A spacious reservoir was constructed on the east line of Broadway, between, what is now known as Pearl and White streets, and a well of large dimensions was sunk in the vicinity of the Collect. The war of the revolution, which commenced in 1775, and the consequent occupation of the city of New-York by the British troops, was the cause of the abandonment of the work in its unfinished state. In the year 1798, Doctor Joseph Brown addressed a

communication to the Common Council, strongly recommending the Bronx River as a source from which to obtain a supply of good water for the use of the citizens. This recommendation induced the Common Council to employ William Weston, Esquire, a Civil Engineer, to examine the subject, and he reported on the 16th of March, 1799, in

favor of the practicability of introducing the water of the Bronx into the city. Neither of these gentlemen had used levels or made any survey of the country over which the

water should be brought, nor was there any measurement obtained of the flow of the stream ; consequently, their

opinion was only founded on personal view, gained by walking over the ground. In April, 1799, the Manhattan Company was incorporated by an act of the Legislature, and the object of this Company was declared to be, to supply the city with pure and wholesome water ; but instead of looking for a supply from foreign sources, they resorted to the plan of furnishing the water from wells which they sunk within the city limits. Besides these wells of the Manhattan Company there were others subsequently sunk by the Corporation of the city, as well as by individual enterprise. Some of these wells were of great depth and capacity, having, in some instances, horizontal excavations at a considerable depth below the surface, branching off from the main shaft.