The outer wall is fifty feet in diameter, two feet thick, and fifty-four feet high. The inner curb, or wall, is thirty-five feet in diameter and two feet thick, having a depth of ten feet. The masonry, as seen from the top of the structure, is a marvel of neatness and solidity. The water surface in the well is thirteen feet above high-tide level, and the depth of water in the well is fourteen feet. The pump foundations are entirely independent of the walls. This plan was adopted so as to obviate any possible difficulty which might arise from displacement. The pump is the Worthington patent, and, with a pressure of forty pounds, is capable of raising one million gallons of water every twenty-four hours a height of 176 feet, and is competent to a lift of 180 feet.
The boiler house is a neat, pressed-brick structure trimmed with Ohio stone, standing on the surface near the mouth of the well. The interior of the well is reached by a spiral stairway built in the wall, and commencing in the boiler house. In this way the engineer is able to reach the pump. It is a fact worthy of notice in connection with the construction of the wall, or rather the sinking of it, that the outer wall rests upon four feet of wooden cribwork, two feet thick, and having an iron shield. The inner wall is built upon a similar crib only two feet deep, also shielded with iron.
The Commissioners were led to the construction of this well in presence of the danger at any time of some accident taking place in connection with the Brooklyn Water Works which would render it necessary for the Water Board to cut off the Park supply so as to secure the citizens from suffering. This well has more than the necessary capacity to supply the Park abundantly with water, yielding most when most is needed. This is established by the discovery that the time of drought from which the well is, or may be, likely to suffer, occurs in the Fall. Besides these facts, it further appears that in order to furnish the supply of water to the Park the Water Board would have to go through the process of pumping their water twice to convey it to the required elevation, equal to 225 feet from its original level.
The work of the well will be to supply the pools at an elevation of 133 feet. From the pools the water is conducted to the lake. Besides this, there is an independent connection with the lake by which, as necessity may suggest, the water can be directed to the lake, a lift of only seventy feet. The lake, when completed, will occupy an area of fifty acres, which will be kept continually supplied with fresh water, the arrangements being such, or to be such, as will insure a permanent change of water, and prevent any of the evils that may arise from stagnancy. The well is fed from the earth, consisting of a circuit of two miles, with a fall of five feet to the mile. For this reason it does not appear easy to exhaust the supply, as when the water is pumped out to four or five feet from the surface of the well it is replaced at a rate equal to the demand. Every allowance has been made for evaporation from the lake and pools, and the supply is regarded as inexhaustible. Another important fact here suggests itself; that is, that sufficient rain falls during the season in the area of two miles around the well to make the supply perennial. The Prospect Park well is a credit to Brooklyn.--New York Times.
PAPER FOR BUILDING.
Our readers will find in another column an advertisement of this new building material which is now attracting much attention in the West, and of which we have received very favorable reports. It has been recently tested in Chicago with the result we are informed of fully establishing its utility. It is said that a house twenty-two feet long, sixteen wide, and fourteen high, can be covered on the outside for less than $9; and a house thirty-six feet by twenty-two, and twenty feet high, for $20. The building can be done at any season, and can be finished with great speed, and there are said to be numerous other advantages connected with the use of the paper. It differs from ordinary paper in consistency, compactness and solidity. In the manufacture it is subjected to a pressure of hundreds of tuns, which squeezes out the liquid matter, leaving a substance of the right thickness. It is said to be proof against damp and gnawing of vermin, and it being an excellent non-conductor of heat, must make a warm dwelling in winter and a cool one in summer. It is used in the place of plastering for inside walls.
The Prussian Government has military maps of every foot of its territory so complete that every hill, ravine, brooklet, field, and forest is delineated with perfect accuracy. It is a common boast of Prussian military men, that within the space of eight days 848,000 men can be concentrated to the defense of any single point within the kingdom, and every man of them will be a trained and well-equipped soldier.