Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-27
Walls ABOUT WATER.
Saloon Keepers Declare They Are Dis
,criminated Against.
CHARGED DMORE THAN OTHER FOLKS
Not So Much Money in the Business as Is
Popularity Supposed.
HOW TREY ARE TAXED UPON ALL SIDES

With two rivers direct from the mount
aims, and with water furnished at wholesale
yates from to 20 cents for 1000 gallons,
and with pumping capacity sufficient to
supply London, one would think that peo-
pie in Pittsburg would not only be cleanly
in their habits, as of course they are, but
very happy in the enjoyment of cheap
drinking and washing water, but the fact
is that as general thing they are not, and
there is tolerably general cry that water
is a very expensive article in domestic econ
omy. The chorus is stronger at this time
of year than at any other. The main trouble
seems to be that most people consume on a
retail basis of rates. If any one uses q
million gallons year he gets it
for 6 cents thousand gallons, and
if more than 10000, 900 gallons at cents
per thousand, measured by meter, but if es-
timated 20 per cent is added to meter rates.
But few people want to use it in quantities
sufficient to bring the price down to one
two-hundreths of a cent per gallon, and
the retail arrangement is regarded by many
people as burdensome.
Saloon Keepers Complain OF Injustice.
The saloon keepers are among the stringent
obiectors to the arrangement, as some of
them pay for house and bar fixtures, say
two bathrooms and two closets, as high as
$500 q year, according to the size of the
house, even when there are no elevators or
engines used. Some who pay this amount,
and find that warehouse only pays about
the same or less, object very decidedly and
say there must be a screw loose some
where. They say that when the
Brooks license law went into effect rates
were raised sharply on them, but those for
tunate enough to get license said nothing
and kept on wOod-sawing. as their profits
were sufficient to make them Indifferent to
the tax, but now their number has been so
increased that the business done by one
when there were but 81 saloons in the city is
divided between three and sometimes five,
and even 500 begins to be an item of inter
est to some of them. They complain that
in addition to a very high water tax, their
business tax is 10 times the amount on sales
volume as that of people in other business.
Their license is $500 and next year will be
$1,000, so that a man doing S25, 200
WORTH of business year-which,
they say, is considerable for an
average saloon-will pay $1,000 license,
tax, and say, or an average, $500 water tax;
IN all, about 3, 900 year.
Little Decrease in Numbers Expected.
They do not appear to anticipate that the
raising of the license fee to s., 900 will
materially decrease the number of appli-
cants, al least downtown, and some of them
begin to fear that the only money in the
business left for many will be in the speak
easy line One Grant street saloon keeper,
who has been regarded as doing big bust
ness, says he is not making money enough
to nay for the worry of conducting his
establishment. \ number of others saw,
they would sell out for fair price in a min
ute
An idea of the cost of water may be
gathered from a few instances taken at ran
dom. Meyers 81 Tate pay $500 for
water to operate their elevator, in
addition to the other charges regu-
lated by the number of washstands,
closets, etc, which is not very much in
warehouse. Otis, Shepard & Co. paw SS75
in their store. They have hydraulic ele-
vator, while ?. Duff, a saloon keeper on
Grant street, pays 1898, and has mary" an
elevator, and his house does not look yerv
large. The water tax on the Seventh Ave
nue. Hotel is about 81 100, but in addition
TO the elevator and bar it has many rooms,
sinks, etc.
1t would appear that some saloon keepers
not cnly object to what they term discrim-
ination, but they also resent the inference
that might possibly be drawn that they use
more oxygen and hydrogen in the makeup
of their liquors than recognized by the
standard, and some Of them say they use
very little water.
A visit to the Water Assessors Office
indicates that there is no remedy
above the horizon at present,
Chief Clerk David Dimes admits that the
adjustment of the burden is very unequal
but he denies that saloon keepers have any
cause 70. complaint, holding that they use
more water than they pay for. He saws it
is quite commonly the case that spigot is
allowed to run all the time the bar is open,
and the beer pumps, he says, are supposed
TO run only part of the time, when in fact
they are operated almost constantly. Turn
ing to case at random on the book, it was
found that the account of a saloon was
itemized as follows: Bar, S25; beer pump,
$50; 3 washstands, S.; rooms, So; 9 bath
tubs, 81; sink, s6 50; rest of house and
kitchen, s25; total, S113 30.
Very Hard en- Some People.
Mr.. Dimes states that the assessment fol-
lows legal lines, and works hard
ship on some people, but he
is not inclined to consider
saloon keepers the victims, though it is GER
tain that some of them are not making
much money at present The hardship Mr..
Dimes points out is the charge made for
in offices which are often rarely
and sometimes never used by the paver.
In a lawyers Office, for instance, NAV be
found last years dust in the washstand, but
the fixture is there and is charged for say at
the rate of 81 This man pays, at wholesale
rates, for $4,000 gallons Of water and doesn't
use any, while the spigot in a kitchen sink
may run ten hours or more a day and the
owner only pays S2-half as much as in the |
former case where no water Is used at all