The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-05-06
MONDAY. MAY G, 1895.
This paper is Democratic IN principles
end is independent in its uieos on q" 'oea1
questions
Public opinion.

the water question. With this pubiica-
ton, the number of individuals quoted
win amount to a couple of hundred.
The careful reader will observe thai no
selection whatever has been exercised In
respect to the persons whose views are
sousht-unless indeed it may be that
politicians and all who are suspected OF
even an indirect interest in a water
project have been excluded. beyoho
that. the reporters of THE News nave
b%uttonholed citizens indiscriminately-
There are clergymen, lawyers and doc
tors. property owners and non-property
owners, grocers, bakers. butchers, ory
goods dealers, shoemakers. The Real
Estate agent, from the very nature OF
things, has been very prominent.
Were it not for one interview. the vote
of this great gathering of sample opin-
ton of the Passaic water. and urgent
In the demand for some immediate and
eGectuai remedy.
The one exception is DR.. D. S. Hard
enberg of Nc. TIA Pacific avenue. DR..
Hardenberg out-Quimby's Quimby. Some
of his expressions are monumental. He
says:-s
am satisfied the water compares
well with that OF other cities. IL l use us ~, -
ANALYSIS. but am satisfied that with q
little altering It can be remeuied y
I was one Of a committee Of twenty.
five physicians who reported they couia
Ind nothing in the water to contfipute
to the number OF contagious uiseaeeS
afnong its consumers.
1t may strike the average man hat the
Doctor is not wholly consistent. He
thinks the water compares well with
that of other cities, yet he thinks a
little filtration will remedy it. He
thinks 1t only needs a little filtering,
yet he admits the prevalence of con
tagious'' diseases among those who use
ii. But DR.. H~ardenberg says he uses it
himself, constantly. If by this he means
that he drinks it, the public will not feel
8eFeIe tWdIQS luS O0StotbT RS0A
It will feel that he is a martyr to his
pre1udices, and will harbor only feelings
of sympathy for him.
Next to the Doctor comes a larger
group Of gentlemen. who. while they
agree with the general detestation of the
waser, still think tina filtration or some
ether system of publication is feasible
as a remedy. DR.. Lampson revives the
old project of in~tercepting sewers. re-
CARELESS of cost: but the. great majority
are content to speak vaguely of some
plan Of filtration As we read these
expressions, we wonder how the gem
tlenen failed to- be impressed with the
cardinal fact that in response to the
recent Invitation by the city, not one
proposal, formal or informal. was pre-
scented, although one set of specifications
was expressly drafted in the interest of
the filtration idea.
The filtration advocates represent per-
haps ten per cent, altogether, of the
-ODll1lOIS QuOlcu. "A Slill SildllCI
tion-perhaps five per cent.-still adheres
to the Ward State Water Supply dream.
THESE are the bourbons of the water
q1s stien. who see nothing and learn
nothing. Legislatures come and Legis-
latufes go; now the Democrats control
and now the Republicans; one water bill
a4tan a,afhar 10 ;utrod,iood and etro N u1od .
but the devotee of abstract principles
<semaIns unconvinced. People die Of
Il phoid fever In our midst, and others
rush to, places less cursed in their water
supply. Houses stand vacant in blank
array along our streets. Rents are nom
existent. and prices fall and fall. But
the dreamer still dreams on with eyes
nxsd on the ever distant Millennium.
The great majority of the citizens, how
fyer.-sighty per cent. of then,-are not
dreaming. They want a new supply of
pure and wholesome water. and they
want it quick. They demand it of the
public officials, and their demand rings
put In no uncertain tones. The reasons
IRE freely stated. Property is falling and
people are moving away. The city is on
the down grade, and the water is all
to blame
The statement was made to a reporter
bf s'The News last Saturday that there
are at present 1900 vacant dwellings IN
Jersey city. The figure seems appalling
and it may be exaggerated. 1.-THE News"
il investigating the facts and will give
results in q day or two. This much. at
least, is certain, that all agents agree that
they never before have had so many
pnrented houses and apartments on their
liets. They unanimously say the water
" to blame.
The interviews quoted favor no par
ieular scheme Of supply. They simply
Indicate that the city has reached the
limits OF endurance, and the people in
Iist that in one way il not in another,
ihe nuisance be abolished y the city
y placed onsa footing Of equality with
;ykhef municipalities Of its size