New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-12-30
THF SWINDLERS ARE KNOWN
NAMES OF THE WOULD-BE PLUNDEKEkS of
BRoOKIYN TO BE REVEALED.

TO sBII. THEIR STOCK
~ mon who ATTEMPTED to defraud the city of
oroolklvn ont of 81 100000 by selling TO II the
Iors Island Water Supply Company. which had
- aistributinc 10 its patrons water stolen from
IN. city water mains. arc known and their names
will be revealed TO the puohc III que 'iiiie
Samuel Hatton, who was compelled oV eeitS
of prosecutions to let the plundererS nave HIS
stock. well knows who the men are whom ONrus
y Staples represents, and has placed his lniorma-
.;on I'm tho hands of Mr.. Xicelcrs counsel for use
when there is need 10 protect the Guys interests
Ch. city officials do not care TO talk ABOUT 'heir
contracting 10 pay 81 100000 for an unused pahv
49,, oos, loss Than S250. 0O0 nor about the bill
NJ doubtful constitutlonahN ana the cause Vi
.a,.r;o,,s orioin on which they base their pnr-
chase Mayor Chaplin gave his s'ereo'Npeu
ons,,or "I have nothing 10 say" when approached
90 On. suhiec,. Controller Jackson would say no
more The papers in the case were turned over 10
Corro-o+ior Counsel jerks and he said that ne
,,orId anncor next Monday TO defend the suit
H. o,so sold that he answered Mr.. Neglers COM
D,r,ic,t;5n in regard to the matter and told nm
,ho, tho local points he had raised had not Oeeh
overlooked H..
On ,ho question as TO the connection of the city
,,a,ernpes with those of the company somewhere
in the Twenty sixth Ward, where they are near
.ogetber. the officials of the City Works and Ere
Denarrnept say that there Is such connection 10
furnish a more adequate supply of water IN case
of a big fire. but that II he's never been opened
Chief Engineer Nevlns of the Fire Departments
GAYS that ne suggested the matter to the Water
Purveyor and the connection was made so as TO
give better protection to the Twcnty-siNth Ward
four years ago. 4 gate was put in to connect the
two. and the key for il is kept at the eng!e-
house of Company No. %. 1t had never been
used, Mr.. Ncvins said, as no occasion had yet
arisen when it was necessary City Works Com
missioner Adams confirmed this and SAID that the
gate was al Broadway and the Manhattan Leach
Railroad crossing. So far as the department had
any knowledge, there was no surrcptitlouS ronhcc
ton OF the pipes. 1t might have been made be-
tween l and i o'clock in the morning, and nothing
he known of it, but he did not believe that such
WAS the cas-.
At the meeting Of the Brooklyn Board Of Alder
men yesterday afternoon District Alderman
Thomas t}cp Offered a resolution providing fol
q commission of three members of the Board TO
investigate the purchase of the property and plant
of the water company by the city, with power
TO send for persons and papers.
Adernan-at-Largc Pickering DEM, who lives
in the Twenty-SXth Ward said that ne believed
in the propricty of The proposed investigation and
did not desire TO hinder it, but the matter had
been taken into court AM would he fully ven
tilated there, he thought that the bcs, thing to
10 would be to lay the subject on The table for
The present Alderman Thomas accepted an
amendment to lay the matter on the table and it
was unanimously adopted.
William j. Gaynor, the attorney for Nj, Iies
Ter, declined 10 talk, but requested that the fol-
lowing letters in regard 10 his rel/ons with the
court he printed:
In iii,
sci fof the plaintiff in the action 10 prevent IN Mayor
Controller AID Auditor Of Brooklyn from purchasing tie
price named - follows He expects that the Brooklyn
courts viii decide asa'nst him there Is ground o.
Tor THEN doiua but h. viii endcIv0' to have
tie case taken out Of that judicial district ,ocu is
possible a's ~en' To court Where il viii he decided on
is merits ! sorry that this statement has
oeiyed the force of the great ana wide crculson
like 1T. made statement any representative Of
TIE Tribune. Won will readily a>cca!n. but AZ the
same time have 10 doubt tha' wlfcvci Of voHr st3f
wrote that which am now dl~vowins had what he
deemed respectable authority for It, never had any
choice as % jude or court and never expect u have,
ard after practice Of nfary fourteen y"sr> am a9r
to sy That in no case That wa cyef connc"ei viii aid
any Judge court do ANYTHING wrong. even >u-
pci'll>. thai had any just reason 20 complain Of.
Although Nh Gaynor. because Of his position
as counsel. and the implicated officials for equally
evident reasons. refused TO talk, citizens well ac-
quaintcd with tLe affairs Of the Water Company
could be found in plenty VINO dill not hesitate 10
cLsractcrize tie purchase as an outrage. Israel T.
Fischer said About four weeks ago | was com
planning of tie quality Of the wafer furnished Us
in the Twcnty-sxth Ward when prominent
Democratic pc itiran whose name 90 not now
care to mention said that it the same water
0, that used in the rest of the city, and bad been
for some time. WHY. tie water out there in the
reservoir is s'agnant and the excuse made has
been that tie Italians bathcd IN il, though don't
know how they ever got down or up the sides OF
the reservoir.
4 prominent . ti7cn. commenting on the lnliS-
sion of the Commissioner Of City Works. Mr.
Adams that the Water Company $ mains had been
connected with the city mains so as 10 furnish
pressure in case of fire. said " Does any one he
leve that that water was never used except for
fires OF, - Mr. Adams says, never used al all?
Admit tia il was not, and what does Mr.. Adamss
statcmcn, imply? Simply that The city Of Brook
lyn has been payinc So hydrant, or something
like $50. 900 a year to the Long Island Water
Supply Company for protecting tie Iwcnty-sNh
Ward against fire. and all the time has had ar
ranCemcuts made 10 do the work itself. Docs
not Mr. Adams himself make out case Of fraud
somewhere? p
4 Tribune reporter was unable 10 get an inter
view with Samuel IIatton, of lIatton a Jacobs,
the former owners o. the stock, who sold II
out al 20 cents on a dollar. but he found one Of
Mr. Eatton's most intimate and confidential friends,
who made this statement in behalf of Mr.. lIattoH
in regard 10 his connection with the company
"Messrs. IatIon and Jacobs and few Of THEN
private friends owned the stock Of this company
until about August, 1889. They tried 10 sell
il ~ these same city officials. but were met by an
absolute refusal, and the statement that the city
did not want il, and would not buy it, Early III
the summer of 1889, the Commissioner Of City
Works. John i. Adams, began systematic perse-
At 10 rci
them To open the streets TO connect their mains
with private houses to furnish water for private
consumption. While the men would he making
such connections they would he arrested by gangs
and taken into the police courts IN Brooklyn.
This thing went on for a couple of months, grow
ing worse all the time. Nh Hatt0l had
his en1lrc modest fortmne invested ID the