The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-06-09

SAY THEIR BID is LOWEST
0'Brien, Sheehan, Mclean
& Rodgers Write the
Mayor a Letter.
LOWER MONTVILLE PLAN THE BEST
Street and Water Board Read
the Letter and Referred 1t
to the Committee of
the Whole.
LOWER MONTVILLE PLAN THE BEST

Tho Street and Water Commissioners
took no action on the water question at
their meeting yesterday afternoon This
morning o.Brien, Sheehan, McBean y
Rogers submitted the following to Mayor
Heos and the Street and Water Com
missioners for consideration
In regard to our proposal to you for
the Construction OF Jersey City Water
Works, we read in made py
the press of your city, mat the amw9llr
the Montvine plan is too large. which Is
an error made no DOUBT through rack q
knowledge eff the facts In the matter.
character of the work which we PROPOSE
TO render the Lower Montvllle pian, IL
will be found that our bid Is realty the
lowest. and the best one submitted
our plan is for d supply OF seventy mil
lion gallons daily. thereby 1nsurlng rhe
city water enough for its future use. Inc
proportional price fer I q ~ fddfy u malliG "a j gal-
er than any other bid Offering, water OF
equal excellence. and works OF the Same
substantial character. Il must pc ret
line will be in tunrel. lined with masonry
throughout. and a large amount OF ma
sorry conduit is also provided Tor IN me
plan accompanying our bid. and only
thirteen miles of the line will be OF steer
n is clear that the tunnel VIII be much
more permanent in character ana less ma ma
BILE to accident than steel pipe mes, aEd
1t will also be much cheaper 70 nialiluali
in coed condition. The one enormous res
ervoir at Lower Montville Will parlake
of the character OF a large natural laKe:
and offers opportunities for subsistence OF
the water ard It's publication such as are
afforded by no either plans before you, ex-
ceptfng our Raritan River plan:
The Improvement OF Water II sloia5e
nv tne obstruction of the injurious pac,
terra is now a well recognized fact, ana
with the ~pportuniti ssora af9I Ievels q Il will viii
alzravs go into your condriss perfectly
clear and pure. In this respect IT IS
greatly superior to plans when proposse e
Rockawaay. It is we'll known that at tunes
that stream is so subject 10 1resnets anu
will become muddy. and IN an uIlilt col-
dition to be taken into the eondulI il.es
until it has been thoroughly settled ana
purified by storage. None Of the of1lclais
or visitors who saw the reservoir at the
with its excellence. We consider thai the
water of the Rockaway should be held IN
storage before being delivered into your
nse To- secure this advantage. AS the
plant will consist OF a sinsie gIedl reSsi,
voir at the point of intake. and less lnan
twenty miles OF conduit me IN an, Wills &c
many as six storage reservoirs scattered
over a wide area, with Two or lhree
branch conduit lines and Amos douple
the dlIlUuill u n
our plan offers great advantages IN SIM
plicity of operation and low cost OF oper-
ating. If the greater depreciation OF lne
additional steel pipe lines ana the wages
of the line men needed to keep them IN
order, and of the large number OF gate
men and the repair gangs at the various
at Fairness, 1t will be seen that this
Lower Montville bid offers the cheapest
and best solution of the ,watef question;
1t is true that this plan does nor de-
liver water at High Service. but the same
is true of the most modern and substan-
tiai water works in his country. Il is
true Of the great water WofKs 9, Me se
ton for Boston. the works Of baltimore
and many others. These works all en-
body the thoughts OF the fof fs sss, en- n e
| them these engineers have had in mind
| the greater durability. OF works built at
a low grade and under moderate pres,
sure. They have realized that the cost OF
! pumping a small portion of the supply 10
High Service might easily pc very much
/ less than the care of maintenance OF
pip lines under high pressure. In Boston
it is proposed to pump every gallon of the
| enormous news supply, having a collection
! capacity Of 10 million gallons daily, but
| in your own city the greater part of the
water is used by drawing from the res
| ervoirs at Bergen, and only about one
| sixth of the supply is pumped to High
, whole system of water works under heavy
| pressure or to greatly limit the source
| from which a supply can he obtained ia
order that this small quantity of water
| may be delivered by gravity. 1t is sim
ply a question of spending a small amount
of money each year for pumping at your
| High Service station, or spending a much
larger amount in maintaining pipe lines
| and hiring gatemen and other iaborers
| thirty or forty miles away up in the hiiis
| of northern New Jersey. It must be
in mind when plan c was inserted in the
/ specifications. 1t is purely an engineer
ing questirhb. and we cannot believe that
| they will greatly differ from our concur
| sions as to the relative advantages Of this
low grade plan as compared with those
delivering water at 20 feet elevation.
We wish to protest against any direct
comparison of cost of a seventy million
gallon plant, with ONE delivery, but fifty
million gallons daily. The bids under
| plan. A should be- compared with each
either, we admit as to price, although, of
| course. there may be differences in the
merit of those plans, but amy bid under
plan E and plan G can fairly be compared
only with ether bids undo those plans.
Again the important question In COM
pairing prices under the seventy million
gallon nlan Is the cost OF the complete
work. Ut must have become evident TO
lyour Beard long ago that the time will
very shortly come when works of thirty
five million gallons compared will be in
sufficient. Tt is TRUE that your specified
five million gallon basis, the increase to
seventy million gallons capacity to be
made when ordered by you Board, but
This does not change the fact that the
ternained by the cost of the full seventy
million gallons daily capacity.
We also have no doubt that your city
has no serious intention to continue the
purchase Of water by the million gallons
The advantages of owning our owr
works and controlling an abundant sup
/ ply have become too apparent during
the discussion of this matter. Taking the
cost of the plant, therefore. we find the
Lower Montville plan Is 1856, 600 higher
than the only other 10 million gallon bic
which has been seriously considered. AZ
ference of 1874, 720 in interest.
We have made careful estimates of thf
difference in cost of operating and main
tanning the two plants and we are pre-
pared to show that our plant will offse'
this increased interest charge by q saving
of over 0,000 q year IN operating ex
our bid was made in compliance will
YOUR specifications almost four months
ago, and the one hundred thousand dol
! been in possession Of the treasurer of Jer-
sew City since that time.
In conclusion we desire to say that WI
are offered a large amount Of work. an
as our acceptance or rejection of 1t de.
ponds on the award. you make Of you
will make such an award on or before thu
18Th inst. and we respectfully ask tina.
you award the work to us.
Rsspsetf fully ye'lrs !
25s Broadway.
The letter was referred to the Com
mittee of the Whole.
Robert Davis returns to the city q