The height of the walls is 45 feet above the streets around, and about 50 feet above the foundations. The water is 36 feet deep when it reaches the level de- signed for its surface (which is 4 feet below the top of the walls) and the surplus, when the Reservoir is full, passes into a well in the division wall and is conducted by a sewer in 42nd street to the Hudson River, which is one mile distant. The Reservoir is calculated to hold 20,000,000 gallons. The outside walls are constructed with openings in them so that by entering the doer on 42nd street one may walk entirely around the Reservoir within the walls. One object of this arrangement is to obtain the greatest breadth with a given quantity of material ; another is to afford an opportu- nity to examine the work so as to guard against leakage ; and another, to prevent any moisture finding its way through to the exterior so as to cause injury to the wall by the action of frost. This kind of open work of the wall rises to within about 8 feet of top water line. Inside of these walls an 121 embankment of puddled earth is formed with suitable breadth of base to give security to the work, and the face of this earth next to the water is covered with a wall of hydraulic masonry Ij- foot thick. The top of the embankment is covered with stone flagging, forming a walk around the top of the Reservoir. The bottom of the Reservoir has a cover- ing of concrete 1 foot thick ; thus when it is empty there will be seen two basins having the sides and bottom formed of masonry. A section of the wall of one side of the Reservoir, inclu- ding the embankment, is 17 feet wide at the top, 35 feet wide 16 feet below the top, and 76 feet wide at the bottom : the cornice projects on the outside and the coping on the inside so as to make the width of the top 21 feet. An iron railing bounds the outside and inside of the walk around the top. The outside of the Reservoir is built on a slope of one sixth its height, or two inches to the foot, and an Egyptian cornice projects at the top of the main walls and the pilas- ters. At the entrance on the 5th Avenue a stairway leads up to the top of the Reservoir. Terraces Lare built around at the foot of the walls and covered with grass, giving a rich finish to the work. This Reservoir may be considered the termination of the Croton Aqueduct, and is distant from the Fountain Reser- voir on the Croton, forty and a half miles. The whole cost of the work, exclusive of the pipes in the city below the Distributing Reservoir, is about 9,000,000 dollars. Adding to this the cost of pipes and arrangements 31 122 for distributing the water in the city, will make the total cost of supplying the city of New- York with water about 12,000,000 dollars* The water was introduced into the Distributing Reservoir on the 4th of July, 1842, and the event was hailed by the citizens of New-York with an interest scarcely less than that pervading the whole American people at the remem- brance of the event, the anniversary of which, was on that day celebrated. At an hour when the firing of guns and the ringing of bells had aroused but few from their slumbers, and ere the rays of the morning sun had gilded the city domes, the waters of the Croton gushed up into the Reservoir and wandered about its bottom as if to examine the magnificent structure ; or to find a resting place in the temple towards which they had made a pilgrimage. The national flag floated out from each corner of the Reservoir, and during the day thousands of the citizens visited it giving demonstrations of joy and satisfaction at the accomplishment of this great work. The 14th of October following was set apart as a day for the celebration of the introduction of the water into the city : and it was an occasion of unrestrained enthusiasm and joy. Multitudes came in from the country around, and from sister cities : — all business was laid aside for the pleasing ceremonies of the day, and the Croton water, with the beauty and grandeur of its fountains, met with a welcome which showed that its value was appreciated. * This includes, besides the actual cost of constructing the work, the accumula- tion of interest on loans. 123 The advantages, the comforts and blessings of this supply of pure water will be appreciated as