164 EIGHTH REPORT — 1838. 



being given by the steam when the vessel is sailing, to paddle-wheels 



on the sides. An instrument for measuring Timber, by J.Smith. 



A peculiar Combination for the Wheel- Work of a Crane, by W. Horner. 



On the Water-works of Neivcastle-on-Tyne. ^_y Joseph Glynn, 

 F.R.S., 31. Inst. C.E., S)-c. S)-c. 



In the month of April 1833, Mr. Glynn was requested, by a body of 

 gentlemen in Newcastle, to report to them the best means of supplying 

 the dense and increasing population of the town with water, the want 

 of which was daily becoming more urgent. 



A water company already in existence, incorporated by an act or 

 charter of ancient date, claimed a right to all the springs which had 

 been or might be discovered for the supply of the town. But as all the 

 higher portions of land have been perforated by coal works and quar- 

 ries, and the town stands on a hill sloping rapidly to the Tyne, it was 

 obvious that from natural springs or from wells an adequate supply 

 could not be obtained. In a long course of years the shares of the 

 ancient company had fallen into tlie hands of a few persons not dis- 

 posed to invest their money in new and extensive works ; their pipes 

 were chiefly of wood, with a small portion of leaden pipes, none exceed- 

 ing six inches in diameter, and all incapable of bearing much pressure. 

 It was therefore necessary to have recourse at once to the river Tyne. 

 Recent experiments on the largest scale had shown that the Avater of 

 rivers flowing past populous towns might be applied with advantage to 

 the purposes of domestic uses, after being rendered free from impurity 

 by artificial filtration. For the lower or filtering station Mr. Glynn 

 fixed on a field at tlie river-side, near Elswick, 51^ feet above low- 

 water mark, this elevation lessening the great height to which it was 

 requisite to force the filtered water. The upper reservoir, near the 

 Quarry House on the west turnpike road, being at its lowest part 237 

 feet above low-water mark, or about 1 86 feet above the level of the 

 works at Elswick. The bottom of this reservoir is level with the arches 

 of the crown on the tower of St. Nicholas church above the statues on 

 the corner pinnacles. 



As the town then contained a population, by the latest estimate, 

 amounting to 54,000, and about 3500 houses of 10/. and upwards of 

 annual value, the number of which was fast increasing, it was recom- 

 mended that the new works should be capable of supplying at least 

 400,000 gallons per day of filtered water, and that the upper reservoir 

 should contain not less than four days' water at that rate of consump- 

 tion. As the flood-tide brings up a portion of salt Avater, it is neces- 

 sary that the supply should be raised when the tide is down, and to 

 pump it in a short time. A steam-engine, having a cylinder 54 inches 

 in diameter, with a stroke of 8 feet, was therefore erected at the works 

 at Elswick, with three boilers, any two of which are capable of working 

 the engine. 



