"After the trial of the second pump had been completed the
dock was again filled through the caisson, and as both pumps
were to be tried, the water was admitted to a level with the
23d altar, containing 7,317,779 gallons, which was seven feet
above the center of the pumps; this was in favor of the pumps
for the reasons before stated. In this case all the boilers
were used.

"Everything moved most admirably, and the performance of
these immense machines was almost startling. By watching the
water in the dock it could be seen to lower bodily, and so
rapidly that it could be detected by the eye without
reference to any fixed point.

"The well which communicates with the suction tunnel was
open, and the water would rise and fall, full of rapid swirls
and eddies, though far above the entrance of these tunnels.
Through the man hole in the discharge culvert the issuance
from the pipes could be seen, and its volume was beyond
conception. It flowed rapidly through the culvert, and its
outfall was a solid prism of water, the full size of the
tunnel, projecting far into the river.

"During a pumping period of 55 minutes, the dock had been
emptied from the twenty-third to two inches above the sixth
altar, containing 6,210,698 gallons, an average throughout of
112,922 gallons per minute. At one time, when the revolutions
were increased to 160 per minute, the discharge was 137,797
gallons per minute. This is almost a river, and is hardly