Worcester is exceptionally fortunate in its water-supply.  This is derived from two large reservoirs fed by running streams, each about five miles distant from the city.  One of these, called the Lynde-Brook Reservoir, is situated in the township of Leicester.  It was built in 1864, has a water-shed of 1,870 acres, and a storage capacity of 681,000,000 gallons, and an elevation of 481 feet above the City Hall.  The dam of this reservoir gave way in February, 1876, during a freshet, and the immense mass of water was precipitated, with an unearthly roar, into the valley below, destroying everything in its path, and carrying rocks, earth, trees, and debris to a distance of several miles.  The other, called the Holden Reservoir, is in the township of Holden.  This was built in 1883, has a water-shed of 3,148 acres, a storage capacity of 450,000,000 gallons, and lies 260 feet above the City Hall.  There are also three distributing reservoirs at elevations of 177 to 184 feet above the level of Main street, and supplied from the two principal reservoirs.  Thirty-inch mains connect the reservoirs with the city.  The height of the water-supply gives a pressure in the pipes at the City Hall of from sixty to seventy-five pounds to the square inch, which is sufficient to throw a stream of water to the tops of the highest buildings,—­a great advantage in case of fire, rendering the employment of steam fire-engines unnecessary in those parts of the city provided with hydrants.  The water is of excellent quality, being remarkably free from impurities, either organic or mineral.  The total amount expended on the water-works from 1864 to December 1, 1884, is $1,653,456, and the income from water-rates for the year ending December, 1884, was $107,515.  The uneven character of the ground upon which Worcester is built is favorable to drainage, and advantage has been taken of this fact to construct an excellent system of sewers, which thoroughly drain the greater parts of the city.  All abutters are obliged to enter the sewers; and no surface-drainage nor cesspools are allowed.  The result is that Worcester is a very clean city, and few places can be found either in the city itself or in the suburbs where surface accumulations exhale unpleasant or noxious odors.  To the influence of pure water and good drainage may partly be ascribed the general good health of the inhabitants, and the absence, during the last few years, of anything like an epidemic of diseases dependent upon unsanitary conditions.  The sewers all converge upon one large common sewer, which discharges its contents into the Blackstone river at Quinsigamond.

[Illustration:  The old south meeting-house.]