Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-06-04
WHAT IT MEANS.

- Mutual Fire Assurance Companies in Cold Blood Ask Waterbury Co Lay Larger Water 1EAins-The Stock Com panies are Satisfied With Present Con dItions.
 The spacious pretence, made by a number of Mutual Fire Insurance com panies. to secure more adequato pro lection from fire for their patrons, isI being very generally commented upon. An agent of the companies has exam ined our water supply, mains, branches and hydrants, and reported to the com panies the result of his investigations. Whereupon the following named com ponies, Blackstone Mutual, What Cheer Mutual, State Mutual, Boston Manufac- turers' Mutual, Arkwright Mutual and Manufacturers Mutual, through their presidents, recommend and urge" their patrons to use every proper effort to tn- duce the city to lay larger pipes in the streets on which their plants are sItu- ated, or contiguous streets. A 16 inch pipe is asked for in Mill street and in Burnham street; 12 inch pipe in North Elm street.
 Now the companies, with conspicuous arrogance, who would have those radical and expensive changes made, have only their own interests in view and are per- fectIy callous as to costs and the re- sources of our citizens. They are no portion of our community, nor do they pay one cent of our taxes. The above named companies are mostly confined to the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They have no standing in our courts. They make a speciality of i'm surfing factories and large concerns at rates so low that the regular stock companies, who pay taxes on every dollars worth of business that they do, cannot compete with them. In return for those small rates they require greater precautions, private hydrants, hose, extinguishers, etc. Their patrons get the benefits, giving special condi- tions.
 The citizens of Waterbury have a problem to solve which is of more inn portance to each individual, and the whole city, than larger mains or the special interests of mutual fire in- surance companies, and that is the obtaining of a greater water supply. Perhaps it is not generally known that \ for the past three weeks we have been pumping one and half millions of | gallons of water daily to keep up our reservoirs.
 'This talk of larger pipes, with the present condition of our supply, is all rot" said gentleman acquainted with every detail. "Sixteen inch pipes running in all directions may be very nice, but where is the water coming from?"
 It may be worth a thought also to know that sixteen inch pipes cost S per foot; and the 5000 @ feet which the engineer of the insurance compa- nies recommends, would amount to 8 nice sum when the pipe was laid. I'm provements are being made as rapidly as the water commissioners can make them under present conditions. The six inch pipe in Mill street has been re- placed by an eight inch. Besides. things are not quite as bad as some people would have us believe. Is not the main in front of Benedict 6 Burn hams works in South Main street 6 twelve inch pipe? Is there not an eighI inch pipe at the northwest and another of the same size at the south oi Holiness, Booth & Haydens' factory Could not the Scovlll Manufacturing company get water from Hayden street as well as from Mill street?
 who patronize mutual fire insurance companies had any fear that they could not get water enough, would they not sink wells? We believe they could do il for the difference in rates of insurance in a little while. We anticipate nc radical changes, however, benefiting only a small portion of the people, but believe that all these things will come when deemed necessary by the ma jority of citizens and taxpayers, anC after greater and more pressing needI have been attended to.