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The Water Works

About This Item

  • Title: The Water Works
  • Date: 27 November 1858
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: per.00679
  • Source: Brooklyn Daily Times, 27 November 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: Elva Moreno Del Rio Conner Lynn Samantha Gilmore Stephanie Blalock Karie Cobb
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "The Water Works." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 17 July 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: per.00679.xml (TEI)
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THE WATER WORKS.—

The donkey engine1 at the pump well has been repaired, and by last night had thrown two feet or over of water into the reservoir. It comes in at the rate of 2½ inches on the whole surface per 24 hours—so that in a week or two more there will be water enough to cleanse out and test the pipes. The first large engine is advancing rapidly to completion, and will soon take the place of the small one now in operation. The present is the best time to visit the works, as the mode of entrance of the water and solidity of the workmanship both at the reservoir and pump well can now be seen to advantage.

Notes:

1. The steam-powered donkey engine often fed the propelling engine’s boilers. Later, the term referred to a small steam-powered hauling device mainly used for industrial purposes such as mining and logging. [back]

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