New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-09-13
DALTON IN THE PlLLORl COlo rlllAD'i'

v,-u,,or, dalton Tammany's Commissioner or
yyotor sunnlv was obliged to choose yesterday
between publicly declaring himself to be either
fool or q knave He selected the former ou' ~
is doubtful IL any man who heard him testify
before the Mazet Investigating Commit'ee Gun
cerning his share in the proposed Ramapo water
steal was deceived by the choice MI NioS''
counsel for the committee. examined MI Da''o"
roor,,. all dav taking UP one by one the terms
% tho Infamous contract which the Cohii'-
s,oror ~ Water Supply was willing to sauule
,,,o, tho citv and giving the witness every OPP
,or.ur,tv N chow some shadow OF business
reason for accepting such terms, but Dalton
,s not tbinlx I'D a single excuse that woulo
=, ,o.or sor q minute The real reason-pe-
oo,,so those terms mulcted the city outrageouS'S
without binding the company to anythi"e
.o,b,a no dare not avow so he took reluso
urdor tho cloak Of pretended ignorance OF their
real import.
CUT A SORRY FIGURE.
Dalton presented a sorry hgure u''uei '
nrobe At first he assumed denah' 'o"7 "''
declared that he was still In FAVOR Oh ''e P''
noeed contract aud would vote for II as Sooil do
# came m again before the Board OF fup''c III"
nrovements Before he got throus" "
ro1ifed his stand considerably, saying u''''
some better way Of procuring water TOT ''e ''''
is shown to me I still favor 'he r"''aP'
scheme" This conveyed strong l'"Pi
that Mr. Dalton Is preparing to crawl III iao'
,,a ,,o,rer toward the end Of his examination
was that Of a man looking -FOUR ways " -,
o.. so,,,e loophole of escape from an agitatlng
predcament NJ ,,oss
had shown some clause OF the cohtlaci ~ w
rronostorously Instantaneous to the city that
- - la ,ot invent even the most idiotic
/ -, Cor accounting IT, the witness asserted
! tu, = grin that modification Of that particular
| , y.ould be made before 1t passed 'he
t,oo.d but oven then with pig headed obstinacy
| which he evidently thought was consistency u"
would NOT admit that there were any naWs III
! the contract.
rU-NuLATING REBUFFS.
...,..,oss y,as humiliated by two cruel re-
buNe from sources where he might reasohaply
have expected support. The first came when ne
.~L. 20 load the committee to believe that
| 81. engineer Mr.. Brdsall. had advised him 10
! -. tho Ramapo Water Companys terms
~, rirdsa1I who was present. contradcted his
! chief oatly and at once. The second came
uber Mr. Moss, after having allowed Dalton to
! s,,out for q moment about the citys dire heed
! ~ more water. quoted to the witness from MS
! ov-n rnport on the Croton water supply during
the first quarter OF the present year Daitoh
! official statement that 6SO,Wooooo galIohs OF
! uater were daily running to waste over 'he
! Croton dam. To make the commissioner poai-
tion look even more silly, Mr.. Moss torced MN
! ~ admit that the two new reservoirs NOW III
! course of construction, will be conlple'eu III
! tbrea wears and will store this waste lhe N Noi
! reu dam reservoir alone holding "l'V"''oo'"o"
! Gallons At this Dalton grew red as oee''
| ,vhie even his friends smiled at MS sorry pre-
dicament. and the futility of putting cnu'ip'
| into office was clearly prouSH' " ~
! Tammany man present.
CROKER DID HOT APPEAR.
! :, r,os the first session Of the Mazet Commit
too eince August II last and the frequent an
| nouncements that the investigators lnlehueu ~
% 70 the very bottom of the Ramapo p'o', anu
the fact that such men as croker Adu'e' ""N'''
Frank H. Platt and butcher. as well as inc iie'''-
| hers Of the Board Of Public improvements n"'
| boor eubnnnaed. raised public interest 10
| Lirh ri,cb The hearing took place in Part IN
| - ,h cunrerne Court and began at III O'CLOCK
! Frank II Platt son OF Senator Platt' WAS ohc
! If the first witnesses to appear. lie was eA-
| cused until to-day Richard Croker ola io' ap
| near He got himself excused untll to-uas pS
! toIenhone Albert B. Boardman came III Win
mariner Mr.. Platt. and went away Win MN
! again Silas B. butcher. president ol the NAM
ano Company, did not stay long wnen lie ,IIss iouha
! no ,voud not be needed before to-day Snerll
| noLer of Queens County. was there Dut uid hot
bring Patrick J. Gleason with MN ne Sayo
! Mr Moss wants the ex-Mayor OF Lohs lsiahu
| hftenh n ms
| caodings Maurice +. Hoahan, president or the
! Roard OF Public Improvements Wa'cheu .lle
| nroceedings narrowly out OF his litte ciose-set
| eyes from beginning 10 emu riS 'Ui' VIZ '"0
| stand will come sooh'
HOFFMAN WANTS SENATOR PLAIT.
Commissioner Dalton was the first to SIT In
tho Witness chair. Before his examination coud
he begun Assembyman Hoffman. one or the
al,or,tt,eemen. all OF whom were present. made
q reouest that Senator Platt be subp@naed ana
Questioned about the water job Mr.. Mazet and
Mr. Moss assured him that all persons who
oo,ld throw any light on the subject would be
lid but MIR. Hoffman says he will make the
| sor,a reouest every day until subpoena has
! Leen served on the Senator. The first piece or
| information extracted from Daiton was that ne
| acquired the necessary experience TO Mt him for
! the important office of Commissioner of Water
! Sunplv while ne in the wholesale butcher
! business He proved his ability by telling the
! commissioners what he saw when he went up
state 10 examine the Ramapo Company's water
| shed Mr. Moss showed that Dalton had really
| been wandering around In the Ramapo River
! watershed The two many miles apart and
In no wav connected, but Dalton did not know
the difference. Dalton gave another convincing
| proof OF his fitness when asked whether the
| company was 10 deliver the water under three
| hundred foot pressure at the city limits or a
| three hundred foot pressure In the Esopus HIS.
He said he did not know.
There were many other vital things that Dat