The Fairmount Water-works , Philadelphia 
( 2 ) THE MANSION THROUGH THE COLUMNS 
(3) THE WATER STAIRS 
he stands between the forebay on one side 
and the open Schuylkill on the other. From 
the brink of the former rises the rocky side of 
the reservoir, spotted here and there with 
dense growths of trees. Through these, by 
tortuous ways, paths ascend to the promenade 
around the basin above ; and return through 
an archway, supporting a standpipe and ter¬ 
race, to one of the Park drives at the side. 
A beautiful background, this sheer hillside, 
for the buildings on the river bank. The fo¬ 
liage makes a play of light and shade and re¬ 
flects itself in the placid water of the forebay. 
Between the paths grass grows richly ; and in 
the winter time, its green, hanging over a 
dripping rock, relieves the bleakness of the 
snowy scene. 
In 1810, long before it was ever thought 
possible for the city to acquire two thousand 
acres of land on the banks of the Schuylkill 
for a public park, Frederick Graff and John 
Davis were commissioned to examine and to 
improve the City’s water supply. Graff sug¬ 
gested the erection of reservoirs and pump¬ 
ing stations on Morris Hill, as that part of 
Fairmount was then called. The hill was 
bought for this purpose ; and as subsequent 
events have proved, it was the nucleus to 
which various tracts of a celebrated pleasure 
ground have been added. Funds were ap¬ 
propriated for the construction of works at 
Fairmount to supply the city with water ; and 
to Graff was given the supervision of the 
work. The building on the right, in the gen¬ 
eral view at the head of this article, was first 
erected to contain the engines. About this 
time one Charles Redheffer, of Germantown, 
claimed to have discovered perpetual motion. 
I n the newspapers he advertised “ that which 
for centuries has occupied, perplexed, and 
puzzled the philosophic and experimental 
world is now fully, completely and perfectly 
demonstrated in the self-operating , self-moving 
machine , constructed by the subscriber on 
principles purely mechanical, and now offered 
to the inspection of an enlightened people.” 
I he admission price was given at five dollars, 
with “ female visitors gratis.” With a view to 
its use at Fairmount, a committee was ap¬ 
pointed to examine this machine for perform¬ 
ing work by a means so attractive. But, alas, 
when public interest was at its highest, and a 
committee was appointed by the Legislature 
to test the justice of Redheffer’s claim, the 
method was found to be a fraudulent one ; 
and into the first building went a Bolton and 
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