The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-01-07
WATER OR WIND 2
New Specifications That
Cover Gravity, Pump
ing and Filtered
Supplies.
A NEW TANGLE TALKED OF
Boards Said to Be Divided Over
the Control Of Source
and Works.
WANsER IN EARNEST, ANYWAY
Emphatic Letter to Street and
Water Board-Conferences
and Confabs.
WANsER IN EARNEST, ANYWAY

took no action on tne Wdtei NueSioA'
this morning. The subject was brought
up, however, by the reception OF COM
munication from Mayor Wanser 1t
was ordered spread in fun on the MN
utes.
The full text of the communication Is
as follows
MAYORS OFFICE, JERSEY CITY
To the Honorable Board of Street and
Water Commissioners 49,
Eantlemen-The discussion aDout lne
water question since have Deen Mayor,
has been on the quality OF tne "a,er any
and a remedy. I nave no. rs,.,na lann,s nv, nv.
Self and an my efforts TO correct the oe
tails of the management oi lne piesei,e pre- ~.
water supply, since enseaeH a ts1 9,laI Ironb,ed
since the beginning OF my term. apoal o9ti
the ability OF the city to keep lts citi, III
zens supplied with SUCH wafer fo,,,aS ad the %e
stack of boilers, eight In numpef con.
nected with the old Cornish engines d.
the Belleville Pumping isaGld statldns 90 n had
ly that with a full consumption OF c9al,
there was a loss of several hours Gay
in the service of the pumps owlmg S1Is 70 ins tme
nossihle to supply the city with water
UNPAID .CEAIMs. soo ooo
At that time there were some ,iSs nsV'voS Wf
fhe fiepaitment were on an average OF
seven to nine months behind. The neces-
sity for fun supply snts oT Waese wese ordered md
were purchased by contract at a ceSe os
Of 1890 and SoeeT %eTe paia s1ppiea U the
power at greatly reduced coal consunp-
ton, so that the pumping caPacity was
increased and rendereai g dnfin,aans apiT WORK M Of
fnli tWenty-four hours in every gay
The draft of water in the growing ber7 Ser
gen section caused great diflcuity ana
Inconvenience to householders on the
high ground between Bergen avenue an9
the Boulevard and Sip avenue anu ana
upper rooms in the houses. To obv1ate
this difficulty new main was CONTRACTED
for with the High Service pumps and TO
run southerly in the district referred 20;
S-ssI-ss ssssfafn. cost SOL 80 and has been
M for, and the residents o tnat sec,
Rfssnf are now or will be supplied Wnen
proper connections are made Win tha'
lisln UP TO DATE.
At this time the Water Departmen5s
laborers, employees at High Service ana
Belleville, and other payroils OF the oe-
partment are paid up almost to. the cur
rent month. the interest on the ponds
has been paid promptly and provision
made for interest falling due up to May
have next been eae palys greatly improved and are
hut an entire remodelling according to
der to make them what a city the size
of Jersey City needs should tne presenr sen
the net water debt has decreased 10
the amount of s5s,56s.sl, and the water
account owes nothing to the general & ac,
count. AT the time I assumed ssao OF offiee .o
the water sinking fund was sl6s S:SS;
the water sinking fund has now SSo4,.
PASTA to It's credit, and within tn the eoo iass
en ner cent cent water bonds at the rate of
AZ per cent When bids were received
for these bonds there were I'VE p1ooers
from New York, one from rom 6os.1s' h6s yara ane
sold to the Sinking Fund Commission OF
the city at a price of one hundred ana
twelve one-hundredths per cent. ms rs
is the lowest rate of interest OF any o5
our city bonds, and the premium p,d
makes the bonds net 4.So-leO per cent.
interest.
The Water Department has been re-
laying mains of larger capacity; this
work is very expensive. to the city, ana
much Of It has been done nnst 0s 9f
being due to the large amount OF rock
excavation. Moreover, the mains across
the meadows are not suf1eisns ar,l TO erjods soR-
of unusual consumption. These, brieny,
are the difficulties which the city mas
had to meet to keep US suppIieo even ven
the present general condition OF the
plant. have never given any pubic
Indication until lately OF my position p2Il
on the question of new water supply
for the reason that the city has not yet
reached that state when Its tnanclal
condition would warrant the making OF
tract, and made up my mind that my
opinion on the question should be the
refiexion of the opinions of the taxpay-
ers' as eREaT e9pfa REsPoSsIBILITY. assPe IS filf
have believed that most of the agt-
tation for the past few years has been
iators, and that the health Of the city
has been remarkably good throughout
the years of discussion. My frequent
trips to the Bellsyils ,a pumping s5ason aao
upon me the impression Of the great re-
sponsibility which @ officials Is assume N e
in dealing with the stion. During the
the city by their taxes, and who former
" advised no disturbance of the water
question, have called upon me and
urged me, in behalf of the city, to pro-
cure better water than we have: I have
been advised by engineers with whom
/ have consulted upon this question that
the Passaic River Is no longer nj Ior
use as water supply for Jersey City,
even though the sewerage OF the towns
between Passaic and sBelleyille was pro-
vided for It is matter rnaf mas mas g,vef grsaf
concern during my term In office, and
particularly during the past. year. pur-
ing the last named period the great bur
are very hard to let, and that outside
buyers are not investing in our real
estate, and additional force has been
added to that argument by the fact
that the City of Bayonne mas been en-
deavoring to make a contract to buy
aisewhere, and that Harrison and
Kearny two other ,r, custoeps Of Jersey
threatenirg to break their contract with
US The long drogghs wa3fr 9f last Is 81
Sfansiva and the criticism of the water
was very arked asaT With ,msgoee5 the eening Of
'le iSA ARFaC1UIRRENCE PROBABLE.
1 now hear no serious complaint. but
the recurrence Of droughts IS always to
he expected. Twice since have been
M Mayor specifications for new water
supply have been sent to me by the
Hoard of Street and Water Commission
ers sA' and have approved them In order
that It could be ascertained what would
s,1nnIv BY bids made In accordance with
fhese specifications, appreciating the fact