Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-04-08


ing terribly for want OF water, but Is castnsabout
in all directions to see how she can increase her
supply. We all remember how, during the dry
season last year, her water supply was so re-
duced that there was almost panic on the sub
ject; and had Q large fire broken out at that
time the city would have been at the mercy OF
the flames. II Is well known that for years the
increasing foulness OF her sewers, owing to q
want Of sufficient water. has caused a rapid in
crease of diphtheria and similar diseases; and
many portions Of the city where such diseases
were formerly unknown have become almost
uninhabitable. That is what the meter job did
for New York, and that is what it will do for us
| If allowed to succeed.
THE ''wHEREAs" OF MR. LORDS RESOLUTION
assumes what is not true. viz: that the scarcity
of the water here Is due to the ,cdsts of IL by the
citizens. 1t says the scarcity is due to the waste;
that to prevent such waste meters are to be put
into the houses Of consumers-that IS OF c;ti-
zens-not in the departments or public build
ings
Fortunately we have the official record the
governments own record-to diSproye this as
sumption-an assumption that has been so often
repeated in Congress that people have almost
come to admit it as true, without thought or
question.
On the 2Sth of June, 1880, Col. Casey meas
uTed the water that ran out of the reservoir; il
was 25, 740. 13S gollons In the "a hours. His
ran ont at Ue rate of $40, 900 gallons per hour
Now it evident that the citizens were not
using the water to any considerable extent then.
because they were i'm bed and asleep during
| those hours. They were not letting 1t run then
to keep their spigots from freezing as is SO
often alleged, because that was in midsummer.
If now, it ran out at that rate over and above
what the citizens used during those six hours.
OF course it does so during all other hours. In
"a hours that would amount to q, 301 $40 gal
31nf Sfpd h2g skssff-
That would leave of the total amount
delivered but Ass 322 gallons for the
citizens during the "A hours, for use
and waste combined. That would give, instead
charged with using, bsa 49, gallons per capita,
and it is self-evdent that with such a supply
there could not be much waste, or We would
not have any for use.
From these figures which are official, any one
can see that the assumption in Mr.. Lords reso-
luton is false. andthat being So the rest falls,
Of course.
But suppose. for the sake of the argument
that it was true. and supposing further, that a
meter has been produced that will measure the
water accurately and remain perfect, which is
not true, then see how the matter would stand.
THE MONEY WASTED IN METERS WOULD INCREASE
THE SUPPLY.
Wehave to-day 90 600 water consumers Forty
dollars each Tor 90 600 meters would be $500, 00O
enough to complete the dam and extend the
Aqueduct. The $4,000 expended for meters
(and you may add half as much more for putting
them in and for repairs in ten years. would not
give US an additional drop of water; but. on the
contrary, would materially reduce the pressure
and head while the same amount expended for
completing the works srOuId treble the supply:
and who can estimate the value of that in a
sanitary point of view. by washing out our
sewers. to say nothing of the luxury of baths
the sprinklng Of our streets and the preserva-
ton of our parking. trees and shrubbery? Be-
sides, with the rapid growth of the city. the
water-takerS are increasing at the rate of 500
and will soon reach 900 per annum. Even ad-
hitting that the use of meters would So prevent
waste as to supply the present number, which
is not true. what of the future? How is the
future Increase to be supplied?
1T Is IDLE TO TALK
about meters remedying the difficulty. Meters
mean job and nothing else. If Members and
Senators know the facts as they exist, it is
astonishing that they will lend themselves to
such jobs by introducing such bills even by re-
quest. If they don't know the facts they ought
to, and can easily learn them.
While on this subject. / desire to correct
another error which seems to prevail in Con-
gress. and that is, that citizens receive the water
as gratuity at the hands Of the government.
AS shown by water registrar sreport, the citizens
have paid for laying mains, DC, 81 49,, 35l. II
They paid last year $40. 24S 33. and in 1879 80
they paid 1896, 400. 81 an average Of S16S, 1928 So
per annum as water tax, DC. They pay the
water tax annually IN Advance. and then don't
get the water There are thousands of dwell
ings to-day in which the water will not rise to
the second story, in which it will not run in the
water-closets or baths, and many in which it
will not run into the boilers on the first foorl
In June last there tCere Secea hundred children
IN the Wallach school, and not drop of ,odter
mould too In tie acd7-closets on the ground floor!
Just think Off 1t is perfectly appalling.
To-day there is not public building, Capitol
or department. in which the water viii rise TO
the upper stories without pumping.
With such condition of affairs the citizens
would almost be justified in lynching any man
who should seek to make gain out of their dis
tress by attempting to force meters upon them,
and prevent the increase of the water supply.
This matter has been fully investigated by the
special committee Of the Senate two years ago,
and again by the District committee Of the
Senate now. and the unanimous conclusion both
then and now is that the only remedy is to COM
plete the dam and extend the Aqueduct.
SOME FACTS IN POINT.
In Chicago and in Cincinnati, in both of which
cities every drop of the water is pumped, they
find it profitable to run light machinery, from a
sewing machine to printing press, by the city
water How much more should that be the case
here where all that is need is a conduit for it to
run i'm.
In the hot weather of last August, while our
parks were burned up and the grass dead for the
want of water. the writer visited New Haven,
and there, during all hours of the day. from one
end of the-city to the other, people had their
hose prOpped up, and with full head, were
sprnkling their grass plats, which were as green
as with us in early spring. And / found the
same state of affairs at Mount Auburn. on the
heights at Cincinnati, when visited that city;
and on speaking to the citizens about it at each
city, they told me they used the water without
stint at any and all hours of the day. Here, If
a citizen uses his hose over thirty minutes dur
ing the "a hours, or at any other than a certain
half hour, he is hauled up before the Police
Court and ined And yet, while these Others
have to pump their water, We have whole
river at our doors. needing only ditch for it to
run in. No pumping, no continual expense such
as they have, and yet we cannot get enough
water for the ordinary wants and decencies Of
life! 1t is an outrage upon a long suffering and
much abused people, such as no other commu-
nifty would quietly submit to. venture to say
that neither Mr.. Lord, i'm Detroit, nor Mr.. PEN
dleton, in Cincinnati, would dare attempt any
such thing in their respective cities Why, then.
do it here? Is it because we are helpless, tied
hand and foot, to be kicked, like football,
hther and thither, at the caprice or within of
members and as may best advance the specula-