Water Bureau Newspaper Scrapbook, 1942-1952

by Adam Levine on

This scrapbook serves as a deep dive into the post World War II period, when Philadelphia and most other municipalities were playing catchup, after improvements to water and sewer infrastructure had been put off or more than 15 years–first put off during the Great Depression, and then for the duration of the war. The articles mostly cover the water side of what was then the Philadelphia Water Bureau. At that time, the sewer system was still under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Surveys. Not until 1952 did a new Home Rule Charter for Philadelphia combine the authority for drinking water treatment and sewage collection and treatment under an enlarged Philadelphia Water Department.

To read the full caption about these wooden water mains, see page 29B, below.

HIGHLIGHTS

One feature I particularly liked focused on the Water Bureau employees, working at the Belmont Filter Plant Laboratory in West Philadelphia, whose job was to smell and taste the various water samples. You’ll find that story, and photographs of several employees at work, on page 22B.

Another story, on 22A, reports on the use of the chemical insecticide DDT to control mosquitoes along the Schuylkill River during Fourth of July festivities in 1946. The chemical not only killed mosquitoes, but every other insect as well. DDT and its effects on wildlife, in particular birds, was one of the inspirations for Rachel Carson’s important 1962 book, Silent Spring, which helped launch the US movement to protect the environment. DDT particularly affected birds of prey, such as hawks and eagles, who were at the top of the food chain. Accumulation of the chemical in their bodies affected their ability to reproduce, and populations plummeted. Use of DDT in agriculture was banned in the US in 1972, and bird populations have since rebounded. Peregrine falcons, once endangered, are now common even in cities. I once watched one sitting in a street tree across from Reading Terminal, plucking and then devouring a pigeon, with a shower of feathers floating onto the sidewalk. Anyone with a bird feeder has probably seen a hawk swoop down to try to make a meal of a smaller bird; and bald eagles are now relatively common, even in the towns around Philadelphia.

to see this cartoon about “Ye Olde Towne Pump” along with its accompanying 1944 editorial, go to page 10B. To see a cleaner version of this image, from Newspapers.com, click here.

USING THIS COLLECTION

The following index can be searched by using he “FIND” feature in your Web browser, A PDF of each page is linked to the heading. Alternatively, you can download a PDF of the entire scrapbook HERE. The articles in this PDF are all text-recognized, allowing an even more detailed search within its pages.

NOTES ON THE SCRAPBOOK

Unlike other scrapbooks, which are compiled day by day, this one seems to have been pasted on its pages only after many of the clippings had begun to deteriorate. The main newspapers collected were the Philadelphia Record, Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. The online version of the Inquirer, available through many Pennsylvania county library systems, includes good scans that allow the complete articles to be read, although the photographs in my scans are often better.

With water rates increasing, one resident resorts to a different drink. See Page 24A.

PAGE 1A

  1. Work pushed on sewage, water jobs. Inquirer, 1949-01-10
  2. A-4 Priority ok’d too late to help in ‘42. Old System Nearing Peak of Capacity; Repairs Frequent. By Leeds Moberley
  3. City Rushed Start of Water Work. Priorities Granted, Bids for Improved System to be Asked soon
  4. Wells would provide 22,000,000 gallons daily
  5. Chlorine supplies assured for the city, by Raymond C. Brecht (Bulletin)
  6. U.S. aides study city water needs
  7. Assembly set for battles on key bills. Philadelphia reform and tax fights…. by Duke Kaminski (Bulletin)
  8. Obtains priorities for water system. 1942-02-14
  9. Start of Project To Purify Water Held Up 9 Months. Ozone Test Plant at Belmont to Take Another 3; Year More Will Be Needed To See If the Process Is Effective. By John G. McCullough of The Bulletin Staff (1949-01-02)
  10. Heavy Doses of Alum Used at Filter Plant

PAGE 1B

  1. Short vision of yesterday; short of water today (editorial) (March 1942)
  2. System cuts dependence on supply; Neeson [?][ by Leeds Moberley.
  3. City speeds up bids on water program
  4. Instruction manual for basic courses. Pennsylvania Civil Defense Corps.(Bulletin, March 24, 1942. Continued on following pages, 2A and 2B
See Page 22B Below.

PAGE 2A

  1. Buhl Planetarium (Pittsburgh) hit by flood from broken water main
  2. War board ends blanket system for priorities. Ratings Will Be Assigned on Basis of Specific Requirements. By Frederick R. Barkley, Philadelphia Record-New York Times Service, Washington, March 21 (1942)

PAGE 2B

1. Instruction manual for basic courses. Pennsylvania Civil Defense Corps.(Bulletin, March 24, 1942; see also 1B and 2A)

PAGE 3A

  1. Priorities halt repair program, Neeson insists. Plan for conservation outlined at meeting of Defense officials.
  2. Leaking mains cost 10 million gallons a day. Huge water waste revealed by Neeson; priorities block rehabilitation plan. Inquirer, 1942-05-12
  3. Priority ratings are considered for war plants. Situation ‘more critical than most realize,’ Neeson warns. By Joseph P. McLaughlin. 1942-05-29
  4. Don’t fill bathtub with water in [air] raid.
  5. All urged to cut use of water to aid war plants. 20 gallon a day reduction asked of citizens of 5-county area. Record, 1942-05-26

PAGE 3B

  1. Caption for three photographs: A worker wearing a mask as protection from dust, unloading bags of carbon to be placed into the water at the Torresdale. pumping station to remove impurities. Eight parts of carbon are placed in 1,000,000 gallons, but the process fails to do away with the bad taste and odor. Meanwhile, residents of the Wissinoming section are shown braving the rain yesterday to fill bottles at a spring in Wissinoming Park, a scene that is being repeated at springs all over the city. Right: Bruce Campbell, a chemist at the Torresdale station, sniffing a sample of water after it was filtered. A remedy to end the taste and odor has not been found.
  2. Good water is hoped for by 1953.
  3. Tri-State survey of water urged.
  4. State aides join city search for polluted water source
    (Nos. 1-4 from Inquirer, 1948-12-31)
  5. War on Waste Started to Avert Water Famine. City officials aim is to save 50,000,000 gallons daily to help meet wartime needs (Inquirer, probably 1942)

PAGE 4A

  1. No excuse for coal silt still clogging river U.S. Army engineers hold (Record)
  2. Photograph of coal silt washed up on East River Drive. Caption: A six-foot flood over East River Drive along the Schuylkill left 4000 cubic yards of coal sludge in two blocks between Mid vale Ave and Ferry Rd., between Saturday night and yesterday. Russell T. Vodges, chief engineer of Fairmount Park Commission, termed it a “slimy, greasy, horrible mixture, 60 to 70 percent coal silt, which will take several days to remove.” Meanwhile, that section of the drive is closed to traffic. The silt is some of the stuff which U. S. Army engineers urged the James’ Administration to remove from the Schuylkill
  3. No Matter Whose Fault,— Help Save Water! (Editorial, 1942). Philadelphia and its four surrounding counties face a severe water shortage. The situation is becoming so acute that war production may be hampered—unless the public co-operates in saving water. This means a gallon of water wasted today might cause delay in the delivery of a tank on a distant battlefield. Multiplied many times, it might mean the loss of a battle…

PAGE 4B

  1. City must fight to get water (Inquirer, May 1942)
  2. Photograph: “Don’t be a drip! Be Patriotic. Stop leaks. Save Water.” The city is distributing 45,000 of these and similar posters urging citizens to conserve water.
  3. Copy of Citizen’s Business brochure from Bureau of Municipal Research, no date, probably 1942.
  4. U. S. Speeds Pumps for City Water. Priorities Aid Assured for Phila. Program. 1942-06-03

PAGE 5A

  1. Main break floods area in Brooklyn
  2. High priority granted for city water job
  3. WPB clears way for city water plans
  4. Oyster shipment arrives in Dock Street (Inquirer, 1942)
  5. A-1 priority for Phila. Water project
  6. Water priorities at last (editorial)
  7. ‘Water Wardens’ You and I (editorial) On the heels of Philadelphia’s fine job collecting three times its quota in scrap rubber comes another patriotic achievement: Saving water. Industrial and population increases were sufficient to send water consumption up. Yet in May and June it came down.

PAGE 5B

  1. A New “Philadelphia Story.” Or, How a Systematic Water Waste Survey in Progress Has Already Saved Philadelphia a Needed 13,000,000 Gallons Daily to Meet Defense Demands. By Martin I. McLaughlin, Chief, Bureau of Water, Philadelphia, PA. Reprinted from the June 1942 issue of Water Works and Sewerage
  2. Those Mythical Mains (editorial) Record, 1942?
  3. A single bidder on $1,000,000 job (Torresdale Pumping Station). Record 1942
  4. City’s water safe despite pollution, Hewitt declares. (Chicago Daily Times, 1942-10-08)
  5. City asks 2 bids on water plants. (Torresdale Pumping Station and preliminary treatment plant at Queen Lane). Record, 1942-09-04)

PAGE 6A

  1. Saving Water Will Help [Win War] – editorial
  2. WPB to inspect water system. Will determine need here for improvement.
  3. Priorities sought for water plant. Director Neeson declares breakdown now would be a calamity. Bulletin 1942-11-18
  4. Committee of Seventy charges big waste in water funds. 40 percent spent on 100 man payroll. Record, 1942-10-11
  5. Neeson says WPB is responsible if water fails. Bulletin, 1942-11-19
  6. Blaming Uncle Sam for City Hall’s Sins (editorial, Record, 1942-11-20). Partial text: Your collection of stage jokes is incomplete unless you’ve heard the newest one from Philadelphia’s GOPlundered City Hall: Blaming the Federal Government for any breakdown in Philadelphia’s decrepit water system. Of course, everybody knows it wasn’t Uncle Sam who allowed this utility to fall into wrack and ruin during the city’s half-century of political mismanagement. Nobody knows this better than Public Works Director John H. Neeson, who told the Rotary Club, Wednesday, that chief responsibility for deterioration of the city water system lies with “the indecisive policy” of past city administrations. Neeson added: “Philadelphia can lay claim more than any other city to the distinction of talking more about new sources of water supply and doing less about it.” But that applies to the entire water situation. And it applies to the present City Hall administration, which is dominated by the same old GOP machine. Voters approved an $18,000,000 water rehabilitation program in April, 1941—but the City Hall master minds refused to undertake this program until after war was declared and essential materials no longer were obtainable. Yet in another breath Director Neeson issues a statement notifying the War Production Board that, having refused to divert war materials for the water system, WPB will have to accept full responsibility for any breakdown in equipment. That’s like blaming Washington for Philadelphia’s dirty streets or any of the other abundant evidences of mismanagement in City Hall. For Philadelphia’s water disgrace is nothing new. Far back in the time of another war—the Spanish-American War—Katherine Bingham wrote of Philadelphia’s water system: “Philadelphia, once noted for its cleanliness, showed all too plainly the result of poor government. A heavy rain stirred up the water in the reservoirs to such a degree that it required some determination to bathe in it. Even after the water had been boiled and filtered for use on the table . . . the sight of it rendered one miserable and despondent.” ….

PAGE 6B

1. More articles and editorials on water works rehabilitation and Neeson blaming WPB (War Production Board). From the Inquirer and Record, November 1942.

PAGE 7A

  1. Another Water Works Inspection (Editorial, Inquirer, 1942-12-11). (Text): If the city treasury had a dollar for each time the water system has been subjected to an official inspection, Philadelphia would have been out of the financial woods long ago. This remark is prompted by the announcement that once again, for the umpteenth time, our water plants, or what is left of them, are to be given the once-over, this time by a gentleman from Washington sporting the title of chief of the War Production Board’s water section. The official, presumably, is to determine whether the city actually needs the new equipment it has been trying to get for the pumping stations and report on his findings to another official. What will happen after that is anybody’s guess. For many months the city has been getting nothing but the run-around on its application for water plan materials. If the latest inspector takes a good look at our run-down system and then figures out for himself what the consequences of a breakdown would be in a city turning out billions of dollars’ worth of war materials, he should rush back to Washington with a frantic signal for approval of our application.
  2. [And several other stories about WPB and the city]
  3. Magic formular to cut wage tax (from 1.5. to 1%) runs into snags.

PAGE 7B

  1. Council starts paring to fit budget to tax cut. $2 million must be trimmed (Inquirer, 1942-12-01)
  2. WPB aides end water study here (Inquirer 1942-12-12)
  3. Council boots city-county pay by $4,729,500. (Record, 1942-12-15)
  4. WPB approves 5 pumps OK’d for city’s water system. Agency recommends high priorities for equipment, three high-capacity chlorinators, and pipe for mails also okayed. (Record, 1942-12-30)

PAGE 8A

  1. Coal Silt in River Perils Phila. War Production, House hearing told (Inquirer, 1943-03-31)
    Schuylkill silt called menace by city officials. Endangers health and war industries, they tell legislators. (Record, 1943-03-31)
  2. Water main projects pushed by mayor.
  3. Congress group told New Jersey canal is threat to Philadelphia water supply. (Inquirer, 1943-03-11)
  4. $104,000 asked for water mains. Service designed to improve fire protection for war industries. (Record, 1943-04-13)
  5. Jersey ship canal backed at hearing. (Inquirer, March 1943)

PAGE 8B

1. Major Improvement Program for Philadelphia Water System is Under Way. Phases Most Essential to War Effort Given Green Light by W. P. B. [Article, illustrated with five photographs, from “The U.S. Piper,” March 1943.]

PAGE 9A

  1. [Articles about the request of the Office of Water Utilities for Philadelphia to transfer 4 40 million gallon pumps to Detroit, May 1943, various newspapers]
  2. [Editorial, Inquirer, 1943-05-24]: Water Conservation Vital Need. Serious shortage of water in the Philadelphia area was prevented last summer by wholehearted response to the city’s water conservation campaign. This year the necessity for conservation is even greater, and it is to be hoped that the people’s response to. Mayor Samuel’s save water appeal will be on an even larger scale. It is no lack of raw water that is Philadelphia’s problem—we have plenty in the two rivers at our doors. The strain is in our facilities to make the raw water drinkable and convey it to consumers. Our inadequate and in some instances old and worn-out water plant has only a certain capacity beyond which it cannot go. If demands exceed the capacity—well, they can’t be met, that is all. To make both ends meet, everyone must conserve water. That means the observance of two principal rules: Repair all leaks and other defects in pipes and avoid wasting a drop of water.
  3. Save Water! City Warned of Shortage. Supply Inadequate, With or Without New Pumps. Philadelphia must start saving water right now or face a serious shortage within 90 days, Acting Mayor Bernard Samuel said yesterday. Samuel issued his warning before he knew—officially, at least —that the four 40,000,000-gallon pumps which the city had been counting on to replace outworn equipment, and which were to have been delivered here within a month, had been commandeered by the War Production Board and assigned to Detroit to meet a water crisis there. Informed of the WPB order, Samuel said he would have no comment until he received official notification. But with the new pumps or without them, he said, Philadelphia must hoard its water this summer. Rain No Help. The impending shortage has nothing to do with the amount of rainfall. The skies could pour a constant deluge from now on and it would make no difference. The need is for “manufactured” water, filtered and chemically treated, and there just isn’t enough of that to go ‘round. A four-point program that will provide enough water for essential household and industrial use was laid down by the Mayor: 1. Repair leaky plumbing fixtures promptly. A faucet can waste as much as 400 gallons a day. 2. Use water “sensibly” for lawn and garden sprinkling, which means, for the most part, leave the job to nature. 3. Limit household consumption for bathing, cooking and shaving to a minimum. Do not “let the water run” to cool it for drinking purposes because that wastes water. 4. Do everything else that will conserve the supply. A similar program averted a serious drought last year, Samuel said, and it is hoped the memory of that campaign is still fresh enough in the public mind to make its continuance this year, when the need is even greater, a matter of course.
  4. Silt a Big Factor. A big factor in the water shortage is the Schuylkill silt accumulation, which the Legislature has refused to remedy… [Record, 1943-05-23]
  5. Four points outlined in silt fight. Ladner wants Martin to make deposits in river unlawful. [Schuylkill River. Bulletin, 1943-05-25]
  6. WPB and Neeson to discuss [long-delayed] Sandy Run Sewer. (Inquirer, 1943-05-26)

PAGE 9B

  1. City told to convert heating units to coal; armed forces need oil] Inquirer, 1943-05-26
  2. We almost had dome new pumps (editorial, 1943-06-04)
  3. Council is told of pump shift (Bulletin, 1943-06-02)
  4. Anti-Pollution Group Says City Was ‘Sold Down the River.’ The action of the Federal Government in depriving Philadelphia of the pumps it needs for its silt-polluted water supply is adding insult to injury, the Schuylkill River Valley Restoration Association decided at its annual meeting last night. “This city has been sold down the river with a vengeance,” said Dr. William Moore. “They won’t let us have pure water, and now they take away the pumps we need to get what water we have into the reservoirs.” ….
  5. [State Supreme Court Chief Justice George W. ] Maxey says suit won’t solve city water problems. Pocono supply only way out, he says of plea to ban silt dumping. (Record, 1943-07-02)
  6. River silt taxes filtering plants. Aging machinery must cleanse water growing constantly muddier. (1943-07-01)
  7. Neeson outlines [$350,000,000] postwar projects plan. (1943-12-12)

PAGE 10A

  1. Cheaper to tap Poconos for water, Maxey says. Litigation is no solution, Supreme Court justice tells city at silt hearing. (Inquirer, 1943-07-01)
  2. Pocono water costly. Cheaper to clean up Schuylkill, is Neeson reply to Justice Maxey. (Inquirer, 1943-07-02)
  3. Photographs of flood from broken water main at 32nd Street and Liberty Avenue, in Pittsburgh [story continued on page 11A]

PAGE 10B

  1. List of the City’s Many Water [Supply] Surveys 1944-01-05; source not noted)
    1798: Benjamin H. Latrobe, engineer of “superior talent and industry,” engaged to study the practicability of obtaining a water supply within a reasonable distance of the city.
    1811: Further investigation of the Schuylkill and of Wissahickon and Spring Mill Creeks by John Davis and Frederick Graff.
    1866: After preliminary surveys of sources, H. M. P. Birkinbine, Chief Engineer of the Water Department, recommended the Perkiomen.
    1867: Park Commission reported that the Schuylkill could be relied upon for many years if properly guarded from pollution.
    1875: A commission appointed to investigate the water problem made no recommendation as to future supply, simply stating that although it was too costly to be considered at that time, only practicable scheme for the future was the Perkiomen Reservoir and Conduit.
    1882: Board of experts recommended increasing the capacity of existing works. This led to a survey which recommended that no water be taken from the Schuylkill or from the Delaware below Trenton because filtration was not considered practicable.
    1883-86: A series of reports by Engineer Rudolph Hering.
    1899: Commission of engineers recommended filtration. Recommendation followed by the city. 1920: Board of four consulting engineers reported on inadequacies and defects. No action.
    1924: Water Commission thought existing sources too badly polluted to be treated with single filtration (some water is now double filtered); recommended abandonment of Schuylkill and use of Tohickon and Perkiomen creeks; leaned toward abandonment of Delaware if it could be
    financed.
    1933: Army engineers recommended dam at Tock’s Island on the upper Delaware.
    1937: Commission appointed to elect a new source recommended, after a month’s study, the upper Lehigh Valley and Poconos. Mayor Wilson stated the cost would be $74,000,000. A revised estimate by a subcommittee of the Commission put the figure at $173,000,000.
    1939: Interstate Commission on the Delaware River Basin recommended that the city discontinue the Schuylkill. Schuylkill River Valley Restoration Association advocated cleaning the Schuylkill and continuing its use.
    1940: Morris Knowles, Inc., consulting engineers, advised that “modern purification plants are capable of producing a safe and potable water” from either the Schuylkill or Delaware, and that the supply would be adequate for a population of 2,500,000 if waste were eliminated through
    metering and otherwise.
    1944: Mayor Samuel proposes a commission to study “upland sources.”
  2. City to complete dredging [rowing course on Schuylkill] in July. [1944?]
  3. Two editorial on Upland water sources, Bulletin, May 1944.
  4. New city water supply is pledged by Mayor. Inquirer, 1944-01-04
  5. Editorial carton, Inquirer, 1944-01-04, by Hutton [Hugh McMillen Hutton (1897-1976)]: Here’s to Victory! Quaker at Ye Olde Town Pump, celebrating that the repairs will be “Number One Post War Priority” [of] Mayor Samuel.

PAGE 11A

  1. Pure water pledged by Samuel at inaugural. (with photo of Mayor Bernard Samuel being sworn in), January 1944
  2. City warned of water shortage this year. 1944-03-24
  3. City is facing water crisis, Neeson warns. (Record, 1944-03-24)
  4. [William S. Pardoe, professor of hydraulic engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and chairman of the Committee of Seventy’s water committee, offers “Trenton-Warrington” alternative to Wallpack Bend water supply plan. Inquirer, 1946-06-05]
  5. Mayor Samuel’s constructive plan (editorial, no date)

PAGE 11B

  1. Realtors opposed to rent to finance sewage disposal. (Record, 1944-03-01)
  2. Basin dredged by new method. Remains in operation while 27 years’ mud is sucked out. [Torresdale sedimentation basin cleaned with suction dredge]
    City puts sewers first in vast works program. (Inquirer, 1944-10-09)
  3. Better water is high on list.
  4. Mayor opposes tax cut to offset sewer rent. (Inquirer, 1944-03-01)
  5. [Several editorial and articles on sewer rents, postwar planning]
  6. Heat plus neglect cause of water shortage. [Editorial, Record, 1944-07-11] Text:
    City officials are sounding their regular summer dirge. Additional demands due to the heat wave threaten a breakdown in our wheezing, dirt-clogged, patched-up water system. It’s an old plaintive song. And way off key. The heat wave, indeed! It’s been hot in New York city, too. But there’s no shortage of water there to supply homes and war industries. What’s more, it’s cool, gushing,; mountain-pure water—something Philadelphians know only by hearsay. New York planned its water supply to meet all needs for generations ahead. It drilled the Delaware Aqueduct, an engineering marvel 85 miles long, to tap the headwaters of the Delaware River. It went after new sources, will spend $325,000,000 to complete its program. On the one hand is New York city with an abundance of pure water. On the other is Philadelphia with a critical shortage of what, at best, is a third-rate brew. Why the shocking contrast? New York planned progressively, went to work efficiently to make that plan a reality. Philadelphia, shackled by the City Hall machine, stewed in do-nothingness. It isn’t necessary to look further than the Torresdale Filtration Plant for the tipoff. The sedimentation basin at Torresdale hasn’t been cleaned since it was built 28 years ago. And as a result the capacity of the plant, which supplies all of South Philadelphia and the entire area between Broad St. and the Delaware, has been cut in half. That’s one answer. And there’s another answer in pollution of the Schuylkill, which the GOP State Administrations over the years did nothing to halt. There are the frequent water main breaks. And there was the delay of the city administration in getting the projected $18,000,000 water rehabilitation program into operation. The war came along and then it was too late. City officials now ask the public to use water sparingly. We must do it. There is no other choice. The continued supply to homes and key war industries hinges on it. But let’s not make the old mistakes again. We must plan for a completely adequate pure water system as a postwar project. The city must seek new water sources, to supplant the Schuylkill and Delaware. Regardless of purification programs, they could not be depended on for pure water for generations to come. We need to strike out with vision. New York has set an example we should follow. Here is a job—a pressing job—for our City Planning Commission. It should have a plan blueprinted, ready when peace comes. It’s a postwar project second to none.

PAGE 12A

  1. Sewer rent plan ‘discriminatory,’ expert declares. But witness admits charge based on water use is fair. [Witness was William S. Pardoe, Penn engineering professor] (Record, 1944-12-110
  2. Post-War projects may provide 120 million man hours of jobs (Bulletin, 1944-10-09; continued on 12B)
  3. Sewage a fragrant problem since 1907, by Leeds Moberley. (With illustrations; third of a series on post-war plans. Record, 1944-10-18)
  4. 30 groups aid city in sewer suit. Support given to rental plan. (Inquirer, 1944-12-11)

PAGE 12B

  1. Two experts back sewer rent plan (Record, 1944-12-14)
  2. Experts uphold city on sewer rate plan (Inquirer, 1944-12-14)
  3. Ben Franklin knew city’s need of better water; made provision in will but lacked cash. By Leeds Moberley. (Record, 1945-01-01. First in a series on city’s water problem.)
  4. City projects to give jobs to vast number (continued from 12A)

PAGE 13A

  1. Water rent basis aired at hearing. Metering is not essential to determine fair rate, city engineer says. (Bulletin, 1944-12-13)
  2. Flotation plant to remove silt from mine water. [To be used at Tamaqua. “Expects to make a profit on coal recovery. Schuylkill River. (Dispatch, 1944-12-03)
  3. Schuylkill Cleanup near after 100 years pollution. By Leeds Moberley. Second in a series on water supply. (Record, 1945-01-02)
  4. McGurk assails Governor Martin for keeping Stewart. Register of Wills candidate blames city for water problem. (Record, 1945-06-08?)
  5. City appoints body to study water supply. Sullivan chairman of group that will recommend steps. (Inquirer, 1945-04-29)
  6. How Much Water?(editorial about the new water commission, Bulletin, May 1945)

PAGE 13B

  1. City’s sewage gets into water supply because treatment plant is obsolete. By Leeds Moberley. Third in a series. Record, 1945-01-03)
  2. Wallpack water plan opposed. (Inquirer, 1946-04-05)
  3. If a fish flops out of your spigot—So What? It’s ‘Harmless’—or so Water Bureau Says. [Record, probably 1945. May be part of Water Supply series]
  4. A constructive move for better water (Editorial, 1945-04-29, about appointment of the new water supply commission)
  5. Letters to the editor: a: on federal priority system related to city water supply, and 2: Test follows:
    No Bath, No Beverage From City Water Supply. To the Editor: This very evening, when I had finished dinner, I went upstairs intent on taking a bath. I went into the bathroom and. started the water. I then went to my bedroom with the Idea of preparing myself for a luxurious hour in the tub. Upon re-entering the bathroom, the odor was almost unbearable. And, because of the stench of this liquid, which our fair City Council insists is water, I went without a bath. I stopped drinking this’ “WATER.” Now I ask you, must I also stop bathing? Anyone who values their skin,, has no alternative. [signed] LOVER OF LIFE.
  6. Doctor Assails G.O.P. on Water. Opening his campaign for Coroner on the Democratic ticket, Dr. Joseph A. Langbord, last night charged that “raw, contaminated water” is being pumped directly into the city’s water supply system. [This charge disputed by second story on this page, from Inquirer, dated 1945-10-10]
  7. [Two stories on City looking for water bureau chief, job pays $8,000 a year. McLaughlin promoted to director of public works.

PAGE 14A

  1. [Articles about WCAU Broadcasting Company chairman Isaac D. Levy’s radio crusade for better water, including text of one of his radio talks, and a photograph of Levy. (Observer, May 1946) [See transcripts of many of Levy’s speeches and interviews, bound into 1946 PWD annual report volume 2004.057.0248)
  2. Is ‘Half Sent a Day’ Too Much for Pure Water? ‘ (Record, 1946. Text follows:
    Pure water for Philadelphia was an issue way back in 1899. The Record on Friday published a facsimile of part of the front page of the defunct Philadelphia Times, dated March 29th of that year—47 years ago. A Grand Jury with “power to act at once” was to take up the question of foul water.
    The automobile has developed since from an experiment to an industry. The airplane has grown up. Two world wars have been fought. The atom bomb has been invented. But Philadelphia water remains the same —an unholy chemical experiment. Why? Because we have had the kind of thinking in city government as exemplified Thursday by Public Works Director Martin J. McLaughlin.
    Before City Council’s Public Works Committee, he stated that city engineers were opposed to a plan of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company to bring pure water here from its property in the Poconos. A new, unadulterated source of drinking water! What the city has needed for more years than the oldest inhabitants can remember. Many plans have been advanced during the years. The chlorine cocktail is still with us. We do not know the merits of the coal firm’s proposal, which the company estimated would cost the city $142,000,000. But the point is that neither does McLaughlin. He objected to the project because: “Our engineers believe the cost would be millions and millions of dollars more than the company’s figures.”
    An engineer doesn’t talk that way. Not if he knows his business. The project may be
    worthless. But if it is to be opposed it should be for a good reason backed by facts. No plan should be damned because it will cost “millions.” Of course, a new water supply will cost millions. It can’t be had for a song.
    This is the same kind of uninformed obstructionism that was employed to block the construction of a depressed, rather than a surface, superhighway over Vine st. It would cost too much!
    How much is too much? Way back in 1937, The Record showed that Philadelphia could have pure, fresh water, that the cost would run about $150,000,000. Yes, that’s a large sum. But it means, when transferred into nonfrightening terms, that the people could have pure water for only half a cent a day for each adult. Is that too much?
    It is no coincidence that Philadelphia has been burdened by Republican machine rule over all those years the people have been clamoring for good water—and not getting it. Millions were squandered on municipal white elephants. But now necessary improvements are obstructed by the unsubstantiated obstructed by the unsubstantiated cry—”They cost too much!”

PAGE 14B

  1. Mayor raps U.S. delay on postwar aid. Says city will take all Federal funds it can get. (Record, 1945-08-26)
  2. $18,000,000 fund is not enough to fix water works. War forced construction costs above original city estimate. By Leeds Moberley. (Record, March 1945)
  3. Water is threat, Langbord warns. Democratic candidate for coroner warns of disease. (Record, 1945-10-09) [Public Works director McLaughlin denies charge: Bulletin, 1945-10-09.
  4. 3 electric pumps orderd by city (Inquirer August 1946)
  5. Water system of city defended by the Bureau of Municipal Research, in Citizens’ Business publication (see also article on 15A)
  6. Water Bureau gets new chief (Elbert J. Taylor, with photograph) (Record, 1946-03-09)
  7. Water Works figure called too high. Official says Pocono plan would cost $120,000,000. (Bulletin, 1946-04-17)

PAGE 15A

  1. Engineer appointed water burau chief (with photograph of Elbert J. Taylor and Martin J. McLaughlin.
  2. Horsham to fight reservoir plan. Residents…cite loss of tax, colonial landmarks (Bulletin, 1946-04-05; also second story on page 15B)
  3. Lehigh Co. intensifies in $12,000,000 water grab. Ex-judge Kenworthey takes stump for utility firm seeking unconscionable profit (Dispatch, 1946-04-07)
  4. [Two articles about New Jersey officials approving the city’s use of Delaware River water. (Record and Inquirer, 1946-03-30)
  5. City delays referendum on new water supply

PAGE 15B

  1. Making nectar out of Schuylkill water. ‘Spring water’ from the Schuylkill – and it’s not done with mirrors. By Morley Cassidy, Bulletin, 1946-04-22) With photograph of filter inventor Albert W. Spitz, 1543 Stevens St., and son Bobby, and the filter.
  2. City to hold second water hearing (Record, 1946-05-19)
  3. Don’t toss away our chance for better water (Editorial, Inquirer, 1946-04-11)
  4. Water interest (editorial, Bulletin, 1946-05-18)
  5. [Defense of water supply proposal of Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co., by president Robert V. White

PAGE 16A

  1. Editorial, Water Uncertainties. And editorial cartoon, “Imported vs. Domestic.” Both from Bulletin, 1946-04-30
  2. Connoisseurs sample city’s water; find Queen Lae drink is worst. (Editorial, Bulletin, 1946-06-21; see also article on page 17A)
  3. Wallpack Dam Questions, Editorial, 1946-05-28
  4. Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. gets more time on water grab as referendum is deferred (Dispatch, 1946-04-28)
  5. Say Lehigh Plan is too expensive

PAGE 16B

  1. Public hearing on water draws scant crowd (Bulletin, photograph and article, 1946; see also Record article, 1946-05-15, on page 17A)
  2. Facing the Water Problem (Fourth of a series of articles about water problem. Bulletin
  3. Water impatience. Editorial
  4. Lehigh defends its water plan; awaits hearings. (1946-04-28)
  5. Fox Chase water pump wins U.S. approval
  6. City speeds work on [Torresdale] pumping station (Inquirer, 1946-07-22)
  7. Engineers reject Lehigh River for new Philadelphia water supply. Advocate Wallpack Bend as cheaper and better source (Inquirer; see also page 17A)

PAGE 17A

  1. Several editorials on the need for and cost of good water; and articles similar to those on previous pages.]
  2. Engineers doubt water’s purity. Dispute Lehigh assertion Pocono supply would not need filtering (Bulletin, 1946-06-26)
  3. Philadelphia must get a new source of water (Record, April ??, 1946). Text:
    There is no sensible alternative to a new source of water supply for Philadelphia. Many Philadelphians have been convinced of that for years. They are now confirmed in their opinion by experts. Never can the city expect to get good drinking water from he Schuylkill and Delaware. That’s the most significant conclusion in the final report of the consulting engineers of the Mayor’s Water Commission. It could hardly come from higher authority, or be based more substantially on fact. The engineers are career men of national reputation in their field. They devoted nine months to the first really complete engineering appraisal of the city’s water problem.
    Of course, the present system could be “fixed up.” The engineers cover that in their report. The system could be patched up just as it has been for years whenever the city took the trouble to do anything at all. It would cost $62,568,000 to restore and modernize the present Schuylkill-Delaware system, the engineers estimated. If the Schuylkill were abandoned (almost
    inescapable, they indicate) and the city’s water taken entirely from the Delaware, the cost would be $25,000,000 more. A total of $87,568,000! For what? For more chlorine cocktails. That would be throwing good money after bad water.
    The heavily polluted lower Delaware and Schuylkill are the worst water source in the country for any major American city, the engineers reported. And no matter how successful the cleanup of those rivers being carried on in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, they will never be pure enough to provide Philadelphia with good water. “It is certain,” said the engineers, “that much pollution will remain.” That should destroy finally any desperately held hopes that the city any longer can avoid its obligation to find a new source.
    The engineers considered a number of proposals to tap upland water sources. It laid emphasis in its report on the Wallpack Bend project. It provides for bringing pure water into the city through an underground tunnel from an artificial lake near Bushkill on the upper Delaware. The cost was estimated at $284,588,000. Some $31,203,000 more would be needed for stop-gap improvements in the present system pending completion of the project. Total cost would then be $315,791,000.
    For what? A drink of good water whenever you want it, as far ahead as our vision can take us. Does that sound like a lot of money? A prohibitive sum? Sounds are deceiving. For it would cost only an increase of little more than two cents a day in the average householder’s water bill. Is that too much for good water?

PAGE 17B

  1. Ex-sailor swims in city reservoir [Edward Stoddard Barber, swam illegally in East Park Reservoir. He was of Lorna, and of Barber being arrested by Fairmount Park guards] (Record, 1946-06-21)
  2. New fight is made on dam project [reservoir]. Warrington officials say water plan will wipe out third of taxables. (Bulletin, 1946-06-11) [Two stories on this topic]

PAGE 18A

  1. City wants best water regardless of cost. (Editorial, Record, 1946-06-01; and second unsourced editorial on same topic, referring to Wallpack Bend project vs. rehabilitating current supply system)
  2. Queen Lane Reservoir, 50 years old, gets first complete cleaning. Deepwater dredge, hauled to scene in 2 sections and reassembled, is removing tons of silt. (1946, no source, with photograph of the dredge “Big Queen.”)
  3. Report to the People –No. 9. Council votes funds for water, highway, playground projects. (Ninth in a series, water section only. Inquirer, 1946-08-01)

PAGE 18B

  1. City’s Water Puzzle. Many proposals for supply submitted, but officials have no agreed program. Hearings fail to arouse consumers. By Richard J. O’Keefe. (First in a series. With Detailed map of several plans, and inset photographs. Inquirer, 1946-09-16)

PAGE 19A

  1. City’s Water Puzzle. Delaware plan faces series of fights. Landowners to oppose reservoir. By Richard J. O’Keefe. (Second in a series. With several photographs of “Towns and valley along the Delaware River that will be flooded by proposed Wallpack Bend Reservoir.” Inquirer, 1946-09-17)

PAGE 19B

  1. City’s Water Puzzle. Warrington district to fight reservoir. By Richard J. O’Keefe. (Third of a series. With excellent photograph, overdrawn with proposed dam to show height of water. Inquirer, 1946-09-18)
  2. Legal tangle bars repair of water meters. City gets jammed up in bid for replacement parts. By Edward Stone. (Record, July 1946)

PAGE 20A

  1. [City’s Water Puzzle.] Wallpack Bend project reported sent to Mayor as best of seven water plans. Lehigh offers new supply from Poconos. Proposal will go to Council. By Richard J. O’Keefe. (Fourth in a series. With several photographs overdrawn with reservoirs and aqueduct. Inquirer, 1946-09-19)

PAGE 20B

  1. City’s Water Puzzle. Storage lake favored near Doylestown. Jericho Creek site favored. By Richard J. O’Keefe. (Fifth and last in a series. With photograph of firefighters in action overdrawn with a chart, “Number and cost of Philadelphia fires, 1936-1946.” Inquirer, 1946-09-20)
  2. Water meter ownership (editorial, Bulletin, 1947-02-25)
  3. Do you drink sewage? (editorial, Bulletin, 1947 ca.)
  4. Water comes first (editorial, 1947-03-25, no source)
  5. Let people decide on water sources (editorial, probably Inquirer, 1946-12-13)
  6. [Money for rehabilitation of Allentown water supply, 1947-03-25, no source]
  7. [Mayor seeks to protect city’s right to Wallpack Bend area as a future water source. Small article, no source, 1947 ca.]

PAGE 21A

  1. Almost 25,000 water meters in city are awaiting repairs. By John McCullough. (Bulletin, 1947-02-23)
  2. Odorless city water (Editorial, 1947 ca., no source)
  3. Better water leads to citizens’ demands. The Bulletin Poll. (1947-03-25)
  4. Better water on the way (Editorial, Inquirer, 1947-05-26)
  5. Another main lets go. (No date, ca. 1947, no source) Text: Another of Philadelphia’s troublesome water mains blew its top today. Results: a gash nearly 200 feet long down the middle of Broad st.; a bad scare for two busloads of people; topsy-turvy sidewalks; water, water, everywhere. It all happened at Snyder av. [Longer story also on this page]
  6. City [Public Works] plan is its greatest [ever contemplated] (Bulletin. 1947-02-23)
  7. Proposed water supply for the city [Map showing Wallpack Bend project. This accompanied story on next page 21B: “State board gets Wallpack water plan.” (Inquirer, 1947-04-02)
  8. Rehabilitation of system stressed in water report. Plans urged to improve taste, odor (1947 ca., no source)

PAGE 21B

  1. City urged to burn silt from river. Article with three photographs, with caption: “Even power dredges make little impression on mountains of silt lining the Schuylkill. Thousands of tons of mine waste still befoul the banks of the Schuylkill, despite efforts of shovels and dredges to restore the natural beauty of the stream. One expert has suggested the city could burn the silt, which he indicated was more than 50 percent coal, as a cheap source of power. City officials doubt the proposal’s value. At left, above, a power dredge bites into high-piled silt on West River Drive below Columbia ave. bridge. Center picture shows towering banks of black, oily silt defacing the stream. At right, above, a workman shows how much the collected silt resembles coal dust. (Inquirer, 1947-05-26))
  2. As it is, Schuylkill silt burns up Philadelphians. (by columnist John M. Cummings, about efforts to burn the silt for power affordably. Inquirer, 1947-05-27)
  3. City water’s pure? Yes, says Bureau, fish thrive in it. 91947 ca., no source)

PAGE 22A

  1. Water meter ownerships (editorial, 1947-07-16)
  2. Pumping station at Queen lane will get major facelifiting. By John G. McCullouigh (Bulletin, 1947 ca.)
  3. Water bureau has its own detective force to check waste. Three photos with caption. Water Bureau employees [?] Kunder,and William G. Warrington using an aquaphone, geophone to listen for leaks, and an M-scope (similar to a mine-detector used during warfare) to trace an underground water line. (Bulletin, 1947-05-04)
  4. City Can be Mosquito Free at Small Cost or Trouble. State Director of Plant Industry Tells How New War Insecticides Will Get Rid of Pests in a Hurry.(Bulletin, May 3?, 1947) Partial text: orrespondent. Harrisburg, May 3. [1947]—Philadelphia can rid itself of flies and mosquitoes by going to a little trouble and expense, state officials said today. The answer to the problem, they declared, is wholesale use of the harmless-to-humans but high powered insecticides developed during World War II. Within a few years, scores of communities will spray DDT in early summer and be free of the pests for the entire season, Dr. Thomas. L. Guyton, director of the Bureau of
    Plant Industry in the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, predicted….

PAGE 22B

  1. Their job is to smell and taste Philadelphia’s drinking water every day. Feature story, illustrated with four photos, Bulletin, 1947-06-11. Captions: 1. BEFORE AND AFTER—Ed Witkowski, assistant bacteriologist at the Belmont laboratory, looks at a sample of Philadelphia drinking water before treatment. Treated water is on table. 2. EAU DE PHILADELPHIA—Sniffing a sample of the city’s drinking water here is Thomas F. Kinslow, an industrial waste inspector, who has been helping perform this task for the past 20 years. 3. BOTTOMS UP!—Wilson Crawford, another industrial waste inspector, likes ‘Schuylkill punch’ so well that he drinks a dozen glass daily—and not as part of his testing job either, but at home or at the office. 4. OTHER JOBS, TOO—When not holding water samples to lips or noses, the water-testing crew performs other laboratory duties. Here two of them, James A. Moran (center) and James Stinson (right) check drinking water’s hydrogen ion content, under supervision of Walter C. Ringer [Samuel Craford isalso quoted in the accompanying story]

PAGE 23A

  1. [Story on backlog of broken water meters, with photograph of pile of meters at 29th Street. Bulletin, 1947-07-13]
  2. 400 [water] mains here break in a year. Some have been in service since 1819. (Bulletin, 1947-07-13)
  3. Water tax rise urged for city improvements [1947 ca.]
  4. Main break hits southwest area. Water cut in two hospitals and thousands of home. [Break on Warrington south of 56th St.] (Inquirer, 1947-11-03)

PAGE 23B

  1. City fights private dam as threat to water plan. Power company seeks rights on Upper Delaware. [Mayor] Samuel invites state to join in protest to Federal commission. (Bulletin, 1947-06-15)
  2. [Several articles on proposed water and sewer rate increases, or 20-50 percent (April, June and July, 1948)
  3. Water Bureau will be probed. Committee of 15 will hire expert analysts [Bulletin, 1948-07-31)
  4. $153,000,000 in loans need for city works. (Bulletin, May 1948)
  5. Gov. Duff jeers at Philadelphia water. (Inquirer, May 5 or 6, 1948)

PAGE 24A

  1. Water chief [Elbert J. Taylor] denounces decrepit meter system (Inquirer, 1948-07-04)
  2. Water rent rise asked by [Mayor] Samuel (Inquirer, 1948-07-14)
  3. [Two editorials from Bulletin on water rate or rent increases] (1948-07-13 and 1948-07-17) and several other articles on this issue. Also, editorial cartoon from Bulletin, 1948-07-17.
  4. First collect all that is due the city [for unpaid water rents] (Editorial, Inquirer, 1948-07-30)

PAGE 24B

  1. [Several articles about recommendation of the Committee of 15 to raise water rates or rents. July to October, 1948, various newspapers]

PAGE 25A

  1. [Articles on water rate increase, August-September 1948]
  2. $200,000 a year lost on water waste, Taylor asserts. Blames faulty meters and thefts by home owners and industry. (Bulletin, 1948-09-19)
  3. Revised water system urged. Real estate men want economies in Bureau (Bulletin, 1948-09-25)
  4. Water easy to take (Editorial, Bulletin, 1948-11-25, on ozonation to help rid water of tastes and odors)
  5. Headline Hopping. New tune: Going to Take The Kill Out of Schuylkill. By Ollie Crawford (Inquirer, 1948-11-23)
    Overbrook and some sections of West and Southwest Philadelphia are to get a new and pure water supply by Christmas. This is putting Santa on the water wagon. Residents will be hanging up their hose, instead of their stockings.
    The new water is hailed as odorless and tasteless. How do you know the stuff is there? It’s going to be hard to explain to the children. When Junior cries for a drink at night, he wants to hear it rattle. Grandpa wants something he can sink his teeth into. This means the end of the “Schuylkill Cocktail.” That was the drink they sold only one of to a Zombie.
    Schuylkill is an old Dutch word, meaning “Creek with a Reek.” It’s the world’s only dusty river. Indians who lived there were led by “Chief Running Away From Water.” It was a branch of the Blackfoot tribe. But some people liked it. Pure sediment.
    The old water was good to the last drop. But that last drop. Wow!
    Overbrook used to be the only place where people drank water with a whisky chaser. Even the faucets turned up their noses and when people watered the lawn, the grass put up umbrellas. It was kind of a liquor smog. When you asked for a drink of water, they said: “How many
    lumps, please?” One circus visitor asked: “How does this water come? Through an elephant’s trunk?”
    Schuylkill’s water once stumped the experts on “20 questions.” They couldn’t even guess whether it was animal, vegetable or mineral.

PAGE 25B

  1. [Several articles on recommendation of Committee of 15 to turn water system over to be run by private company. (Nov. 1948) and one editorial opposing this (Bulletin, 1948-11-27). Subject continued on 26A]
  2. Buckley asserts taste of water has improved. Says it’s noticeable, will be nearly perfect in four more years. (Bulletin, 1948-10-03)

PAGE 26A

  1. Highlights of city’s water and sewage programs [Map with photos of plants and other projects overlaid: Torresdale, Belmont ozonation, East park Chlorine, Northeast, Southeast and Southwest plants. 1948 ca. No source, possibly Inquirer]
  2. Neglect caused poor water, WFIL Forum speakers say. (Inquirer, 1949-04-04)
  3. Mayor urges independent water board. Would have it manage and develop city’s $100,000,000 system. (Bulletin, 1949-01-09; see also story from Inquirer, same date, on same subject, on 26B)

PAGE 26B

  1. Bureau bungling is blamed for city’s bad water. Improvements started in 1946 not completed, researchers charge. (Bulletin, 1949-01-09; quotes Citizens’ Business, publication of the Bureau of Municipal Research)
  2. [Fox Chase booster pumping station to open; Inquirer, 1949-04-09]
  3. Water bill equality to be [City Council] caucus aim (Daily News, 1949-06-16)
  4. Spigots Run Dry. Just oversight by an attendant. (1949-06-07) – Attendant at Fox Chase Booster Station let the pressure drop.

PAGE 27A

  1. 1946 city plan to improve water is branded failure (Inquirer, 1949-04-23)
  2. A new water plan (Editorial, Bulletin, 1949-01-10)
  3. City dissipated fund for water group says. [Citizens Council on City Planning). (Bulletin, 1949-04-23)
  4. Water billing unfair, chief admits (Inquirer, 1949-06-16)

PAGE 27B

  1. Stop the gross overcharges for city water (Editorial, Inquirer, 1949-06-17)
  2. Metered water bills bring more protests against higher rates (Inquirer, 1949-06-18)
  3. Water chief offers plan to cut bills. Council arranges meeting to debate whole ‘hot’ issue (Inquirer, 1949-06-19)
  4. Thinks we pay too little for water (Letter to Bulletin, from H. L. Matsinger, Camden, NJ, 1949-06-17)
  5. Plumbers blame city on meters. High cost of water work is protested. (Bulletin, 1949-06-21)
  6. Unfair water charges (Editorial, Bulletin, 1949-06-17)

PAGE 28A

  1. Council slashes bills for unmetered water, 25,000 to get refunds. 25 percent ceiling ordered on raises. (Inquirer, 1949-06-22) [and other articles on protests of unmetered water bills]
  2. Water rate revision helps—but speed meterage. (Editorial, Inquirer, 1949-06-23)
  3. Plumbers deny boosing prices (Inquirer, 1949-06-18)
  4. Water, water, everywhere. [Walter Phillips on warpath against proposed water and sewer authority. (Bulletin, 1949-06-28)
  5. Water authority urged by Mayor, backed by Chamber of Commerce (Inquirer, 1949-06-24)

PAGE 28B

  1. City officials aid plumbers, cut meter red tape (Bulletin, June 1949); and similar article, Inquirer, 1949-06-29
  2. Water meter ownership (Editorial, Bulletin, 1949-06-29)
  3. A civic duty in dry spells: Do not waste water! (editorial, Inquirer, 1949-06-28)
  4. [Several articles on proposed water and sewer authority]
  5. No super government (Editorial against water and sewer authority, Bulletin, 1949-06-27)
  6. Might be the snake again (editorial against the water and sewer authority, with editorial cartoon by Alexander [Franklin Osborne Alexander (1897-1993)]: “Another Water Snake?” Bulletin, 1949-06-28)

PAGE 29A

  1. Speed is urged on water plan. Ralph Kelly says Authority means economy, efficiency (probably Inquirer, 1949-09-12)
  2. [Several other stories about the water and sewer authority, including editorial against it]
  3. Low water cost (Ediorial, regarding metered vs unmetered usage, Bulletin, 1949-09-15)
  4. 50,000 water meters a year being installed in homes (Inquirer, 1950-01-22)
  5. Charter makers tols of need to ‘tread on toes.’ Commission starts its job with many ideas proposed. (Bulletin 1949-09-15)
  6. [Two articles on updates to Queen lane plant, 1949-10-23)

PAGE 29B

  1. City Charter (fifth of six articles) by Frederic G. Hyde. Special agency for water needed. (Inquirer, 1950/01/20)
  2. Guard our water supply (Editorial, against New York’s diversion of Delaware River water; 1950-03-16, Inquirer; second copy on 30A)
  3. [Editorial on water conservation, citing New York City’s Dry Fridays and Save-Water Thursdays. Bulletin, 1950/01/22]
  4. Metering survey (Editorial, Bulletin, 1949-07-05)
  5. Photograph, Inquirer, 1950-01-27, of wooden water mains, with caption: Unearthing tree-trunk water mains on vine street. Frank De Felippes (left), foreman of a construction crew, and Al Tyman, a city water inspector, looking over the tree trunks which served as water mains under Vine st. for more than 200 years. They were dug up yesterday near 10th st. as work progressed on the Vine st improvement program. Tyman holds one of cast iron pipes that served as a connection between the logs. The wood seems unharmed by the long service.

PAGE 30A

  1. Huge Perkiomen dam urged as water source. Suburban company proposes creation of 750-acre lake. (Inquirer 1950/03/04); and second article from Bulletin on this subject.
  2. Ladner assails Incodel plan to supply water for New York (Bulletin, 1950-03-15)
  3. Main break halts traffic in Northeast. (Devereaux near Roosevelt Boulevard; Inquirer, 1950-01-30)
  4. Authority asked to handle water for three states. Incodel seeks power to make early plans pending legislation. (Bulletin, 1950-01-27)

PAGE 30B

  1. Meeting will discuss tapping Delaware Rive to aid New York [Bulletin, 1950-03-14)
  2. Torresdale Filtered Water Pumping Station (description from The Nor’easter, December 1950)
  3. FPC urged to reject Delaware [River] power project (Inquirer, 1950-03-18)
  4. Save Philadelphia’s water (Grover C. Ladner’s protest against diverting water to New York City by Incodel) (Daily News, 1950-03-22; with photograph of Ladner)
  5. [Editorial re: City Charter Commission and water problem; Bulletin, 1951-02-25)
  6. Taylor supports Tri-State water. Says Incodel plan would benefit city. (Bulletin, 1950-03-22)
  7. Tap Hudson, New York urged by Ladner. (Daily News, 1950-03-21)
  8. Sharing the Delaware, and Below the Belt (Editorials about Incodel plan, Bulletin, March 1950)

PAGE 31A

  1. Wonders of Research. Third of four articles. Hope for better water lies in ozone process. By C. William Duncan (Inquirer, 1950-03-09)
  2. Hiring of second shift urged to fix water meters (Inquirer, 1951-03-11)
  3. Lease on water works sought by private firm (Inquirer, 1951-04-13)
  4. Protect Philadelphia’s water rights (Editorial, Inquirer, 1951-02-20)
  5. Board against Fluorination of local water. (Springfield, Mass., 1951-03-30)
  6. Fluorinated water opposed in New Jersey (NY Tribune, 1951-04-23)
  7. Deegan opposes water lease as private ‘grab.’ Calls company’s plan bad business for city and warns of haste. [Councilman Cornelius S. Deegan vs. American Water Works Company plan] (Bulletin, 1951-04-25)

PAGE 31B

  1. Prompt appraisal wanted of Incodel water plan (Editorial, Inquirer, 1951-02-23)
  2. Incodel plan defended (by Grover C. Ladner, Inquirer, 1951-02-23)
  3. Ladner warns of binding features in Incodel contract (Bulletin, 1951-05-01)
  4. Firm proposes to lease city’s water system. Says it can improve supply, treat sewage, and step up collections. (Bulletin, 1951-04-118) [American Water Works Service Company]
  5. Water Meter Puzzle Second of three articles. Utility firms’s efficiency hows up city;s laxity. By Kos Semonski. (Inquirer, 1950-08-09)

PAGE 32A

  1. Dispute flares on Incodel plan. New needs survey asked; Allen charges ‘Smear’ (Inquirer, 1951-05-01)
  2. Incodel ‘facts’ questioned in river water diversion (Bulletin, 1951-05-02, Trigger and Reel column by Joe Pancoast)
    3.Water Meter Puzzle. First of three articles. City Failure to provide readings beings chaos. By Kos Semonski. (Inquirer, 1950-08-08)
  3. City water billing service needs drastic revision (Editorial, Inquirer, 1950-08-09)
  4. Meter reading by utility urged (1950 ca.)

PAGE 32B

  1. Water Meter Puzzle. Last of three articles. Thosands of gauges lost in repair shops. By Kos Semonski. (Inquirer, 1950-08-10)
  2. New city airport won’t be ready until March 1 (1944-11-22; no source)
  3. Queen Lane plant 25 percent complete, with two photographs: Work progressing on new treatment plant at Queen Lane (Inquirer, 1950-08-28)
  4. State GOP backs water authority to supply Philadelphia. (1950; no source)

PAGE 33A

  1. [Daily News stories about City personnel director Frank J. Escobedo hiring Chicago firm at “50g” to help in create new civil service setup. No date, probably 1950
  2. Old GOP clique runs Water Dept. (Daily news, no date, probably 1952. Horsemen identified as Elbert J. Taylor, Charles Vickerman, William R. Webster, and Frank Gallagher. Samuel Baxter said to be aware of the situation and working on shaking things up.)

PAGE 33B
Same as 27A, No. 1