DEFECTS IN THE JEROME PARK RESERVOIR.

DEFECTS IN THE JEROME PARK RESERVOIR.

Two expert civil engineers of this city, John Bogart and Edward P. North, who at the request of the Merchants’ Association of New York investigated the condition of the Jerome Park reservoir, report that the walls are leaky; that the cement plaster used is soluble in water; that part of the materials used in the plaster are inferior, in violation of the specifications; and that the westerly wall cannot be completed by the date specified in the last agreement. “Taking the blow-off at the northwest corner as a starting point (the report reads), we found, commencing fifty feet southwestwardly from the blowoff, that water was running down the face of the wall for about seventy feet of its length, and that northeastwardly from the blow-off, water was running down the face of the wall for approximately 120 feet.” Stains on the wall (the engineers report) showed that water charged with lime had run down the face of the wall at other points, and that the indications were that the discharge had been much more copious in the past than at the present time. The engineers also state, although the specifications called for “clean, sharp sand, free from loam,” they saw no sand used in making mortar. The material was from the stone crushers, and is known among macadam roadmakers as “dust,” in distinction from “screenings." The engineers say that the material does not seem as valuable as the sand specified, and that it apparently contains much mica and so much fine material as to make the mortar weaker than if the specifications were complied with. Concerning the possibility of the western portion of the reservoir being completed by August 1, as specified, the engineers say that under the circumstances they believe that it is a physical impossibility to assemble men and material enough to complete that portion of the reservoir by that time. The report has been sent to Mayor Low, and, in the event of his taking no action in the matter, the association has expressed its determination to invite the interference of Gov. Odell.

The Armour, S. Dak., council has sold $10,000 bonds for the construction of a waterworks system, into which will enter two tubular wells and a standpipc.