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The Water Pipes

About This Item

  • Title: The Water Pipes
  • Date: 11 May 1858
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: per.00656
  • Source: Brooklyn Daily Times, 11 May 1858: 2. Our transcription is based on a digital image of a microfilm scan of the original issue. Microfilm of original issue held at Pennsylvania State University Libraries. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the journalism, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Editorial note: This piece is unsigned, as was the case for most of Whitman's journalism. However, this editorial is part of a series of texts that deal with a coherent theme that has been identified by the Whitman Archive journalism team as likely authored by Whitman. This decision is based on a combination of historical and (auto)biographical accounts, similarity to contemporary Whitman writings, a history of scholarly attribution, extant clippings retained by Whitman, computational stylometric analysis, and, in some cases, manuscript evidence in Whitman’s hand.
  • Contributors to digital file: Jeff Hill Amy Kapp Samantha Gilmore Jason Stacy Kaylen Michaelis Stephanie Blalock Karie Cobb
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "The Water Pipes." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 16 July 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: per.00656.xml (TEI)
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THE WATER PIPES—

Messrs. Hill and Newman,1 the energetic contractors for the laying of the water pipes in the Eastern District, have completed their work so far as the 14th, 15th and 16th wards are concerned. The cross streets of the 13th ward, with the exception of First, Third and Fourth, together with South First and South Second are also supplied. South Third street is now under way. The following sized mains have been laid in the several streets named: Union ave. from North 2d to Montrose ave. 20 inches: Graham ave. from North 2d to Broadway; Fifth street, from North 7th to Broadway; Grand street, from First to Graham ave. 12 inch mains.

The contractors have trucked on Broadway from Union to Gates ave. some seven or eight thousand feet of thirty inch. pipe, averaging over four thousand pounds in weight per pipe, and measuring between eight and nine feet each when laid. Between one and two hundred public hydrants have been completed, and over two hundred stop-cocks have been put down in the 14th, 15th and 16th wards. Some of the streets have been found to be very rocky. In North Fifth street above Fifth the contractors were for three weeks engaged in cutting their way through solid rock. The number of men employed in laying these water pipes is 150, and it is expected that the entire work will be finished by the last of August.

Notes:

1. This firm has not been identified. There were many engineers and contractors with both the names Hill and Newman. Hill and Newman are also mentioned in a letter by Thomas Jefferson Whitman to Walt Whitman on February 6, 1863. [back]

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