The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-12-17

who are in reality politicians and Office
holders, l can only form one opinion, ana
that is that this meeting is packed for
Duraese.
"oh, stop thatw said Commissioner
Ringle. What he would have said fur
ther was drowned by the tumult OF the
crowd. There was a general outburst OF
indignation at the Congressman re-
marks Mr.. Midige called him to ac-
count Lawyer Charles Kelly jumped up
and said:
.T came here in the interests of sew
eral heavy taxpayers. / have not been
paid to come here and am not an OFFICE
holder or a politician l think Mr. NC
Evan has done me personal injury by
his remarks and that he owes me an
apology"
i am willing to apologize" said the
Congressman. Il want the shoe to lit
where it will l am accusing no person
in particular
Henry Lembeck and DR.. UlaInor Allen
also protested against the Congressman's
assertion that the meeting was packed
While the discussion was at its height
some sensible person moved that the
meeting adjourn and his motion prevail
ed.
All the Finance Commissioners, with
the exception of President Heppenheimer
were present. With them was CORPORA
tion Counsel McDermott. Former Sena-
tor William D. Edwards was present,
armed with stack of books and. type
written documents. prepared to answer
all arguments against the awarding OF
the contract. He had a stenographer
take full notes of all that was said at
the meeting. In opening the meeting Mr..
Midlige briefly stated its object as de-
fined in the published call He said II
was intended to give all citizens an op-
| portunity to be heard. He said that
each person present would be given
| chance to speak, but that each speaker
would be limited to ten minutes. He de-
clared that all remarks must be confined
to the merits of the question under dis
cussion, namely, whether or not the
water contract should be awarded to Z.
H. Flynn. Mr.. Midlige called upon Mr.
Edwards to explain the contract.
Mr. Edwards said that for years Jersey.
City had been endeavoring to obtain a
| new water supply. Eight times bids had
been advertised for and received. Seven
times the bids were either rejected by
the city officials or were set aside by
the courts Jersey City could, under the
law. only make contract for water by
the million gallons, with the option of
buying the plant. That option might be
taken advantage of, however, only upon
direct vote of the people. The present
contract, he said, would furnish fifty
millions of gallons of water daily, with
an increase, of twenty millions more if re-
CURED Under the contract the works
must all be built in the most substantial
manner possible and solely for the use of
Jersey City Mr. Edwards then went into
the question of the price to be paid per
| million gallons and described in detail
the method by which the water will be
furnished He declared that no part of
the present pipe line would be used and
that the water would be delivered at an
elevation of 210 feet, rendering all pump
ing unnecessary. Mr.. Edwards showed
further that under the contract with the
Flynn Company the price of water could
never exceed $500, 500 a year. whereas un-
der the existing arrangement consider
ably more is paid.
.If we do not make this contract" said
Mr.. Edwards. 1--WE will have to content
Il
with all its eontaminations. The Passaic
River is composed of five branches, each
| of which brings into it the drainage of
| the cities and towns through which it
runs, and that causes the Passaic to be in
! its present impure state. One town,
Boonton, has its sewage depository be-
low the intake, but the sewage of the
other places all go into the river. Mr.
Flynn promises to relieve the water he
will furnish from all impurities and con-
tamination, and is willing to spend $60O0,-
| 600 to do so. If he doesn't do it the city
need not buy the supply
In reply to question Mr.. Edwards said
that under the contract Mr. Flynn would
be required to give a bond of S500,0e0 to
guarantee that the water would be free
from contamination. He proposed to keep
the water pure by condemning and re-
4 moving all the nuisances along the water
Sheds
Former Assemblyman Max Salinger
4 asked Mr.. Midlige how many water COM
paries there are in the State, and was
| refused an answer, as Mr.. Midlige de-
1 clared that the question was not pertinent
/ to the subject under discussion. Mr..
Salinger said he might be wrong, but that
| in his judgment there was a combination
of all the water companies in the State
and that they were organized against
Jersey City. He wanted to know if the
| Street and Wafer Board had ever tried
| to get for the city IT'S own supply of
/ water. and if so, If such supply could
not be secured much cheaper than sup
ply under contract with Flynn.
Mr.. Midlige replied that he was not
/ speaking to the question.
| After going into the history of former
contracts and having several of his mis-
statements set right by Mr.. Edwards, Mr..
Salinger asked of Mr. MidHge:-
/ DO you or the city authorities believe
that any other company is Interested in
! this contract?" Mr. Edwards replied for
! Mr. Midlige by saying
THE only person interested is Patrick
H Flynn
A gentleman named McCann wanted to
know what guarantee the city would have
against the contamination of the water
He said that the germs of typhoid fever
could not be taken out of, water by fill
tration, and that he could see no way
of keeping the water clear but-by pur-
chasing the water sheds as done in New
York Corporation Counsel NdcDermott re-
| piled to Mr.. McCann. He first contradict
ed his. statement that New York city
purchased its watersheds. He said that
it merely condemned nuisances along It's