Waterbury Democrat., 1902-06-10
TIE C|TY'S HANDS TED UP
Platt Bros Button Co Takes Out
 An Injunction.

The Company Asks That the City Be Prevented from Shutting Off Water
 in Its Standpipes-The Platt Bros Refuse to Pay Rental for the Stand pipes, Claiming That it is Illegal The Company Has Heretofore Paid This Tax Without Murmur.
 An injunction was granted to-day by Judge Cowell i'll the district court to colonel Burpee, representing the Platt Bros, button manufacturers on Brown street. The injunction enjoins May or kilduff. the board of public works and Superintendent J. F. O'Brien of the water department from shutting oH the water from the standpipes ill 1 the plaintiffs factories on Brown street, and all are enjoined to appear before the said court on the first Tues day ill September and there show cause why the water should be shut off as stated. A penalty of S5.OOO is asked, to be imposed upon the above named 1T they or any of them shuts or the water. The papers were served by Constable Carmody this forenoon.
 The Platt Bros claim that water is indispensable in their business and that to shut it off would work them grevious injury. They further claim that they have complied with all the requirements of the city regarding payments for the use of water; that to shut it off would subject the fac tories to great danger by fire; that the city has unjustly added an additional charge of $1050 for the use of the wa ter and that it threatens to shut off the water unless the same is immedi- ately paid. In a word, the plaintiff claims that the water supply threat. ened runs through its standpipes es- tabllshed throughout the factory for its protection from fire and to shut off the water would therefore be a men, ace; that the city is blind to it's own benefits in the premises, for the de- struction of a factory would mean. serious loss.
 The sum and substance of the above IS that the additional charge is illegal. and that all the property owners who were burned out last February intend putting in standpipes in their new buildings and object to it.
 The amount of the bill is a little over $1O for 261 automatic heads The price used to be $10 q hundred. but some time ago it was cut in halves. The Platt Bros signed contract nine or ten years ago to pay such rates as should be fixed by the water board, and the company came down with the rsiO oh I, All the other factories and stores aDout town have paid the tax as us- ual. For some reason which no one can explain there is a growing dispo- sition on the part of water consumers to refuse to pay for it. This is the last day allowed for the settlement of such claims before the water shall be shut off and yet about fifty persons who owe bills have not called upon the collector. About $150,OOO was spent on the water system in order to get high pressure which would enable owners of factories and other large buildings to take advantage of the re- duction in insurance rates offered where property is supplied with two means of extinguishing fire At that time everybody thought that nobody
 
 would ever think of refusing to pay for the service, but it seems those who thought so missed their guess. The allegations in the complaint imply that this is new charge There must be some mistake about this. The company has been paying a similar bill every year since 1878 when it signed contract to pay schedule water rates. The Platt Bros are not the only people that claim they should not pay anything for standpipes because the water standing in them is not used except in case of fire. Many claim it would be- a good way out of the snarl to put meters on the standpipes and make regular charges for meters but add nothing for the water except in case of fire. To some people this proposition seems about as nOnsensical as the firm that wanted to employ watchman with the under standing that he should receive no compensation unless on occasions when burglar might visit the prem ises.
 FREIGaI CARS DETAILED.