The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-26
DALTON KILLS RAMAP0 JOB.
WATER CoMYINSIONER'S OWN FIG
UEES GIFE IT AWAY.

Of His Advocacy III NHo i'poH'"
asoo 600 600 Grab butcher to Coler.
What Comptroller Coler and his associates
IN the tight against the proposed contract be-
tween the city and the Ramapo water Com
many eon1idcr as a practical admission by
w.tar Commissioner Dalton that in his spec
V.I renor, 10 the Board OF Public improvements
nm Avg. 18 he grossly exaggerated the neces-
Aitv NJ additional water supply in Manhattan
md tho Bronx was furnished In theC'V Record
bf yesterday. In n report on tho water Supply
Alienation for the quarter ending on March 81.
Thia rep0rt is sigued nv Mr.. Dalton. Follow
ing the custom " Tnmmany department
heads. Mr. Dalton's report is printed nearly
nve months late hut the Comptroller and his
friends regard ia pubil'a'ioh az '' ''iiio "' Vi
great value 70 them.
Mr. dalton rerurtg that the rainfall In the
Crcton Bropx and Byram watersheds during
,be tbre. months covered by the report was 40
great TINT all the reservoirs were filled to high
water mark The needs Of the city were sup
r,i.d and IL $4,000 gallons ran to waste.
The report continues.
This shows recurrence OIL usual waste
In the winter season. when consumers let the
water run from faucets continuously. TO pre-
yant freeing in their scrvce pipes. During
the eytremo cold weather IN February the con-
SUMPTION aud waste reached tho maximum OF
2S5 UOO 600 gallons PER day.
'Suryeys arc In progress and maps and plans
are being prepared hy the engineer force for
thcconurncton Of an additional storage reser-
voIr on the Cross River. nm nilluent ~ the
Croton and for another reservoir in the water
sheds II the Rrorx and Byram rivers
"Thc normal conduit capacity for tho daily
surr'v Of tho loruuEha q. Manhattan and the
Bronx is. New aqueduct, @oO,OOOOOO gallons;
o,daoueIuct, SO.OJO.OOJ gallons he bronx and
1,jta Gallons Dtal I0n-
600 900 ga l.ous. All that is necessary 20 assure
thIs surrly at all seasons is the construction OF
etorara reservoirs TO retain the surplus in wet
geasons in sufficient quantity to lido over the
longest and scverest drought which may
occur"
In his sroca report of AnG. 10 Mr.. Dalton
drew different picture. and showed that
vastly greater supply of water was needed in
Manhattan and the Bronx than could be OBJ
tanned from the present watersheds 1t
seems TO me-" said Comptroller Coer yester-
day, that Mr., DaItons report for the first
quarter Of tho year is as good for my purposes
as though it had been prepared by the en-
pineers o. tho Finance Department. My en-
cineers have found the same facts that are
act forth by Mr.. Dalton
CORPORATION Counsel John Whaen said yes
terday that what he had done to the draft Of
the proposed contract, when 1t was submitted
TO him for approval as to form. was to
change the wording 30 that Instead Of con-
tracing to buy 2OO.OOO.OOO gallons or water a
day from the company. the city could take only
as much az it needed and would pay for only
what it took. Asrevised by MIR. Whalen. the
contract gave to the city an option on 2OOOOO.-
900 gallons n day. but did not bind it to buy a
drop Mr.. Nhalen said yesterday that he made
the change for the protection of the city. The
other provisions Of the draft Of the contract no
did not touch. believing that the price to be
bald for the water and the term Of the contract
were matters to he settled in the Board OF Pub
lie Improvements.
Anewspaper charged yesterday that Whalcn
had been associated with William C. Trull. OF
counsel to the Ramapo Company. and that Mr..
Trull's name appeared with that of Mr. Whalen
On the doors OF his former Office in down.
town building. Mr. Whalen's friends said yes
terday that no never was associated with Mr..
Frull. and that the presence OF their names on
che same ofice door was explained by the fact
that Mr.. Whalen. on becoming counsel to the
corporation left his name on his Office door.
and that Mr.. Trul. who moved in attcrward.
never removed it.
President Silas B. butcher OF the Ramapo
Company has sent to the Comptroller reply
to Mr.. Coer's letter asking for Information
concerning the company In his reply Mr..
butcher says
THE offer made by the company Is based
upon the demand of more than twelve hundred
property owners and taxpayers Of this city
representing hundreds of millions Of dollars Of
property values whose signatures are attached
to the petitions embodied in the mem
orial OF the Board Of Fire Under
writer's presented to the Board of Public I'm
provements on june Il. 1888. These men
asked the city to provide q supply Of water
hryT itu .l..T N 20
make pumping unnecessary. rs a protection
against fire and for sanitary uses. They said
that the increase in real estate values which
the Real Estate Exchange Of brooklyn de-
carcd would be at least % per cent }
that would result from an abundant supply OF
water 10y gravity, and the saving in tho cost OF
pumping. and in insurance, because OF the
greater security against fire. would amount to
very much more than such water supply
would cost.
In 1888 Cornelius y. Bliss. John Clahln.
William l.. Strong. Charles S. Smith. William
+. Tett, Jacob Wendell! and others. as n COM
mittee representing several hundred banks,
bankers. merchants and other business men
and property owners. in cooperation with the
the Board OF Fire Underwriters. petitoned for
and secured the enactment by the Legislature
OF a law permitting the Commissioners OF the
Sinking Fund Of Now York city to contract
with a private company FOR a supply OF water
by gravity at pressure due to an elevation OF
three hundred feet above tide. +~T When tn q
law was passed the gentlemen above named
urged the Commissioners Of the Sinking Fund
to take the necessary steps to secure such q
water supply; and property owners and in.
Surance men have not ceased since then to de-
hand that such a supply should be provided
for.
The RamApo Water Company was organ
ICED to enable the city to obtain such wate
supply without increasing its burden OF debt
The necessity that provision shall b'
made at once for an increased water supply il
shown by the official reports and has been fully
realized by the public during the recent dr.,
season. The water pressure in New
York. as shown by the Board OF Fire Under
writer's, is lower than in any other large cit,
In the United States: il Is the LONGEST on lis
OF three hundred cities. towns and villages
and the quantity used in New York per capit
is less than It is In Philadelphia Chicago Gin
cinnati. Detroit, Pittsburg, Richmond. Albany
Bridgeport. Portland and other cities A
shown by the official reports, tho consumption
OF water in Brooklyn already exceeds the DIR