The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1903-01-15
Water Commissioners Discover That
the City Is Being Systematically
Robbed of Profits.
COMMISSION POWERLESS TO ACT.
Many Connections Made to Service Mains
in Flat and Store Buildings for Which
No Pay Lis Being lReceived.

The members of the sWater sCom-
mission have discovered that for the
past six months systematic robbery
of the water department of the city
has been going on and heavy inroads
into the profits of the municipal sys-
tenn have been made by the most
fraudulent use of water by people who
have absolutely refused to pay the city
cent for the service given them.
The scheme adopted to secure this
water is such an ingenious one that the
commission is powerless to act and it
is impossible to stop the thefts of
water until after the first of next May.
In order to put an end to thisnuisance
the commission hasa sent out a notice
that on and after May /, 1908, all tene-
ment and fiat and store buildings in
which there is more than one consumer
of water will be placed on the meter
system and the owner of the building
will be forced to be responsible for the
payment of the water taxes for the
building.
Recently the City Engineer and
me n bers of the.commission went on
tour of investigation about the city
and they found that in many houses
and store buildings where more than
one family was living several connec-
tons had been made to the water
service mains and the people were all
using the water. Pay for the water
used was demanded of the people but
they refused. 1t was impossible for
the superintendent to order the water
shut off as one of they people lin the
house had paid for service main and
should the city shut off the water from
his consumption it would lay itself
liable for heavy suit for damages.
It was impossible to invade the prop
erty of the water thieves so that there
was nothing left to be done except to
place the burden of the paying for this
water on the owners of the building.
In many cases there is evidence that
the people in buildings deliberately
formed conspiracy to defraud the
city out of the water bills and after
the matter had been considered by the
tenants one service pipe was ordered
placed in the building and every ten
ant connected with it enjoyed the
luxury of city water without money
and without price. It is possible that
q criminal action against these parties
may be brought, but no action has as
yet been taken.
While these petty thefts of water in
themselves amount to very little in in
dividual cases, so many fraudulent
connections have been made that the
loss to the Water company in single
year will be considerable. It is note
worthy fact that several of the leading
property owners in the city were con-
ne :ted with the scheme to mulch the
city and it is impossible that these
false connections were made without
their knowledge if not with their con-
sent. Several leading business men
we're found to have these fraudulent
connections, but they absolutely re-
fused to make any settlement with the
Water company for the water used.
With the first of May this will be
made impossible by the new rule re-
quiring the owners of the buildings to
make good the water rents.