectors would be realized.
The scenery around this fountain added much to its beauty; there it stood,—a whitened column rising from the river, erect, or shifting its form, or waving like a forest tree as the winds swayed it, with the rainbow tints resting upon its spray, while on either side the wooded hills arose to rival its height: all around was of nature; no marble basin,—no allegorical figures, wrought with exquisite touches of art to lure the eye, but a fountain where nature had adorned the place with the grandeur and beauty of her rude hills and mountain scenery.
[Plate XX]. is a distant view of the jet at Harlem River.
From Harlem River the Aqueduct passes along the south bank of the River for a short distance where it rests in the side of the rocky hill, and continues over an uneven surface encountering two tunnels before it reaches Manhattan Valley, which is about 35 miles from the Croton dam. This valley is four fifths of a mile wide where the Aqueduct meets it, and the depression is 102 feet below the plane of Aqueduct grade.
XX
F. B. Tower.