The age-herald., 1898-02-20
WATER COMPANY
 HAD AN INNING Before the Investigating Committee Ol
 the City Council. ATTORNEY LONDON AT BAT He Made Several Vicious LunseS at Tan
 ner'S Puzzlins Curves. RIGHT OF THE CITY QUESTIONED To Abrogate the Franchise Claimed the Com pany Had Lived Up to Its Contract-The
 Meeting Adjourned Over Mardi
 Gras Celebration.
RIGHT OF THE CITY QUESTIONED

l works company, argued his side of the case | before the water Investigation committee l of the city council yesterday afternoon.
 Aldermen Kerr, Drennen, Mcknight and
 Meighan were present.
 | MT. London took up tue questions of l rates, pressure and the alleged violations | of the contract and handled each in man.
 ner most satisfactory to the water com | pany. He questioned the authority of the l committee or the city council to rescind the water company's franchise and said the matter could only be settled by the courts. | He contended that the city, being party to the contract, had no right to sit in judg- l ment and say that the water company had l broken faith.
 l In opening MT. London thanked the com | mittee for their indulgences and the pa- l tience which they had shown throughout l the hearing. He gave a history of the wa | ter company since it's inception, the amount | of money invested and the improvements l which had been made The dividends TOT l eleven years, he said, had been less than l 3 per cent. per annum and the advancement l of this community Is of as much importance l to the water company as 1t is to any prl- | vate citizens, as only on the growth or the l city depends the company's chances for ob- l taining returns for the money invested. It's facilities for furnishing water is now three times as great as they were in 1888, when the contract was made. | City Party to Contract "The water company said MT. London, l "does not recognize the power of this com mittee or of the city council to cancel their contract The city is a party to the con- l tract and it is absurd that one party to | contract should sit in Judgment on the l merits of another"
 MT London quoted from the case of the l city of Mobile against the water works in l 112th Alabama
 .eThe contract provides," continued MT. l London that it remain in force thirty 1 years. He asked to be shown the authority l under the city charter to abrogate the con- | tract Judge Coleman decided in the Smith | case that the water company had no right l to charge for water at greater rates than l those laid down in the contract. The right 1 to make special rates with large consumers l is conferred on the water company by the | legislature and cannot be prohibited by the | city council. A contract may be implied | or expressed.
 l of man rents a house for a year at l s1OO a month and at the expiration of that l year he continues to reside therein and says nothing concerning a reduction of the | rent he is bound by law to pay $100 a month 1 rent. If man voluntarily pays an excess l for water rates and makes no kick, al- 1 though he may be entitled to smaller rates, 1 he is bound by law to pay as he had been l accustomed to pay.'
 MT. London quoted from the Crosby case l in 10Sth Alabama.
 l Tanners Proposition Boiled Down | Mir London said MT Tanners proposi- l tons, boiled down, amounted to this: You l must put meters in business houses; you | must not put meters in dwelling houses | He said he considered neither proposition
 sound, and that the Smith case had de- l cided both propositions against MT. Tan l ner The water company puts meters in l business houses whenever they are re- | quested. person or corporation can- | not refuse to do thing until after re- | quest is made
 1 MT. London said he hardly thought it necessary to take up the quality of the l water furnished. The majority of the | committee had rendered favorable re- | port on it. Ut is true that Mims Stone
 said it was not good drinking water" said | MT. London, "but he admitted that he l was engaged in selling filters, and of course water that didn't go through one l of Mims Stones filters was unfit to drink" | Water doesn't have to be distilled to be | called good and clear. The water fur nished by the water company sometimes l was cloudy but since the new reservoir
 was built it is not muddy near as often | as formerly. For nine years the city ac- l cepted it as good and considered the com- | pany living up to its contract. Few men l in this city drink filtered water. "Sometimes," said MT. London, 'I have | filtered water on my dinner table, but | simply for the reason that it looks prettier | in the glass;"
 "What kind do you use in your whis- key?" asked Col. Denson. "Plain water right from the hydrant," l replied MT. London.
 | The Question of Pressure Taking up the question of pressure, Mr. | London said he thought that all the tes- timony showed that the regulations in the | contract relative to pressure had been more | than compiled with.
 l MT. Merriwether, one of the water com
 pany's inspectors, testified that the pres | sure ranged from S7 to no pounds. Be- cause fire plug connected with 3-inch
 main with both nozzes running failed to l throw water any distance, is no reason for
 abrogating the contract. The plug belongs | to the city, and they are at liberty to | move it any time they desire The water company is now furnishing | the city with twice as much water as 1t l contracted to do. The contract called for
 no specific pressure, but only required | certain static head. This had been fur | nished. The pressure regulator, which | had occasioned so much talk, was put in
 under a resolution by the city council. It l remained there with their consent and was
 taken out immediately when they said so. "Mr. Tanner made the statement" said l Mr. London, "that some one would come along and get 0 franchise for new water l works, as I ard my associates got fran
 chise for new gas works. I will say for
 his information that some time ago a 1 franchise for a new water company was | granted and two years license issued, but as yet not drop of the water has ap-
 peared, nor are there any prospects for any"
 'Is that going to be the way of your l gas works?" asked MT. Tanner.
 l Mot much" replied MT. London. l At the conclusion of MT. London's speech l the committee adjourned to meet again l Wednesday afternoon at 2:30.