In June 1935, Ridgeway residents were notified that their city water supply was shut off until further notice. The city well, which had been supplying the residents with water via the waterworks since 1926, was undergoing repairs as the “pump at the well has been unable to raise enough water to fill the bowl and keep an emergency supply of water in store.” Faulty valves were thought to be the problem. A crew was pulling the pipe when the pipe got stuck, then tore loose, causing 480 feet of 5-inch pipe to drop to the bottom of the well, or so it was hoped. New pipe was brought in from Oklahoma and installed without any interference from the missing pipe, so it was assumed the pipe did, in fact, drop clear to the bottom, a distance of some 1200 feet.
The city workers hoped to have the well operational again within a week, but the repairs still didn’t fix the lack of water, so work resumed on making new repairs. They had to order a new valve from a town in Illinois, but it immediately chewed up the leathers upon installation. After some issues with buying new leathers, four sets of new leathers arrived by train and the crew tried again. The next attempted also resulted in the leathers being destroyed. After a break and a few hours of sleep, they installed another set and installed the pump finally with success – “water was on tap once more”.
“The city was dependent upon wells for a water supply for about ten days, when the fire hazard never was greater. Luckily, there was no call for the fire department.” Mayor Leazenby estimated the cost of the repairs to be about $500. (Ridgeway Journal stories June 6 – 13 – 20, 1935.)
