History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

252 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
authorized to purchase for this use not exceeding
two liundred acres in Newton, Brighton, and
Brookline. The bank on tlie Lawrence meadow
was begun May 16, 1866. Water was let into
the Lawrence, or upper basin, October 26, 1868.
There was no formal celebration, but members of
the city government and others were present, an
account was given of the progress of the work, and
three hearty cheers were given by the five hundred
laborers who were crowded on the bank. Water
was let into the Bradlee, or lower basin, Octo-
ber 25, 1870, — the twenty-second anniversary
of the introduction of Cochituate water into the
city.
In the construction of the Chestnut Hill Reser-
voir, Beacon Street was turned from its course.
The land formerly belonging to Newton and occu-
pied in this enterprise, after Brighton was annexed
to Boston, was, by exchange or otherwise, made a
part of Boston.
The Sudbury River conduit, bringing an addi-
tional supply of water to the city of Boston, is
fifteen and four fifths miles in length, and passes
through Newton Upper Falls, north of Newton
Highlands, and througli Newton Centre to the
Chestnut Hill Reservoir. The principal features
of this work in Newton are the bridge over
Charles River at the Upper Falls, and the tunnel
through Chestnut Hill. The bridge is five hun-
dred feet long, and consists of seven arches, — five
of thirty-seven feet span, one of twenty-eight feet,
and the large arch over the river, the second in
size in the American continent, and one of the
largest stone arches in the world. It is one hun-
dred and thirty feet in span, with a radius of
sixty-nine feet. The crown is fifty-one feet above
the usual surface of Uje water, and the top of the
bridge about seventy feet above the same. The
key-stone is five feet in depth. The ])ressure upon
the foundation is about 2,900 tons, or about l&\
tons to the square foot. The foundations of the
entire bridge are in the solid rock. To a ])erson
standing beneath it, the arch has a very slender
and beautiful appearance, being only eighteen feet
in width at the crown. There is a remarkable echo
in this arch, the human voice being rapidly repeated
upwards of fifteen times, and a ])istol-.shot twenty-
five times. The .scenery along the river at this
point is extremely romantic, and the bridge by its
symmetry and elegance adds a striking and beautiful
feature to the landscape, and attracts many
visitors. It was built in 1876 and I S77, during
the period wheji such work could be successfully
prosecuted.
There is a tunnel of five hundred feet in length
near Pleasant Street, built through quicksand and
rock. The Beacon Street tunnel is cut through
solid rock, 4,635 feet in length. At one place
considerable quantities of iron and copper pyrites
were found. One shaft was sunk on land of the
late F. M. Johnson, about fifty-five feet in depth
to the bottom of the tunnel, the excavation being
carried on from each end, and from the shaft each
way.
The Pine Farm School, an institution under the
patronage of the Boston Children's Aid Society,
and designed to furnish a home for boys rescued
from the courts of Boston and saved from the
haunts of vice and ruin, was commenced in 1S64
in West Newton. It is located on a farm of
twenty acres, formerly the Murdock estate, and
is situated at the corner of Homer and Chestnut
streets. The place was purchased and fitted up
for its ])resent use in the winter of 1864, and an
act of incorporation was procured, enabling the
society to hold real estate to a certain amount, for
the purpose of aiding children brought before the
police courts, and to rescue them from vice and
crime by all possible methods. Mr. Rufus R.
Cook, chaplain of the jail in Boston, was from the
beginning the efficient agent of the society. The
building is designed to accommodate thirty boys.
j\ small school-house, formerly a blacksmith's
shop, is on the place, where the boys spend every
day the hours usually devoted to school instruc-
tion. The house was ready for use June 28,
1864, and a service of dedication was held on that
day in a grove on the estate. The first superintendent
and matron were Mr. and Mrs. Howe,
followed in 1870 by Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Washburn.
During the first seven years the number
who had been inmates of the home was one hun-
dred and ninety-five. As soon as it is judged
safe, the boys are placed in permanent homes in
the country, the watch-care of the society being
still extended over them. A press and types have
been ])rocured, and some of the boys have learned
to print so neatly and skilfully, that the annual
reports of the Home have been issued for several
years from this ofiice.
A Homo for Orphan and Destitute Girls was
originated under tlir auspices of the Boston Chil-
dren's Friend Society in 1866, and was sustained
for a few years, hut linallv discontinued. A fund