The sun., 1900-11-22
AGAINST DRIVEN WELLS.
SfTp Hfsf ptb ron IA>Ds NrkED
DR, ~ bROOhi,> SSTyH
ph,' tour, ~ Appeal. Decision Ma, 'pt ,hs
poroushs water suppi, In Two and Ccs'
the tu, wiilto,. The sptina tt.eh rump.
Ing station usy Have ,o lie Abandoned

The court " Appeals hn- met rendered n
decision which may sctiuu.N oftpp.c the water
system II the nofuusli of Hruuklyu While tho
drrlsun only aWHtds t6,V' difuuscS o. lieuia.
min = turhcll farmer. and gfnut- I"tt"' nal
irJuuoIion restraining NJ" ci'y from operating
tlr driven wells at the Srrins creek pumping
station. II involves ~" entire water supply
.,.trm ~ Btooklyr. ard a." hkchhood l. that
the city will h" callrduion shortly To mHk"sood
dtmagrs Hggrogating fl,5'n,u0 hundred
similar suits are ending aRrins' ~" city. but
they have been held back until ~" Court ot
kppraI- d"cided ~" rorh"ll ease which was IN
reality lost ct-".
Farmer Forhol owned farming lands ad-
iaccr' 10 spring tr,'k and raised celery and
water or,sse- which reuuir" y lsrg" amount
" water he alleged th1t ia" winter supply
-vsio'n drained al the springs, streams and
creeks ndipccnt w hi farm and that. ~ re-
suit his farm land b"cnme Useless for the
growth of celery and water cres-c- and that he
suffered pccllnllry damages Farmer Fothell
brought forward many witnesses and som"
NJ the engineers employed hv the Water De
parlmeut were COMPELLED to testify that the
pumping station -icked its water from all
the lands within n radius 81 at least FIVE miles
Supreme Court Justice Nllmot VI. Smith
decided in favor Of Forbe and awarded him
5000 damages Tn. city carried the case
to tho Appellate Division which reversed the
verdict Mr Forbcl then carried the case
to the Court Of Appeals. which sistains Justice
Smiths decision.
Assistant Corporation Counsel Carr. who
had charge Of the casc. said Yesterday;
have fought II with all the energy | hah and
I am d,5appolnted We have already more
than lW cases. pending this decision and
now there will he five times ne many more.
furr1pr within miles OF "A driven well
will sua the city and we can get
away from the fact TINT many Of them
interest in this and they will stand together.
when they could summon into court our own
engineer and have them testify that W" ,nrkGd
we eyprct3 II isn't the farmers alone who will
brng suits, but every clam digger and ti,her-
man and oyster man from mere 10 Massaieaua
We must face the meaning Of this decision nov.
aud that meaning is all too clear IL mean, means
of Brooklyn must make up their minds 70 do
something big and do II quick, don't know
doomed TO be exact. Brooklyn gets 40 per
cent of its annual water supply from the driven
wells. Take away this supply and where are
Wey The situation doens't need much comment.
18th. first step will probably DE the condemna-
ton Of the property Of this man ForbeI. hut
what are we to condemn, his whole property
his land. where does that lead' Shall we con-
denim and purchase all the land in the water
supply. is'em' - 49,. -. A.. 49,. 1850
tMei thsIutti ,Hn nuieh s ui t,e va. mae, pd sup
stop all our driven wells and that would render
the system w9rthIess as suppiy ~ II, ,biFuohdyn.
III they would lrt US go into nunoih touI.y
We would pr0papy eet ehouSn roi, tne siaVty
supply 10 MI the pIace 0i tne uIlssh Ne!s.
lhs decision looks 70 M ihe sne iI.oes etohs
blow whiCh coulo poSs'oy pe s"ucn a' VIC
Eldgewood system
The decision sSid Englneer De Narona,
practically warns Gen on me EIaIln aIld ma
new water supply "here 'h"' VIII oe iouno
can say , ,..u ,, -u,.
Chief Engineer Bird1all said What We
feared has happened we 'eareu ~, because
We had rractically the same experience IN the
Croton she'd years ago. we I'an damages
year 10y year. ana ilhhny o'a iut1 a u % Wouia Pe
better 70 own the lhilu- IeIuIcu 70 piu'Nt the
city. In 1893 we were IN very nlch the same
conoition IN the troton as we now are IN the
Brooklyn eieu bul no" W. are out oi uat