Salt Lake Tribune | 1913-12-21 | Page 24 | Watermain Breaks on South Temple

WATE1I BUS Oi SOUTH TEMPLE Cause of Trouble Is Mjstery; Many Patrons Being Discommoded. A break in the watermam at South Templo and E streets, tho cause of which is puzzling the waterworks department, released a flood of water into the street and down through the heart of the block to the south. It was nearly two hours after the waterworks department de-partment was notified that employees arrived on the scono to shut off the water. Jn the meantime, the water was filling garages, barns and cellars and doing damage to an extent which cannot can-not as yet bp determined. The water' was first seen to slioot out of the sidewalk on the northeast corner cor-ner of E and South Temple streets Shortly after, however, it burst out in two or three, places in the lawn between be-tween the sidowalk and the street on the opposite side of South Tomplo. i When asked for an explanation of this, an employee of the water department said that the break was evidently in tho main on tho north side of the street, but, that tho water had seeped under the pavement across tho street - and burst out of the first soft ground it encountered encoun-tered t At first, if looked as though tho largo garage of C. W.-Whitlev at tho coruer of Fifth East and Smith Tomplo Tom-plo would bo complotely flooded, but by making dykes of snow and straw tho enrrent was turned so that it ran south down a roadwaj .iust west of the Whitley property and iiito the heart of the "block. There is a considerable open spaco in the center of the block, which doubtless will be an excellent skating pond, today. According to tho waterworks department, depart-ment, tho only residences that will bo affected by shutting off tho water will be tho ones on the north side of South Tomple between D and F streets. Just how long it will tako to repair the break cannot be determined, out the department gives assurance that it will be remedied as soon as possible. Pedestrians .traversing the streets, where tho break occurred, frequently went into water ankledoop. One woman, elegantly gowned, was endeavoring endeav-oring to, cross ,tbo sidewalk on tho south side of South Templo to reach the car. She tried to ford in two or three f laces, but finally, giving up the at-empt, at-empt, called to some boys to ferry her across on their slod. Just as the sled reached the middle of tho sidewalk, side-walk, whero tho water was tho doep-est, doep-est, it upset, precipitating the passenger into tho depths. Sho was compelled to return homo completely drenched with icy water.