The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-12-22

with water company in getting his bills
reduced to what he thought was right.
He Didn't Have to Do It
Mr.. A1len-Had to use a filter. Had
trouble with company once. 1t cut off VA
ter, claiming excessive waste. He had an
automatic tank in a closet and the COM
pany claimed this caused an excessive
waste and would have to be taken out. He
told them he did not have to do it. The
water was turned on and had not been
turned off since.
Mr.. Newbeury, barber and restaurant
proprietor-Paid 30 cents per LOCO gallons on
restaurant. On barber shop he paid
minimum rate of Sc per month. He asked
company to read the meter. It was read
ana registered 1922 for November. At the
restaurant the meter run about 50 or 81 and
he had been paying 50 and $40. The water
works representation said there was a leak
in the pipe, but no leak was found. On
a settlement the water company took half
the bill and insisted that the meter was
right
In the cross-exa1nination he said there
were eight bed rooms in connection with
the restaurant When he paid bill for oc-
tober he asked the meter be read
Mr.. VandsgriftlThe water furnished by
the water company was not clean and
wholesome but nearly always muddy. He
paid by meter in his store. Bill for No
vember did not show meter reading, was
made out for rs cents, had been paying
S1.sS prior to that time He used filter
at residence. Did not consider water whole
some without this
In the cross-examination he said there
were two sleeping apartments above his
store.
Testimony About Pressure
Chief of Fire Department Mullen-Mr.
Tanner asked Mr.. Mullen's experience in
regard to sufficiency of pressure Mr. Lon
don objected to this on the ground that
there was no provision in the contract
touching pressure. Col. Denson said ,et it
go and it might be cut out later
Mr.. Mullen then said the fire pressure in
the business portion of the city was So to
80 pounds when the valves We're open. On
the Highlands the pressure was not so
great. In regard to the pressure at the fire
corner, Twenty-second street and Seventh
avenue, he said he did not know. because
of having gone in the building as soon as
the fire was reached. There had been some
complaint by outsiders. Some of the fire.
men told him the pressure was bad. He
said it took from three to four minutes
for the passure to affect the guage in
his office The pressure at the Caldwell
hotel fire was very poor When he got to
the fire he sent fireman back to the
South Side engine house, and he found the
automatic lever had not turned. When he
got back wall had fallen in and the SUI
perintendent of the water works company
claimed two elevator pipes had bursted and
this decreased the pressure. The Caldwell
hotel fire could have been extinguished
with proper pressure.
In the cross-examination he said the
pressure on any given plug was regulated
by the flow of water out of the mains. He
said the pressure in Atlanta in 1888 was
very bad.
In asking this question Mr.. London said
this was caused by the great waste of
water and that the pressure did not force
the water over a two-story building.
Mr.. Mullen said the pressure was in a
great measure regulated by the size of the
main. In answer to a question implying
that the walls in the Johnson building op-
posite the Caldwell hotel were rotten, he
said he could not answer. He said the sys-
tenn of "cut-off" had been changed since
the Caldwell hotel fire. He said he saw
the record in the water company's office
about the Seventh avenue fire and 1t was
So pounds.
Cut-On Not Safe
In answer to Mr.. Tanners question Mr..
Mullen said he never knew the cutoff to
fail to work except in the case of the
Caldwell fire. He said the cutoff was not
absolutely safe, and that the insurance
companies demanded that the valve be
taken out after the Caldwell fire.
Oliver Chalifoux-He said he found the
water very muddy and used filter. He
did not consider the water pure and whole
some. He said that in the Chalifoux build
ing meters were used and he had made OBJ
jections to bills, and the water company
always claimed there was a leak. They
looked at the meter last December and
found something wrong. The bill for the
month was SAT. The bills for the next two
monhs were very high and he refused to
pay them. In March the meter was tested
It was found to be fast about 6S per cent
He paid $500 for the three months on a
compromise. The bill for last November
was $4,000 gallons; for last February, 1884,
OOO During last October the amount was
about 1000 This was a big month and
February a dull one.
W. T. Johnson-He paid $3.65 per month
for six months and 81 or s for other months.
Paid by the minimum rate. Some bills
bore meter readings and some did not: Once
had leak and was notified by the water
company. Water bills were the same every
wear leaks or no leaks. He thought this