Daily Republican., 1879-01-25
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Our Water supply.
As was to have been expected, the
Ecry Ere"ng is opposed to the city
purchasing a water right on the Bran
DIVINE opposite the Rockford dam, but
We viii! give it the credit of saying that
il has not been Influenced in its oppo-
si,ion on account OF the Messrs. Ban
croft's proposition made some few weeks
ago. That paper admits that a Lew
pumping station is needed, and that
tn. water il contaminated by r-ceiy ing
the drainage of thirkly srttl"d terri
tory and a large cemetery, bat hrrause
it would add $l2J 200 more to the
bonded deb, of the city it would have
rs keep on drinking the contaminated
water even though it Should sow the
seeds of disease and death amongst our
people. 1t is true that this ST. ,utV'
additional debt might be ave. d-d by
accepting the Bincro;t proposition. but
in that case the city would Owl 10
water right where it ought to own one,
and wohll be a continual lessee >uh-
ject to hr ej-cted at any time hy the
lessor II it did not submit to every ar
hitr,rv -xaction. 1t is undeniahIr that
Ihe laying OF thirty-siX inch main
across the Brandywine will l." attend.
IL hv some risks if the main is left rA-
pos.d in the brd OF the stream, hut We
presume that the committee have con-
sd-r-l all those things thoroughly,
aud reported inteIligently, and no
doubt they have fully consider"d the
question Of protection to the main,
whether that protection involved sink
ing il into the rocky bed or layin. Il
across the stream on an elevated plat
form. Bat suppose the laying OF the
main across the Branlywin" should
cost 81. 600 more than the estimate Of
the committee, which would make the
addition to the bonded debt 5000 Uu,
it would still be cheaper 10 arcrp; the
proposition Of the Mes-r~. I. /. DUPONT.
d-N-mours X Co... on account # the
p"rmanrnrv Of the improvements. Tie
difference between the two proposlti' Ms
involves the question 0. o%LeH.nip,
and whether it IS Mt cheaper to own
property than t. e,e it. Messrs. Ban
croft propose !, tuild pump,l G
house, furnish the pumping ma
chinery and all the water II, ed i by
the city for muth per mil.
lion gallons, provided the city
will 60 to the eXp-nse Of laying
thirty six inch main from Good Spring
Reservoir TO Rockford the cost of which
is estimate At $50, 900 which of course
is TO be added to the bonded debt of the
city. Should the city accept this pro-
position it would place itself entirely
in the hands of the lessor, and own
nothing but the main which would
he of no use with the supply cut off,
which contingency probably would not
occur, but suppose it did occur, where
would lie the redress OF the city with
the source Of the supply in the hands
of parties perhaps inimical to the city,
SIth a contingency might occur and it
isalways well enough to be ready to
meet them. The proposition Of the
committee favor though it would cost
more to the city by $l2j, 900, would
not only place the water main but the
source Of the supply and everything in
connection with il i'll the hands Of the
city, instead of IN the hands of a party
that might he a friend today and an
enemy to morrow. Tile Ercry Ereni01
thinks that if the city moves the pump
up the creek t should move them far
enough ur to allow til" water to flow
down to the new reservoir by the force
Of natural grayitation. This no doubt
would b. q good plan, hut it is imprac
ticall- on account Of the Oppos tOn Of
the Mes,rs. DuIOnt who would fight
such a proposition to the bitter end.
From the foregoing considerations it will
still b" seen that the proposition Of the
water committee is the most feasible
for these two main reasons: first it pla-
ces everything in possession Of toe city,
and gives Us water clear from tn poiu-
tons 20 which it is now subjected, and
We might add, because it will cost no
more annually to the city than it now
costs, or word cost if the Bancroft pro-
position was accepted.
THE Lutheran Pastoral. Association,
of Philadelphia, which is composed Of
ministers Of the General Council, has
been discussing the prOpIiety Of rails