eshet,
and the immense mass of water was precipitated, with an unearthly roar,
into the valley below, destroying everything in its path, and carrying
rocks, earth, trees, and _debris_ to a distance of several miles.
The other, called the Holden Reservoir, is in the township of Holden.
This was built in 1883, has a water-shed of 3,148 acres, a storage
capacity of 450,000,000 gallons, and lies 260 feet above the City Hall.
There are also three distributing reservoirs at elevations of 177 to 184
feet above the level of Main street, and supplied from the two principal
reservoirs. Thirty-inch mains connect the reservoirs with the city. The
height of the water-supply gives a pressure in the pipes at the City
Hall of from sixty to seventy-five pounds to the square inch, which is
sufficient to throw a stream of water to the tops of the highest
buildings,--a great advantage in case of fire, rendering the employment
of steam fire-engines unnecessary in those parts of the city provided
with hydrants. The water is of excellent quality, being remarkably free
from impurities, either organic or mineral. The total amount expended on
the water-works from 1864 to December 1, 1884, is $1,653,456, and the
income from water-rates for the year ending December, 1884, was
$107,515. The uneven character of the ground upon which Worcester is
built is favorable to drainage, and advantage has been taken of this
fact to construct an excellent system of sewers, which thoroughly drain
the greater parts of the city. All abutters are obliged to enter the
sewers; and no surface-drainage nor cesspools are allowed. The result is
that Worcester is a very clean city, and few places can be found either
in the city itself or in the suburbs where surface accumulations exhale
unpleasant or noxious odors. To the influence of pure water and good
drainage may partly be ascribed the general good health of the
inhabitants, and the absence, during the last few years, of anything
like an epidemic of diseases dependent upon unsanitary conditions. The
sewers all converge upon one large common sewer, which discharges its
contents into the Blackstone river at Quinsigamond.

[Illustration: THE OLD SOUTH MEETING-HOUSE.]

In Worcester, as in most of the smaller cities of New England, the Main
street is the chief thoroughfare and the site of many of the prominent
buildings. This street runs north and south, and is about two and a half
miles long. Near the north end, at Linco