Buffalo Water Supply Fails as Niagara River Drops
ONE would suppose that the Niagara River could be depended upon for an unfailing supply of water; but the telegraph informs us that the city of Buffalo was without water Dec. 26, in consequence of Niagara River having given out. It appears that a long north-east gale, accompanied by a driving snowstorm and sharp cold, had driven the water out of Niagara River into the lake, or else lowered the level of Lake Erie at the eastern end, so much that the surface of the river was below the mouth of the main supply pipe of the Buffalo City Water Works. The mouth of this pipe was intended by the engineers to be always quite a number of feet beneath the surface; so deep down, in fact, that the ice would not reach and choke it. Such a failure on the part of Niagara River was never before known; and it raises the suggestion that the river gods must have been unusually hilarious on Christmas, or else they have struck for higher wages. The city had some water, for drinking, contained in its reservoirs; but the factories had to close; and, if a fire of large dimensions had broken out, the city would have been almost entirely destroyed, as there was not water enough to keep the fire engines supplied for any great length of time. Fortunately for us, Detroit River is a reliable stream. It never indulges in any foolery; but attends to its business with exemplary regularity.—Post.