The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1893-03-24
THE WATER MATTER.
All shou'd he Satisfied Rates Officially
shown TO be Too Low, but Croweli Gener.
ousiy RI duces Them More.

All shou'd he Satisfied -Rates OmciaII,
| Shown tn be Too Low, but Crowell Gener
ously RI duces Them More.
The water question Ia settled, and In wsy
with which every human being In Bratte-
| boro must be satisied, and by which all must
he Impressed anew with the generosity and
public spirit OF Mr.. CIowell. The balliffs
have made the inquiry voted by the late VII.
age meeting into the purity of the water and
the reasonableness OF the prices charged =.
and they find that they are not only not ex-
cesslve but they are not high enough to yield
anywhere near fair return on the capital IN
vested In this system or that would be re-.
CURED TO put In another system like 1t of
the cheapest kind possible. And yet
after this fact has been officially Dc
termined, Mr.. Crowel does what he
has long had In contemplation and reduces
his rates SO that they will compare very ia
voraby with those of the rest Of the country,
In places where the works are owned and oper-
ated for the benefit of the community by the
public Instead of a corporation, in places
like Bellows Falls where the supply of water
Ia near at hand instead of having to be
brought for miles, and where there Is pos
sib'lty OF having practically the whole COM
munlty Tor patrons instead of one fifth or one.
third at the utmost as here. In other words he
makes the people of the place an outright pres.
ent OF large amount every year, In the
income,and more too, on every dollar he has OF
his own money invested In the works above
the bonds-an income that IN business justice
would belong to him and the charges for
which are made necessary by the fact that for
all these years both the village and our
moneyed men have neglected to do anything
about water works until the bulk of the pop
ulation had supplied itself from other sources.
Mr.. CroWell met the bailiffs Monday night.
when the matter was discussed. As regards
the purity OF the water. a chemical analysis
made under normal conditions, while the res
ervolr was having its regular supply from Its
springs, and In full quantity, showed 1t to be
OF the very Durest quality and most desirable
for domestic use. Bsillf w. d. Perry was
delegated as an expert accountant to make
the rest of the inqury-though no one before
really had any doubt OF the facts-and be
reports:
II found on examining Mr.. CroweIrs
books that the expense from October 1891 to
October 1892, which only Included fixed inter.
est charges and salary of superintendent and
ceeded the receipts by more than $780,"
These reports Will be given fully and in
detail In the baiiffs' report at the coming vii
lage meeting.
The reduction of rates which Mr.. CrowelI
will make goes into effect April 1st, and he
1t fully with the bsiliffs Monday
evening. The charges are reduced:
For Family Service from $40 to IS
families in
the same building " 8to7
Water Closets 5to4
Bath Tubs 3tO2
The water closet charge is for single
family, no matter whether there are one or a
dozen closets No extra charge Is made ex-
cept where there Is more than one family In
q house. and none has even Ueen m AIDE inten.
tlonally. Ir there have been any such cases
rs has been claimed 1t was accidental.
Mr.. Crowell guarantees an ample supply at
all times for street sprink ers and for fire puI-
poses. He agrees also In response to the call