MEMOIR OF DAXIEL TREAD WELL. 355 



comfort derived to the citizens from the possession of the Boston Connuon ? Many of thera 

 do not see it three times in a year, and yet the man can liardly be found who would advise 

 that it should be sold, preferring to place the money that would be obtained for it in the 

 public treasury to the enjoyment of it in its present form. But the sale of one half of the 

 land of the Common will produce a sum sufficient to supply the city with water, and it is not 

 unwarrantable to assume that, if the city was possessed of complete water-works, and the 

 citizens were called upon to relinquish them or the possession of the Common, they would 

 prefer giving up the latter as the less valuable of the two. 



"The present prosperity of the city gives the means and energy for prosecuting the sub- 

 ject rarely possessed in any period. No advantages can arise from delay, but, on the contrary, 

 changes are constantly taking place which make its execution more difficult. In proof of this, 

 I will state that in 1825 power might have been obtained on the Mill-dam for raising the 

 water of Charles River to the city. This power since that time has been taken for other pur- 

 poses, and cannot now be obtained. It was then proposed to the city government to bring the 

 water of Charles River down the south bank of the river to the Jlill-dani, and thence to raise it 

 to the elevated parts of the city. Xow the south bank of Charles River is partly occupied by 

 the Worcester Railroad; which will be a serious impediment in the way of executing the project 

 as then designed, and other circumstances of like kind might be adduced. Having thus, sir, 

 stated in a hasty and imperfect manner some of the facts connected with this subject to call 

 your attention to it, if, indeed, it has not already been fixed upon it, I know that you will 

 not dismiss it without a further investigation of its merits, and I will not suffer myself to doubt 

 for the result. " 



In the following January, 18-34, Mayor Lyman sent a communication to the 

 City Council, urging an immediate consideration of the subject of introducing water 

 into the city, enforcing it with extracts from Mr. Treadwell's letter, and from his 

 report of 182-5. 



On the 20th of March, 1837, Mr. Treadwell was again chosen by the City 

 Council the first of tliree commissioners to re-examine the sources and the best 

 method of supplj^iug the city with pure water. The population had doubled in 

 the last twenty j^ears, and in the last seven years the increase had been even more 

 rapid than in any equal preceding period ; it had reached 80,000. On the supposi- 

 tion 'that in five years the population would be 87,000, and in ten years 105,000, 

 provision was made by the commissioners for an immediate supply of 1,600,000 

 gallons daily to be increased in five years to 2,500,000, and in ten years to 

 3,000,000 gallons. Twenty sources of water were examined, and of these Spot 

 Pond, Long Pond (Lake Cochituate), Mystic Pond, and Charles River were alone 

 deemed suitable. The route, construction, and cost of supply from each of these 

 is given. A majority of the commissioners, including Mr. Treadwell, were of opin- 

 ion that the Spot and Mystic supply should be adopted, with a combined system of 

 pumping and gravitation through iron pipes; the minority recommended that from 



