The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-10-01
BANKING BY WATER POWER
THE MANHATTAN oOMPhNY's LON0
FiGHT AGAINST ChOTON
The Rotten Wood Pipes that nrc pug tn In
n"r~"u street, aud the Reservoir that 10
Carefully PreserVed An faotr @,-,,s

The Rotten Wood Pipes that nrc Dug tfp In
h"e~nu street, aud the Reservoir that ~
Carefully Presorved In Centre street.
It's piece OF vandalism" said MFR.
Harberger, the cashier Of the Manhattan Conn
pany, with a merry twinkle in his eye. "wbns
right has the Croton Dep r.ment to take IN our
venerable wooden pipesY'
A SUN reporter elected this exoiam alton from
Mr. Haibereer toy u request for some particulars
OF the history Of the MANN titan Comp nv. In
exc waiting for the new water mains within the
vast few dn,s, the workmen have exhumed
many lcnsths of haf-rotten wooden pipes,
which belonn to that company. and we're IN uss
III TO 1916, three wears after the completion Of
the Croton Aqueduct, and this fact led to the
question.
But you must not think that because our
pipes are being taken UP we have ceased to sup
ply water. We sui h we our wells, and our res
crvuir, and our pump. ana any hudv til preferg
our water 10 Croton has only to NJ ke the de-
mand aud we are bound TO supply him" con-
tnued Mr.. Harberger.
Aud this is how the Manhattan Company came
Until 1872 or 1873 the law Of THIS State was
such that II was impossible to procure charter
Tor bank, notwithstanding the TACT thgt
IN n business which offered such Rlittcrinv IN
ducements Hut the ingenuity Of the capit Isis
" a few cases eyadod the law, and to this New
York owes the existence Of sever i Of It's lie I'd
ing moneved institu ions. In 1908 Aaron Burr.
Nnb hhu upI lNiiE uelOTf OCCULT n scat III iUo
senate OF the United states, tec'inc ~ te
senator He W then. probablv the leading
talents as wei as the lofty posi- ion he had
ttained in the State. made him we'll
known kI among m9neyed men to whom ne
torial career. 1t NAV be ADDED, too, that
Mr.. iiurr's Immense fortune, inherited from his
iather. was stlll nearly intact, and thnt he was
seeking Investment for his surplus cash. Hence,
one ( his first Efforts after assuming his new
position was to frame a Oh rter cleverly evad-
ing the banking | ". 1t incorpnr ted lhe
NJ nhattnn COMPANY II the Guy aud County Of
New York. for the purpose If sunni my pure
aud wholesome water Tor the rity Of New York,
records of tho Irei4ltturr Of iiqs n IL f. tmpos-
sible to say whether there WIS any 90 osilton
to the last leciOus clause or npi. but IL = .ir
to presume that there was, since IN thor cl ,use
was in-erted invalidaiIny the cnaftcr In case tho
COMPANY at any timr, ce sed to supply water.
The charter signed in 1909. and the com
pany began At once to die wells nd liv pipes in
the lower part ~ the ci y. While the Work was
going on. they Nv tiled themselves OF the special
clause In the charter. ana established banking
house, which has survived the many financial
storms ~ thren-quafters Of a century. an Is
known tod as one OF the most solid and con-
setVative instit 'tions IN the conn rv., over us
door. 40 Wall street, are the words Manhattan
Company" Du In business clrcies 1t - always
spoken Of ~ tho Manhattan Bank.
How much pipe was laid, or IN wha' streets,
cannot be ascertained hut 1t Is known that for
many wears the only supply of water, other than
that drawn rom private lis. came from tine
reservoir ui the Nannatt II Company located AZ
tue corner ot Reade. Elm. ana Centre streets
The well aud rcscrv ir are sti there. but are
hiddcn from sient py a brick BUILDING oelonains
to the company and leased 10 tue estate OF We
he old well is 1917 feet in diameter and d
feet deep. and hos II feet OF wafer. nc reser
vOir is Is feet IN diameter and 30 feet deep, and
Is Of hcavy sheet iron. II stands upon circuldI
tower OF massive masonry, winch was evidently
built to outl ist even the oh rter of the company
From oeing SC ,rcely half century ago the
man source of water supply for the cay, tha
old well and reservoir have come at II 10 be
~ feeders of single engine. sun Tor obvious
reasons, tue comp ny kecJs the n In lep If, ana
a clause in the lease rohinits their demolition.
we've mad pretty hard tme OF II win That
CrOton Department., sad MIR. HarbeEerr.
"Alone about lSi, trey hegAn to Ike our Gus
toners away, and In 1910 we mad only twelve
iefi Sull, We kept up the nshi. although We
= W they were pushing us hard, In lSiO we had
only one customer to supply. lie was livery
stable keeper, and had constitution ! Oh
lection to cuanHing " ,tcr. wei We kept right
on. IN spite Of Croton. until nnally the livery
stable man lied ana we lost him. since then
our Only customer mas been "A steam engine up
In eai- s,reet.
isnt IN orr In-t thrtt2n customers cost us
bout $4,000 Did We Keep running On '"'"unt
Of mat 81 .use in our charterr Wei, people
might think SO, but we always say We want to
hand down the company to our successors
just as we found 1t. The other day one OF our
old,s deposlturs brought VS. In ri &c OF ona
OF the old pUes ami ". nted US to keep It as
rehc., We dtd keen II three DAYS; ihen we
asked the old gentleman as an act OF ch rity 10
take II b ok az In. Relies are good enough, you
know, but That " . rather too un -ayOry.'
A singular fact about the Old well Is that the
Croton De- artment did not know of its exist.
euce until within "A year or two. hen col.
lcctor wac ttted to collect the water rent for the
ensine in the building which covers It. found
out IN no CrOtoh WAS USED, aud reported &c.
cUrdingly.
me bank officers say that the well shall never
cease g. sup ~ somebody even u they II We ia
~ Il with hHckets.
Tue chtrier ~ the Manhattan Company l. the
only unlimited CHARTER now eNtlnt Ia tins ate,
but the QUILT md cons rvufiv' management OF
tue Institution IN the past - acu, rantee that
efor, Go Use It's PROVISIONS Will ue made in tue
future.
Yesterday the workmen who are living the
large main on Mas an street ~ carthed hun
Il eds o feet Il tine Old wooden Iipe, and many
plssrrs hy topped TO examine the ancient relics
ANA to inquire about ter history. what in.
formation tncy detained wts excess vely neagre.
hey were told int ,he pipes used 10 supply
tNn rItY beiOrr CrOton rdur M but beyond
tni, the wurGmen and their f,rrm u knew nom
iug. few geullemtn VINO Iemruloerrd The
history Of the llurs rem we'd all pieces as
uleinrLiOes. II - to he hoped th.t theg viii
moi ne forced 10 discard tnem Tor sanitary
reasons.