Civic progress news from the December 1, 1921 Skidmore News of Skidmore, Missouri:
Water Works Project Under Way At Last.
Several Hundred Feet of Main Laid Yesterday and Today — Test Well Must Be Deeper.A system of water works for Skidmore looks more like a reality today than it ever has. The work was delayed from time to time until it almost seemed that it would never begin.
Tuesday afternoon, about 4 o’clock, the ditching machine started work just east of the hotel, and reached the alley west of Manchester and Dodds’ store before quitting time. Yesterday the ditch was dug west to the end of the street, north from the Henry Barrett residence to the Christian church, and east to J. O. Miller’s residence; and the main was put in covered from the hotel to the Henry Barrett corner. By noon today, two more blocks of ditch had been dug, from the Robbins boarding house north to the lumber yard, and the pipe had been laid in nearly all of the ditch that was dug yesterday. The machine worked until about 10 o’clock last night.
The test well which was dug by James Newton several weeks ago has not been tested satisfactorily yet. Rock was struck at a depth of 36 feet and the well could not be put down any farther with the equipment that was being used. In trying to test the well, trouble was encountered first on account of the sand washing in and filling the pump cylinder. This week a sand point was used, but the stratum of sand was not deep enough to bury the sand point and it would not work. It has now been decided that the well must be put down to a depth of 40 feet. If this well does not show an adequate supply of water, another will be put down just west of the school grounds, where the tower is to be located.
The concrete foundation for the steel water tower was put in this week.