University of North Carolina at Asheville
D.H. Ramsey Library
Special Collections/University Archives

Manuscript and Photograph Register
for

Joseph Joyner Collection

M2007.

"A GREAT WASTE OF WATER," Article from the Asheville, N.C. Daily Citizen, January 23, 1893.
Joseph Joyner Collection, D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, UNC Asheville 28804

ASHEVILLE, N, C., Daily Citizen

MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 23, 1893

A GREAT WASTE OF WATER

THE   CITY'S   BIG STANDPIPE TAKES A TUMBLE.
Forty-Five Feet of Water Turned Loose upon the Side of Beaumont—How the Wreck Looks --Some Incidents.

"Fo' God, honey, I certainly thought de Jedgment Day had sholy come!" were the words used by an old darkey in describing the manner in which the frost king accomplished the wreck of the city's standpipe in Beaucatcher Gap.

Early yesterday morning the huge tank was torn with a fracture from top to bottom, and the thunderous crash caused for a time the direst consterna­tion in the minds of the inhabitants in the ravine below; before they could leave their homes the pipe collapsed and the forty-seven feet of water and ice surged around them with a roar that threatened the annihil­ation of life and property.

The authorities were notified of the disaster, and precautions were at once taken to insure a steady supply of water for the city.

The wash from the fall covered the roadway and it became so slippery that it was with difficulty a passage could be made, the first person to cross, a milk­man, having to unhitch his horse and lead it through the snow in the woods while the vehicle was guided down by hand. The road was littered for a hundred feet with rocks and chunks of ice; several lengths of pipe for the new main were washed down the bank, and a big  joint left in the track of the wagons.

From the south bank of the ravine the flattened mass of iron shows a lap for half its length with the point of rupture at the southeast,face, the edges irregu-i larly bent, rolled and twisted. The' (break from the foundation platts oc-faurred at the rivet line and was complete for the entire circumference.

... A Narrow Escape.

Across the ravine, south of the big iron cylinder, about 250 feet distant therefrom, was the cabin occupied by John Clark, his wife and their children. The slush about the door had not hardened when their door was opened to the citizen, and the wife told the story of the family's fright and their narrow escape from an awful death The per­sons living in the immediate vicinity bad become greatly alarmed at the loud cracking noises frequently heard coming Tom the direction of the standpipe since the cold weather set in and for ten days I had lived in constant dread of a catastrophe. On Sunday morning just before day,

day, the mother returned home  from attendance at a sick room. While seated near the fire suddenly  there was heard a sharp, cracking, tearing sound so awful in its note that the woman crouched in speechless terror, and the awakening children began to cry. The report was instantly followed by a terrific roar that made the earth tremble and that shook the little cabin, and then came the wild rush of the tumbling waters that filled the gorge, sur-rounded the house, and hurled the rocks and ice against its sides. The shrieking children dove under the beds, and the appalled parents were certain the house would be washed away. An attempt was then made to get to the higher ground, but the water covered their shoes and they gave it up and returned to the house, where they remained till daylight. Serious damage was sustained  by the family in the loss of their supply of clothing, which had been left hanging upon the bushes about the house. Not a trace of a garment could be found; everything had been swept away.

"A PowerfwI Storm."

In the tenement house west of the tank and lower down the bank there was as great a scare and similar damage. The icy deluge spent its force against a well built wall on the upper side of the building, but succeeded in tearing a window sash from its frame and flooded the room from the southeast end. Marks on the walls showed the depth of water to have been three feet; a family had re­moved from the room but a few days.

Jane Orr, the head of one of the families, said there was "a noise like a powerful storm and then the rush of water that splashed to the top of the house and sent the window in the basement a-winding. It washed all our clothes away" she said; "we haven't a change left, but we're so glad the good Lord spared us that we don't mind the clothes."

Another tenant said: "When I heard that awful noise I knowed the reserboy was busted and was so bad scared that I ain't got over it yit, and I just kaint go to church."

Below this house the banks of the gorge sharply converge and the volume of water dashed through the narrow defile and piled itself with increased fury against the buildings in its path, where scenes similar to those detailed above occurred.

The banks and bottom of the gully were washed clean of snow, and in portions immense masses of earth had been loosened and torn away. The receding waters strewed the ground with debris from the wreck and trees ten inches in diameter were found that had been twisted off. A section of the iron ladder was carried 300 feet, and the guy bars are tangled like threads. The track of water was clearly shown by the muddied outline on the snow.

The scene of the trouble has been visited by hundreds of people and the heap of black mud a foot deep, covering the exposed bottom of the tank, caused much unfavorable comment.

 Builders and Cost

The paralyzed standipe stood sixty feet high, and was built in the winter and spring of 1886-'87, by Alfred Webb  & Co. of Chattanooga, Tenn. The cylinder cost $9,965, and the masonry upon which it rested cost about $2,000, a total of about $12,000. Its capacity was 720,000 gallons. During the month of March, 1887, and before the pipe had been put in use a heavy storm blew one side in, an accident that required some time to repair.

Two years or more ago a break occurred in the angle-iron, which pinned the pipe to the foundation. The condition of things has been known ever since the break occurred, but no steps had ever been taken to remedy the trouble further than the dropping of bags of sand into the pipe in order to stop the leak. Street Superintendent Henderson had repeatedly warned the authorities of trouble that might come, and the event of yesterday shows how prophetic were his words.

The accident will not, as was at  first commonly supposed, seriously interfere with Asheville's water   supply. The standpipe was used only as a   place of storage of water to be used in  case of  fire. It was connected with the main from the water works by a "Y." All of the water used by the city has been pumped into the old reservoir near the city quarry on the side of the mountain. The water ran from this reservoir into what is known as "Patton's Baby," a small reservoir a short distance below the large one, and through this to the filter. The city consumers can get the usual amount of water, and the only difference caused by this trouble will be the amount of water held in reserve in cases of fire.

The larger reservoir has a capacity   of  300,000 or 400.000 gallons, if it  could be filled.   But this cannot  be  done, on account of its leakey condition.   The reservoir has been sadly in need of repair for some time, but the work   has  never been done, and the result is that it  can be kept only perhaps half full. There is considerable sentiment against any attempt to rebuild the standpipe, the idea being that whatever money   is  expended should be put  into   a   reservoir. Street  Superintendent  Henderson  suggests Pinev Knob, east of Beaumont, as a good site  for the  storage   place, and one  that would be  as high   as the  old standpipe.

Recorder Miller says that if the authorities decide to rebuild the standpipe it should be not more than one-half the height of the old one, and of a much greater circumference."

THE JOINT BOARD.

Special   Meeting Today to Consider the Water Question.

The Joint Board of Aldermen and Advisors  held a special   meeting  at   noon today to take such action as might seem necessary with regard to the water supply   of  the   city.   Mayor Blanton presided,   and there were present  Advisors Miller, Hunt, Bearden, Green and   Cummings;  Aldermen    Starnes,    Waddell,  Leonard, Gudger and Baird.

Mr.   Miller considered it necessary   to have   a   standpipe in order to have  the pressure necessary for fire purposes, and thought the standpipe should be rebuilt.  Mr. Starnes said be had   been   told by persons   who   ought to know that   the old iron would scarcely be worth working over.  

Mr. Waddel's idea was  that   an egg-shaped excavation could be made just east of  the standpipe, and   here  a reservoir could be built.   Later on he suggested a wooden tank. Mayor   Blanton   said   that  the  first thing   to   determine was   whether  the standpipe   should be  rebuilt,   and   Mr. Starnes   moved   the  appointment   of a committee for this  purpose.   This   was adopted   and   the    Mayor    appointed Messrs.   Starnes,   Leonard,   Hunt  and Bearden.   On motion  the   Mayor   was added to the committee.

The question of securing an expert to examine and pass upon the availability of the old iron in rebuilding was considered, and Mr. Lockett, of the Worthington Pump company, suggested that a telegram be sent to his house inquiring the cost of the services of an expert. The idea was embodied in a motion and it was adopted.

Thos. A. Jones asked whether an action for damages because of the bursting of the standpipe should be brought against the Joint Board or Aldermen. He was informed that the action should be brought against the Joint Board. Mr. Jones represented H. B. Brown, colored. A committee of citizens, consisting of J. D. Brevard, W. G. Corpening, G. L. Greenlee, J. T. Bostic, W. E. Wolfe, and J. P. Wingate, had looked over the ground and estimated Brown's damages at $150. A committee of two from each Board, Aldermen Waddell and Baird; Advisors Green and Hunt, was appointed on the matter, and the meeting adjourned.

The committees appointed at this meeting will report to a meeting of the Joint Board at noon tomorrow.