The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-05-28
THINGS TN JERSEY WATER
annoy OTHERS An OUsCE or.
sLWiGE IN EVERY GALLON
Fine Crops Of Microbes and Disease Germs
TOO, but in spite Of that the Mere Mem
ton Of Water in Jersey City Starts the
cranks and the Water Companies Howl
ing About Bribery and Corruption.

Ing AD0ut bflDefy anu corruption.
(From the New York Sun of yesterday
A New Yorker. having spent soma time
in Jersey City. ventured to ask a
Jerseyman why it was that the city
DID not get a new water supply. Why
said the New Yorker, '.only this morn
ing I went to take a bath and found
my tub full of ~wriggling things"
"Sh-h,' said the Jerseylnan, putting
his finger to his lips and selling the New
Workers. coat to drag him to a corner.
They were typhoid fever germs; but
for the love of a don't speak
about it here or my reputation will be
ruinedl"
What do you mean?'' demanded the
New Yorker.
Typhoid fever-that's right" sad the
Je~rseyrnan. They grow big in that water.
We all rave it once in a while, but, for
Heavens sake, don't speak about it to
me so anybody will hear you"
whats the matter with you, any
way?" demanded the New Yorker. Have
you gone daft?'
mo, I'm not daft" said the Jersey
mar, getting angry; but I've got a far
ly decent reputation, and l don't want
to lose. that's ALL"
'tWell, what in thunder do you mean,
then ~ demanded the New Yorker.
"Come to my house, said the Jersey
man.
So the New Yorker went to the Jersey
mems house. The Jerseyman took hing to
the bathroom, that being the most Sc
Guided place in the house. He locked the
door, and stuffed paper in the keyhole
a-5 = IL. -. FrL1- - 1ai1. TTy
are safe here. You did a very foolish
thing in speaking of water in a public
place. Don't you know that If any our
cranks heard 0 you'd be branded as
the agent of a water company sent here
to buy the Board of Street and Waite
Commissioners, or to bride the Mayor?
Don't you know that you would be fol-
lowed by detectives. and, like as not.
indicted and put in State prison for a
long term for attempted b~rbery?"
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. demanded the New
Yorker. ''Why, I don't know anything
about water companies, or bribery. OF
anything else"
81 know you don't" a the Jersey
man; 'and l know you just came here to
visit a friend; but that don't make any
difference. If you were the President Of
the United States and said water
you'd be accused just the same.
"Well,'' said the New Yorker, "f l
said anything about water It wouldn't
be in favor of water companies. I'd adj
wise the city to buy a supply of its own"
There" said the Jerseyman, Il knew
you would say that. Now, il you had
said that where anybody might have
heard you, it would have been worse than
the others. You'd have been called the
agent of a lot of land owners down here
to bride the same people and buy up a
few newspapers besides. You'd have had
twice as many detectives after you and
you'd have been lucky if you had escaped
with YOU life"
"Well, what in blazes could 1 have said,
then, and kept out of jail?' demanded
the New Yorker.
"Notnkug," said the Jerseyman, moth,
ing at all. The mere mention of water
will blast a mans reputation, ruin his
| family, and send him through life a mis-
cradle, despised creature. OF course
you're surprised at that. so let me ex-
plain. Years and years and years ago
as many as thirty, I guess-the people OF
this town realized that it would have to
get Z new supply Of water. The city was
getting its water from the Passaic then,
Just as it is now. There were some big
towns along the Passaic and they began
to put in sewers. Then the factories in
creased in number and they poured
| refuse into the water at a great rate.
The people saw that a new supply was
an absolute necessity, and they began to
| agitate for one. Engineers figured out
| the cost. It was between 81, 1000 and
$4,000 Oo."
surely thai was a reasonable amount"
| said the New Yorker.
Just then the paper that had been
| stuffed into the keyhole dropped out The
| Jerseyman, trembling like a leaf, leaped
toward the door, and, unlocking it, threw
it open n peered out. There was no
| one i'm sight. A lcok of relief came over
his face. He shut the door again, locked
it, and stuffed the paper back. w have
to be SO careful over here" he said. u
| thought somebody might be listening. We
| can't even trust our own servants, you
know. Well, to go on he continued,
still keeping ar eye on the door and
| meanwhile plugging up the waste pipes,
you think that sum was reasonable. Sc
| did everybody of any sense. But this
| town was cursed then with cranks, just
| as it is to-day-old fossils who ~patronize
| pumps or, gin ~mills-people who entered
| their second childhood early in life and
| who had little money and didn't want to
| par with any of it. Well, these cranks
began to shout 'Jobn They said. the
| water was good enough, and it was only
dishonest politicians who favored a new
supply, and they only because they saw
a chance to steal"
"Was that trueH' asked the New
Yorker.
o course, it wasn't true" said the
, Jerseyman. But don't you see, the
cranks didn't use the water. They had
wells and pumps and all that. They
thought more of their money h a they
did of the welfare Of the city or this
health of the people who couldn't afford
wells or pumps. They shouted Thief.
just to save IA couple Of dollars a year
extra taxes. The only result of their
| agitation was the formation of water
companies The Jerseyman's voice was
lowered to a whisper. He tiptoed around
the room, felt of all the wadding in the
cracks and of the waste plugs. Then he
| resumed his seat on the edge of the
! bathtub. 1.-THE capital of a water com
pany,' he went en-, sis chiefly wind and
| options. You've been in Chicago, and OF
| course it isn't necessary to tell you any
thing about wind Maybe you're more
or less familiar with options, too. But