The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-05-02
NHVARK'S Big FIASCO.
The Water Works Are De-
ficient and Very Badly
Constructed.
FRAUD PLAINLY MEANT.
No Effort Made in Months to
Remedy Defects that Every
body Knew Of.
Special to the ,yersey cf,y Necs.

Special to the Jersey City Neos.
NEWARK, May 2, 1s92.-This is the day
when the new water supply was to be
ready according to contract. 1t is not
| ready.
The question now is:-"What will the
East Jersey Water Company do next s''
| The city has refused to accept the supply,
| and the engineers say that the work is
not completed according to the contract.
On Monday letter was received by the
Board of Works and the Mayor, signed by
President E. P. Wilbur. of the East Jer-
sey Water Company. In effect it said
that the company considered the WORK
finished in accordance with the contract.
| and was ready to supply New
ark on and after today with
Pequannock water sufficient for all its
needs, up to the maximum amount called
for by the contract. and continued:-"W Q
submit that you will find on inspection
that the works are now in good condition
and ready for delivery and use. But If
any latent imperfections shall be devel-
oped in the works or In the pipe line dur
ing the time that we remain in possession
OF the same under the contract, viz
until September "a, 1900 (during which
period the city holds the retained balance
of ", 600, 900 of the purchase money, we
will, of course, under the said contract,
promptly make such imperfections good. !"
The letter was carefully considered by
the Board of Works, and the Mayor, and
reply was drafted and sent to the East
Jersey Water Company.
Ii any answer has been received to
Newark's letter, nothing has been heard
Of 1t yet.
AN UNSATISFACTORY TRIP.
Newark is not satisfied with the work
and this fact was emphasized on Friday
when Commissioners Hahn, Harlan and
Trier. Engineers Jacobsen and Fteley and
Mayor Haynes went over the ground be-
tween Macopin Intake and the two big
storage reservoirs, both of which were
critically examined. Mr.. Fteley had no
hesitation In telling the party that in his
lent to give more than 35,000.00J daily in
time Of drought, though it might give
$4,000. 600 gallons or more every day for
years. The party visited Macopiu pond,
which Mr.. Herschel is quoted as
saying could alone supply New
ark in ordinary seasons. and Mr..
Fteley said that this poud was of
no consequence as storage reser voir.
as it had no important drainage area and
would not be factor in the supply unless
d stream which now ran in another di-
rection could be diverted to flow into 1t,
Fault was found with the cement used in
the construction and with the increase
found in the leakage at Clinton dam.
Then 1t was remarked that gatehouses
had not been built over the gate cham bers
of either of the big dams, and that the
Clinton Falls reservoir had never filled
up. although the gates had been con-
stantly shut In the best water-storipg
season of the year. The Common Coun-
ell Committee did not take advantage of
the opportunity to see the works, and its
members were sharply criticised by the
Mayor for failing to keep the appoint
ment.
The party found that nothing had been
done by the water company at any of the
reservoirs since last fail. No attempt has
been made to remedy this great fault OF
shallow fowage. and no effort had been
made to stop the leaks. That In Clinton
dam had almost doubled its size in the
last month according TO tub measure
ment. When it took thirty seconds to
fill the tub month ago, 1t was filled in
fifteen and a quarter seconds on Friday.
JUST ONE WEEK OF BLISS.
For just one week the city of Newark
was blessed with uuadulterated Pequan-
noes water. The pumps were stopped on
Friday, April Is. and the water flowed
from the big pipes into the high and low
Friday, the 22d, when for some unex-
planned reason the supply Of Pequannock
was suddenly shut off. The pumps were
again started and the fluid from the
Passaic again began to flow through the
pipes. Meanwhile the announcement
was unofficiallv made that the PassRfc
supply had been permanently abandoned.
and as consequence many families
stopped buying water by the gallon.
just what caused the sudden stoppage
of the new supply has not been ascer-
tanned, but 1t was probably due to new
L. xsfo ..~I n T.. AL~L -~Tv
other blowout of gasket at one of the
manholes. No matter what might have
been the cause OF the stoppage, it is cer-
tain that the East Jersey Water Company
has had plenty OF opportunities to correct
all such simple difficulties and has
wasted a great deal of valuable time.
Months have been allowed to elapse with
out any work being done on the pipeline,
and by testing of the conduit has been
marked by unaccountable delays. Mean
while. almost nothing has been heard
from the men who represent the water
company. They have not at this late day
announced their readiness to comply with
the terms or the contract on May l. No
body In authority in Newark can say what
the water company intends to do. Engin-
eer Herschel was in Newark on Thursday
and said that the test of the three-foot
pipe leading from Belleville to the high
service reservoir was satisfactory under
PiCoouAO u ~~bOOVsOSO spAAOlot tthb aS
agreed to keep u man on duty at the gate
house on South Orange avenue, so that
the city authorities would not again have
any difficulty in getting into the house at
any time during the day.
A SIIsFIT DAY.
The terms of the contract call for the
delivery of water on May l. Tomorrow
is the first day of May, and 1t is scarcely
probable that the calendar was consulted
when the contract was made, as it is not
customary to make any legal document
begin or terminate on Sunday. 1t is GER
taiu, however that there will be no pub
lie demonstration ov- the admission of
the water 20 the city pipes tomorrow. 1t
is equally certain that the East Jersey
Water Company will not be able to fully
satisfy the experts OF its ability to comply
with the terms of the contract. Practi-
cally nothing has been done to improve
the supply since the publication OF the
engineers reports showing that it was
inadequate 20 fulfil the terms of the con-
tract in seasons of drought.
These reports were made by men fully
as capable as any engaged on the work,
and their figures have not been assailed
by those interested; but meanwhile have
been ably supplemented by disinterested
mAthematicians and writers In technical
periodicals 1t has been demonstrated
that the new supply is not adequate by
reason of insufficient storage capacity
and the water company has ignored the
structures made by outsiders.