Amongst the many indications that China is awakening and beginning at last to realise how vast are the resources and advantages of Western civilisation, not the least striking is the establishment of a pure-water supply for the native city of Shanghai, a scheme to which we were able to make a brief reference in a recent issue. For centuries the inhabitants of this over-populated city have drawn their water from shallow wells, sunk in soil saturated with sewage, and the fact that no serious epidemic occurred can only be regarded as prosidential. Consequently the announcement that a modern system of water supply will speedily become an accomplished fact will be hailed with pleasure by everyone who has the health and welfare of these Settlements at heart; as with the outbreak' of serious disease in the city the Settlements would assuredly suffer from both a commercial and a sanitary point of view. The idea of changing the old order of things originated with three or four Chinese with capital who formed themselves into a company with the above title, Messrs. Arnhold, Karberg & Ca. were approached and they secured the services and advice of Mr, William Frank Holl, " well-known water engineer, to prepare plans and specifications for carrying out the work. Mr. Hall arrived from New York some fow weeks ago and his plans were no lucid and satisfactory that.a contract for carrying out the work was signed amounting to upwards of Tls. 600,000. The machinery necessary for the work is to be of the most modern description, and boilers, evgines, etc. will be put in capable of supplying a service of four million gallous a day. In addition to that provision is made for an extension of the plant so that in the event of the population of the city increasing in any great degree another two million gallons per day' can easily be supplied. The water will be taken from the Huangpu at the Arsenal on the ebb-tide so that an absolutely pure river water will be obtained. This will be first of all pumped into a settling basin and after a process of natural settling will be pumped up through a serios of filter beds into a clear water reservoir and from thence carried through sixteen inch mains to the water tower, which will be located in the centre of the Chinese bund. The tower will be substantially the same as the familiar structure in the foreign Settlement, but will be made of steel instend of cast iron and though of much lighter construction will cost a great deal less whilst possessing the requisite stability. The whole of the iron work and machinery will be made by the Laidlaw-Dunn-Gordon Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, one of the largest finns of water engineers in xcistence, having constructed over 400 similar plants in all parts of the world. The general work of construction will be under the superin: tendence of Messrs. Atkinson and Dallas of Kiukiang Road under whose directions the scheme is already in progress. Mr, Hull leaves Shanghai on Saturday for New York by the Empress of India but will return in about four months to superintend the erection of the machinery.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.