Hopedale History Ezine for December 2022

Hopedale History
December 2022
No. 410
Hopedale Water Department

Hopedale in December

<><><><><><><><><><> 

Twenty-five years ago – December 1997 – In Ottawa, Ontario, representatives from 121 countries sign a treaty prohibiting the manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel land mines. However, the United States, the People’s Republic of China, Russia, South Korea and 32 other nations do not sign and/or ratify the treaty.

James Cameron‘s Titanic, the then highest-grossing film of all time, premieres in the U.S.

Hong Kong begins to kill all the chickens within its territory (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.

Fifty years ago – December 1972 – United Airlines Flight 553 crashes short of the runway, killing 43 of 61 passengers and two people on the ground. A day later, over $10,000 cash is found in the purse of Watergate conspirator Howard Hunt‘s wife, who was on board.

Apollo 17 lands on the Moon. Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the Moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity of Apollo 17. This is currently the last manned mission to the Moon.

The Christmas bombing of North Vietnam causes widespread criticism of the U.S. and President Richard Nixon.

Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes into the Everglades in Florida, killing 101 of 176 on board

The US ban on the pesticide DDT takes effect.

One-hundred years ago – December 1922 – The Irish Free State officially comes into existence. George V becomes the Free State’s monarch.

Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō becomes the first purpose-designed aircraft carrier to be commissioned.

Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian Republic (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) come together to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The Barbary lion becomes extinct in the wild, with the last killed in Morocco. The Amur tiger becomes extinct in  Korea

Vegemite is invented by Australian entrepreneur Fred Walker.

News items above are from Wikipedia. For Hopedale news from 25, 50 and 100 years ago, see below this text box.

<><><><><><><><><><> 

New Water System to Start July 25

HOPEDALE, July 9 (1950) It is expected Hopedale’s water system will be put into operation July 25, according to Madison H. Goff. Starting construction of the 21 wells and a pumping station October 1949, work has been preparing for severance from the Milford Water system from which it is now purchased will be effective the 25^th.

The 21 wells, driven in the southerly section of town on the so-called Howard farm, are of tubular type and are from 30 to 44 feet deep. Contour maps which have been studied indicate this section to be a watershed extending northward for about seven miles, and the site was chosen after surveying several other sections of town.

According to the engineers, Weston and Sampson of Boston, there will be plenty of water obtained from these 21 wells to supply all normal needs of the town, which includes the large Draper Corporation plant employing upwards of 4000 persons.

The pumping station, located on the site of the wells, is a brick building 27 by 24 feet and houses two electrically driven centrifugal water pumps designed to yield 300 gallons a minute when completed and no filtration is necessary. The system will be automatically controlled and needs no personnel since the pumps will work automatically when the level of the tank reaches a certain point.

The pumps were started for the first time Thursday afternoon and at the present time 280,000 gallons of water a day are being pumped into the system for Hopedale and Milford as a trial, this amount to be substantially increased when the water is pumped to the tank.

An 846,000-gallon steel tank is nearing completion on Williams Street near the Larches, one of the town’s highest points. It is 90 feet high, 40 feet in diameter, and it took 155 yards of cement to construct the base, 22 yards of rock having been blasted out of the location on which it is built. The work is being done by the Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company of Pittsburg, Pa, and has been completed by 10 men in record time.

A height of 100 feet is reached from the ground to the vent on the tank’s roof, and Boston Harbor may be seen from this elevation. The total elevation from sea level is 527 feet. Water will be pumped into the tank by July 25 after the outside has been painted a gray color, and it is expected the antennas for the police radio to be installed later will be located on the roof.

A signal system to indicate the level of the water in the tank will be located at the Central Fire Station, the water department in Town Hall, and at the pumping station.

A total of 5000 feet of new pipe has been laid, one stretch from the station to Westcotts’ Mills being of 10” diameter and another section from Green Street to Patrick’s Corner of 8-inch diameter.

Milford Water Company has furnished water to Hopedale since 1888 and the Town of Hopedale purchased the underground pipes and other equipment from them Sept. 15, 1949, for which a bond issue was undertaken by permission of the Legislature last year.

Besides Superintendent Goff, George Allen is in charge of maintenance of the system. The clipping this article came from didn’t include the newspaper’s name. It was evidently not the Milford Daily News, so the most likely paper would have been the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

More about the Hopedale Water Department          Ezine Menu          HOME