New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-23
WESTWOOUS SAD PLIGHT.
THE OWNER OF THE wATERwORKs
THREATENS TO REMOVE HIS PLANT
HE HAS CONTRACT WHICH THE VILLAGE AU-
THoRIT1Es CONSIDER UNREAsoNABLE-IN-
sURANcE SAID TO PLAY A PART

IN THE COMEDY.
The good people Of the pretty little borough of
Westwood in the northern part of Bergen County
are in fever Of excitement over the threatened
removal Of the waterworks and the possibility
that the place may be wiped off the map by a
fire. The cause of the trouble is a note written
to the Council by Cornelius c. De Baum, the
owner Of the waterworks, In which the latter
insists on the performance OF a contract under
penalty Of a withdrawal Of the works. The time
allowed expires on December !, and many rumors
are rife as to what De Baum will do In case his
demands are not acceded to- For himself he
declares that he means business. while his friends
think that he is bluff1ng and seeking to advertise
his insurance business.
Mr.. De Baum Is what the world is pleased to
call self-made man. When he to West
wood. poor man. years ago. he found the place
a trackless waste with few scattered houses,
irregular streets and nothing that would attract
the attention of any living being except mos
quito. Worst Of all the place had no way of APP
peasing the appetites OF those Jerseymen to whom
| applejack was an innate-not acquired-taste
He therefore erected distillery, humble in its
way, but sufficient meet the demands until
the growth of the population made an extension
necessary. This was year and half ago.
The plans followed In the erection of the dis
tiery provided for walls OF immense thickness
In view Of a further extension, but when they
got to the third floor Mr.. De Baum was suddenly
struck with the idea that 1t would be a good
scheme to furnish Westwood folks with water.
No time was lost in figuring out the ways and
means and before the distiller was twenty-four
hours older he had laid proposition before the
Council offering 20 provide a system of water
service for the village on certain conditions. In
return he asked only that the authorities permit
him to lay pipes in such streets as might be
necessary, and that the borough should pay
him $25 a year for each hydrant for use In case
of fire. On his part he was to lay all pipes. set
the hydrants and indemnify the village against
loss by accidents arising from the negligence Of
his employees
Previous to that time Westwood had made
several Intellectual attempts to organize water
company and the townspeople had tried to In
fuence the Hackensack Water Company to ex-
tend its lines through the borough, but the
company wanted a guarantee Of $500 year,
which the municipality was unable to pay. So
the offer of Mr.. De Baum, after due consideration,
was accepted and on July 20 1894, a contract was
signed.
THE BUILDING OF THE TOWER.
The work that had been temporarily suspended
on the enlarged applejack distillery was at once
continued and Westwood stared in open-mouthed
wonder at massive tower which daily grew
from one end of the building until it pierced the
sky nearly hundred feet above the ground.
On the summit of this tower Mr.. De Baum
erected two mammoth tanks. Meanwhile the
streets had been torn UP and sM-lnch pipes hiu
been buried and connected with the dlsullery III
such way that it was an open question whether
water applejack would flow through theii.
When the water turned on 1t was found 10
be delicious, sweet and COOL as II wen Nishl 20
for the supply came from the rocks as 1ar De-
low the surface as the tanks were above IT,
AS time went by the purveyor OF appieJach
and water established a dozen Migrants, ana
Westwood assumed an air of importance II
never had attained before. Having metaphor
ically conquered the world of fire. Mr. De Baum
sighed for other worlds to subdue. so he en-
barked in the insurance business Through MS
representations of the value OF hre depart
ment the residents Of the place subscribed
money for the purchase Of a ose-carrage and
hose and with the assurance of the early estaD-
lishment Of a department the enterprising water
magnate lowered the rates from the current
charge of rs cents to 60. the latter being the
"protected' rate of the Underwriters as'ool"-
ton. 49,,
1t came to water and applejack. he found com
petition of the lvelest kind in his new venture.
and while he compelled to raise MS rates
pending the arrival of the fire apparatus MS
rivals continued to sell insurance at the lower
figure When the fire department was started
however the energetic De Baum rushed into the
fray with might and MAN, ana has since got
his share Of the business
THREATENED TO SHUT OFF THE WATER.
Meanwhile the village authorities. in the ex-
element he'd forgotten all about paying the
s25 per hydrant until a few weeks ago, when
De Baum brought 1t to their attention by firm
note inviting them to send him $500 in pursuance
of the contract he would take steps to cut
off the supply and the MIGRANTS. In fact, ne was
willing 10 let the fire fend have full sway In the
village except upon those houses on which he
carried the insurance. This note caused a mild
sensation in the Council, and committee waited
on him to see whether he meant 1t. The COM
mittee was soon informed that the note was not
a bluff and that while Mr.. De Baum was Will
ing to pose as q public benefactor, he did not
propose TO 90 so at the expense Of his pocket
book. -
authorities would purchase the hydrants at cost
and pay the waterworks magnate stipulated
sum for each fire at which water was used. 10
this proposition DE Baum .naively intimated that
the Rame was not worth the candle. In the
memory of the Oldest lnhabitant there had been
but one fire in WestwoOd, and that was twenty
years ago, and De Baum declared that ne did
not intend to wait for twenty years to get inter-
est on his investment. The only concession De
BAUM would make was have the exclusive
right given him to maintain waterworks for
fifty years in exchange for the sale Of the
hydrants.
too high and while they do not deny the ex
istence OF a contract they are unwilling TO pay
for protection at such rate. They argue that
De Baum ought to make enough out Of his water
appendage to his appejack distillery without
along without the water service. On the other
hand, De Baum says that he has an offer OF
big guarantee to pull up his plant and move IT
bodily to another borough, and that Is what he
will do unless the Council comes to agree
ment with him by December l. And there the
matter stands.