Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 November 1897 — Progress of The Work. [ARTICLE]

Progress of The Work.

Tuesday’s Dally: More bricks having arrived, work on the waterworks power house was resumed today. About 14,000 feet of mains have been laid. With the force of men now at work about 1200 feet can be laid in a day. There are not diggers enough to keep out of the way of the pipe layers and the former force will probably be greatly increased. Today there are 53 men in the ditches, with shovels. The manner of digging the ditches is as follows. The “rooter” drawn by four horses, two on each side of the ditch, and hitched to a very long evener, goes over the line first. As soon as the rooter passes the shovelers, about 4,0 r 5 feet apart, jump into the ditch and throw out the loosened dirt. The rooter turns at the end of the section and comes back. The shovelers pile out of the ditch ahead of the rooter, and back into the ditch behind it. Th us the rooter keeps passing up and down the ditch and loosens all the dirt. Practically no pickaxe work is done. After the ditch is dug the

pipe layers lay the pipe, and the ditch is then filled by a plow drawn by two horses. Over on River St. so much rock cutting has been encountered that the attempt to do the work by hand has been given up and a steam drill has been sent for.