The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-10-03
Mr.. H|NTON'S ESTIMATE,
Figures the Registrar Gives of
the Cost of a Special
Election.
PLENTY OF DATA ON UTILITIES.
Municipal Ownership People to &C
Before the Finance Com mittee
Tomorrow.

The municipal ownership committee of
the Union for Practical Progress will GO
before the Finance Committee of the
Board of Supervisors tomorrow armed
with facts and figures from various
sources setting forth the feasibility of the
City owning its own water works.
It will get together to-day in John NJ.
Reynolds Office in the basement of the
Croker building and arrange the matter
it has in hand in the most effective way.
It's intention is to ask the Finance Com
mittee to recommend such all election.
Chairman Reynolds has received an
estimate of the cost of the special election,
for which the committee is now preparing
a monster petition. 1t might be said
parenthetically that already several thou
sand names have been signed to the blanks
circulated about the City. Registrar Hin
tons estimate of the cost of the election,
communicated by him to Mr. Reynolds,
is $40, 720 divided into the following items:
Rent for polling places in 293 precincts at
$40 each, $3.50; salaries of election officers,
$3.50; printing ballots, $4,000; advertising,
stationary and other incidentals, $4,000.
The com mittee has been looking up fig
ures on the cost of the City's water supply,
and has learned the following from the re-
port Of the Spring Valley W alter Company
for 1884: That company paid dividends
amounting to 1858, 600 and interest footing
UP $542,6 $50 rs. Its operating expenses
were 1891, 1872 80 and its taxes 500, 707 So.
As Mr.. Reynolds looks at it, this means
that its profits were considerably over
million dollars, which the consumers. OF
course, had to pay. Altogether it must
have taken i'll 81 1914, 121 %, while the net
cost of running the service-that is, operat-
ing expenses-was only 1891 7S2 80.
"And yet," added Mr.. Reynolds, signih-
cantly. 'they said they lad loss OF
$39, 282 1917
He remarked casually that the City also
paid $317,271 IS for gas and electric lights
during the same time. He continued
San Francisco and New Orleans are the only
two cities of 10000 population and over in
the country that do not have their own water
service. We have ascertained from figures
that the average water rate for house OF
seven rooms in cities where the water service
Is owned by private corporations is sly 4S,
whereas in cities having municipal ownership
the rate is only Sill 90.
He has received the following commune
cation from c. D. Rhodes, civil engineer.
as to the estimate of the cost of an artesian
well service:
Dear Sir: In answer to your queries con-
corning the probable cost of supplying the City
of San Francisco with artesian wells and mat
tiers pertaining thereto have to say that es-
innate that this Oity is now using between so
and 90 gallons OF water per capita daily with
present service.
That the average of large cities in the East is
from sixty-tive to ninety-hve gallons per day
and that in the estimates below given 1 have
deemed it proper to consider that 100 gallons
per day is little enough for city of the size of
San Francisco. to be supplied with, when taking