New-York tribune., 1899-06-09
GREAT WASTE OF WATER.
ouIJONS OF GALLONS LOST EVERY
YEAR
..crs BROUGHT OUT BEFORE THE MAzET
ooMM1TTEE = DIsTRIcT-ATToRNEY
GARDINER sUBPENAED TO
APPEAR TO-DAY.
APPEAR TO-DAY.

APPEAR TO-DAY.
r,s Mazet committee devoted itself yester-
continuing the investigation OF the Water
'N 20, rax departments. Although the days testi-
s"O .. mainly of a technical character. and
ino o,,oeether Of the nveiness that has
oe,. sonne of the recent sessions. more in
'.o. were brought out by Mr.. Moss or the
,,or and lax methods upon which the gov
Fort NJ the city Is conducted. Proceeding
"a. h,s inquiry into the Water Department..
,o.s called as the first witness In the morn
- Ionn F. Mckay. first assistant engineer OF
~ e porortn,ent Like his chief. Mr.. Birosali'
,,,ress advocated that water meters
"a no nlaced in the five hundreo tnousahu
" - dwellings in this city. The reason ad-
.,oad for putting the house owners 10 an eH-
- ~ 80 TO 81 each. the cost or the meters
- ,ha, waste of water would De avoioeo'
81 vcKav estimated that water was useo III
s. work al the rate of about hundred sai
- da,,v for each inhaoitant' Whiie aoihi''eu-
3, s,ch a vast quantity is unnecessary 'he wa"
~ SUI With Mr.. Birdsap that there were
IN oOO 600 900 gallons Of water running 10 "as"
wv - asr every year. The point which Mr..
Moss brought out was that "hiie ooiipene
-.t nortv owners to equip their houses with
a.. ,ropld make a great deal of money out OF
nm - ond the burden would have to be
- nv the citizens The evidence adduced
'0 r,,.s,asdov would seem to point to the
,notv Arm which would benefit py sueh an
iu.A' o &C Messrs Birdsan and Mckay are
urging. 49,. o,,,,
The two companies now suppiy"s u'e wy
--,,. most of Its meters are the Thompson and
the National. The last named company eoA-
s,r,c,s two kinds Of meters. One of these Is
go r.sood ono and another. the Nash meter.
which costs about the same as the Thompson
,-oa,c, The Nash meter. however has been
s,r,o.er from the city's list. giving the Thomp-
go, rroct,caIlv a monopoly. Mr.. Mckay readiiy
admitted that he had a son in the thompson
-....on,, ana moreover that he was interested
with Joseph w. Kay. the treasurer Oh 'ie ooii'-
many. In some business enterprises
MR. BONNER'S ASSERTIONS SUPPORTED
The contention of Hugh Bonner. ex-Chief OF
the Fire Department. that New-York Is tar oe-
hind the time IN its type OF Migrants was sup
ported Yesterday by Alonzo S. Gear, VINO was d.
one time general superintendent OF the water
,oenartnent Yards. The hydrart now III USE
he said was substantially the same as the oio
Matthews hydrant invented forty years aso'
He pointed out the disadvantages or thls oiu-
,,r,a nattern among them being the small water
NAV making them adaptable only for the small
mains which sufficed for supply purposes "H'N
they were invented. Further, they were coi-
stantly leaking and had a tendency 10 iFee|e'
Involving danger thereby in case or nre' MI
Gear also declared that the method fouo"eo DS
the Department in tapping water mains was
antiquated and had long ago been aiscatueo
Inv other cities In New-York when main was
tanned a brass filling was hammered In, where
az tanning machine should be used Ere
ouently the brass filling came out causing
waste OF water. The witness as
serted also. that Mr.. Birdsall continued employ
ing water gates which were anteoiiuVian ia
style and in consequence often leaked
Referring TO memoranda which he had. te
witness pointed out two instances OF olscrepah-
cies on the Departments pay roll for 'he
weeks ending February l and 3 he ceruheo 10
q certain laborer's wages being respectively
SIS Ib and S14 70; but the pay roll IN each III
stance had been increased to SO Mr.. Gear saio
II was generally understood in the department
that the Thompson meter was favored because
yorne Mr. Mckay was connected with the com
pany.
VIOLATED IN LETTER AND sPlRII.
From Tax Commissioner Edward G. Sheehy
,be committee learned that the spirit and letter
Of the charter were almost constantly oeine
violated bv the Tax Department by sending as
fessors from Manhattan to value property IN
otber horouqhs The charter demands that
preference shall be given in the appointment oi
IDENTITIES for a borough to men living in that
borough. This stipulation the Tammany ad-
ignores.
When Mr. sheehy left the stand Mr. MOSS se.
mn once more 70 exploit what he has termed
the awful and terrible personal Judgment upon
which the deputies make their valuations. IL
las been shown that no method or system gov
,rns the basis upon which the assessments are
made. Valuations are placed upon properties
merely according to the Judgment OF the Dep
lties as to what those properties are worth.
Such an arbitrary practice, President Feitner
himself has confessed. often leads to injustice.
and is unsatisfactory AS Mr. Moss made clear
unfair and ineQuitable assessments
must be inevitable when left to the Judgment
of deputies with qualifications such pos
sessed by Daniel Engelhardt and James f.
Moore who are assigned to value two OF the
mcst important tax districts OF the city. Engel-
hardt said that before being appointed q deputy
he had been out OF work for three years and
ten years prior TO that ne had been a Mayors
The only qualification he could think
Of that fitted him to value property was that he
talked 10 real estate men in saloon" which ne
freQuented. All that he considered necessary In
fixing assessments was to go and look at house
rom the outside Engelhardt made the remark
able statement that in the exercise Of his judg-
ntnt he had increased the assessments I'm his
section S1.00000O last year; but after talking
With the deputies Of the districts adjoining his.
ne had calmly wiped out the increase in order to
.Qualize things
Mr. Moore. who next took the stand. has the
Waldorf Astoria m his district He admitted
hat men OF f1rst-class ability should be required
o value property of that magnitude. The wit
less inferred that, as he had been clerk in the
Tax Department for ten years. he was entitled
o look upon himself assessor Of frst-class
Lbility.