Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1903-07-10
Totals. ..................
STATE OF WISCONSIN

Totals. 49,. .......... 49, ....... ....s2ss1 81
WOOD COUNTY.
I, Edward 1. Philleo being first duly sworn,
on oath says that the above account is just, true
and unpaid, and justly chargeable to the city
of Grand Rapids and that neither the whole nor
any part thereof has been previously presented
| to and rejected by the common council of the
said city of Grand Rapids E. 1. PHILLEo.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this End
day of July 1908. M. G. GORDON,
Clerk.
On motion the bill of Louis Shan
mock was disallowed.
On motion the bill of M. Peterson
for cement walk was referred to
Alderman Bossert.
On motion the city engineer was
| instructed to report on the estimated
cost of digging the ditch north of
Cranberry street running through
Mrs. G.. II. Browns property to the
proper depth to carry off the water.
| On motion Alderman Schuman was
appointed a committee of one to
enforce the ordinance relative to the
obstruction of the streets and side
walks.
On motion Alderman Otto was
appointed committee of one to find
out if the Consolidated Water Power
& Paper company are going to crush
stone as reported some time ago.
John A. Gaynor's Report.
GRAND RAPIDS, WIS, June Is, 1903.
To the Common Council of the City
| Of Grand Rapids.
| GENTLEMEN:-O the suggestion of
your mayor, attended the meeting
of the Municipal League at Oshkosh
on the 18th and 18th of June
There were very many valuable
papers read, all of which will be pub
lished from time to time in the
"Municipality," copies of which you
will receive through that magazine.
L find in most of the cities of the
| state the people get their light, water
! and telephone services from private
corporations. That they have granted
franchises TO those corporations,
running for long periods of time, and
that they are generally complaining
of the poor service they get and the
high rates they are paying. They
seem to be standing hand-cuffed with
rope around their neckS, and the end
Of the rope held by a private corpora
ton. We can congratulate ourselves
most heartily that we are not in their
deplorable condition, for in many
instances these private corporations
seem to dominate and control the city
councils.
Of the many things that came up,
there were only two that impressed
me as being of concern to us. The
first was the city of Wausau's water
works. They have been getting their
water through liberation from the
river. An oxide of iron and the black
oxide of Manganese have formed on
The inside of the water pipes coat
ing of about one and quarter inches
thick. This coating is so hard that it
would have to be chiseled out. 1t has
reduced the capacity of their large
pipes one half, and the small pipes to
about a quarter of their original
capacity, and threatens to ultimately
destroy their water works. unless they
can find some means of disolving it.
Now, our water-pipes on the west
side of the river have been exposed of
this same kind of water, and un-
doubtedly this black oxide of
Manganese, which is probably an
element which exists in all waters
from the Wisconsin river, may have
coated our pipes on the west side. It
would be worth while to have our
engineer examine those pipes, and if
found to be coated, to keep in COM
munication with the engineer at
Wausau, and find what they may do
to remove it.
Prof. Turneaure claims that if they
had flushed their pipes as often as
once month this would not have
formed on them.
I find that some cities have laid
cement sidewalks close to growing
shade trees and have been bothered |
by having the walks broken by the |
swelling and growing of the adjacent |
roots. They say this can be avoided |
by leaving small circle in the cement |
around the tree at a sufficient dis
lance from it to prevent the growing
roots from interfering with it,
l am of the opinion that if you cant