Los Angeles herald., 1891-09-20


March rs, 1901, and was forwarded b.
Don Jose ArgGello to the governor.
Under date of November z, 1889. al
order was made by the acting governor
Manuel Jimeno, declaring the Illus
trlous Ayuntamiento of Los Angeles dis
solved under the laws of 1887. on &C
count OF the paucity of inhabi
tants, but on November IA, 1S43. Gov
ernor Manuel Micheltorena issued
proclamation re-establishing the ayun
tamiento, and calling an election of new
justices of the peace, alleging the in.
efficiency of the old officers. The elec.
ton was called for the second Sunday
in December, 1843.
BY decree Los Angeles was made a
city and the capital of the territory Jan
uary %. 1886. See city archives, vol. Ii,
page 141.
A complaint was made to the citv
authorities April 4, 1886, that the per-
son in charge OF the San Fernando mis-
sion was making dam in the river OF
the city, to the injury of the inhabitants
thereof. Whereupon an investigating
committee was appointed, which a week
later reported that one of the springs.
which forms the source of the river, was
damned up, but that the same was do
ing no damage to the city, and that the
person in charge of the mission had
promised that if, in any event, the said
dam should cause any damage to the
city, he would, at his own cost. be
responsible for the injury, and, should
there be scarcity of water, he would
destroy the dam, and let all the water
60: See city archives, volume 2, page
131, ct seq.
For the various acts of the legislature
OF this state concerning the rights of the
city to the old pueblo grants, see act
approved April 4, 1850, statutes of 1854,
page 2O5; statutes of 1857, page 329.
February II, 1S4l, the city granted to
Maria Ygnacio Verdugo de Feliz the
right to use water from the river upon
lands now constituting the Los Feliz
rancho. See book x, page 53S, Of deeds.
October 8, 1S45, Don Vicente de la
Osa granted right of way for zanja to
use water from the river, to Don Maria
Ygnacio Verdugo across the pasture
land of Feliz or the enclosure of San
Jose. Recorded in book x, page $50, of
deeds.
Jose Antonio Feliz, deceased, by A. f.
Coronel, executor, decided to G. V. How
ard for $4,000, the rancho Los Feliz,
reciting that the boundary line on one
side was the middle of the stream of the
Los Angeles river. This deed is dated
October 5, 1868, and is recorded in book
XI, page 108, of deeds.
In the following December Howard
sold to the Los Angeles Canal and Res
ervoir company the use of certain
zanja, through which the water was
running across the Los Feliz rancho, re-
serving the right to take water from
said ditch at all times. See book XI,
page 1888, of deeds.
Afterwards the Canal and reservoir
company gave lease to the city of
Los Angeles to said zanja. See Book
Ill, page l15 of leases.
At this point begins the history OF the
city water works, and afterwards fran
chises and contracts were made with
various private parties that have re-
suited in the city water supply being
where it is at this day.
In 1878, the city of Los Angeles
brought suit against Leon Mel. Bald
win to quiet its title to two irrigation
heads of water that said Baldwin and
others were appropriating and claiming
to own, taken from the river, and being
used upon the Los Feliz rancho. In
that action the court says that the city
is not the owner of the corpus of the
water of the river go far as appears from
the evidence. See 80 Cal. 1859. BY rea-
son of this decision, and failure to
prosecute a former action brought
against the same parties, the city paid
G. j. Griffith $4,000 in 1884 to buy back
the said two irrigation heads of water.
In the case of Anastacio Feliz VS..
City of Los Angeles, in 58 Cal. 73, the
action was brought against the city for
cutting off the water of the Los Angeles
river from plaintiffs ditch. The court
found that, ever since the foundation of
the pueblo in 1881, the pueblo, or its
successor, the city, had, at all times,
exercised the control of, and claimed,
the exclusive right to use all the water
of the said river, and said right had
been duly recognized and allowed by the
owners of the land at the source and
bordering on said river.
At the hearing in the lower court, Nc
Nealy Judge, perpetual injunction was
granted, enjoining and restraining the
city from interfering with the plaintiff
Feliz in the appropriation and use of
sufficient water from the river for the
purpose of irrigation and domestic use
upon the Feliz rancho. The supreme
court set aside the injunction, and re-
versed the judgment of the lower court.
In rendering the opinion the court OBJ
serves, however, that the city was en-
titled to such a quantity as it needed
for its own supply, and that if there
was a surplus in the river over and
above the needs OF the land situated
within the city limits that that surplus
might be appropriated by riparian own
ers above the city, and that the city
could not sell the water to parties out
side the city to the detriment of upper
riparian owners.
This is established, not only by grant
from the Spanish government, by con-
tinued use, and by acknowledged right
by parties in interest, but also by our
supreme court, that the city is the un-
qualified owner of all of the water
flowing in the Los Angeles river neces-
sary for all purposes of irrigation and
domestic use within the city.
The river is said to contain on an
average 1000 miners inches of water,
and at its source the water is as clear
and pure as that of any other mountain
stream.
New Clearings in Frontier Settlements
Often give birth to miasma, as one of the first
fruite Of an unturuinp of the soil. Malaria is