Alaska sentinel., 1905-09-14
THE WATER WORKS QUESTION.
WRANGELL. Sept. 9. 1905.

WRANGELL, Sept. 9, 1905.
 ED. SENTINEL In your issue o1 Aug. Slst you advocate the granting of a iran chise to capitalists intending. to supply our town with water. Permit me to eX- press my views on the subject It seems to me that the granting of a franchise for the supplying of water works to any company, would be a mistake. believe the town should own and operate their own water plant, and 1 believe this can be done if due economy is carried out in the disbursement of public mon- ey. The demand for water for domestic purposes, is at present very limited; the larger consumers are privately supplied and the rest use well water. We don't use water for irrigation purposes nor street cleaning. Our sewers are not far enough advanced to require water for flushing, and where sewers have been built the natural flow of water from the hills has been sufficient to keep them clean. No doubt if good water was to be had in town, the demand would be considerably increased, providing the charges were reasonably cheap and in reach of all.
 The water works man who was here some days ago and over our water possi- bilitles, told me about as follows: It Is possible to fetch water to Nrangell in ample quanti 2 for S6,000. As you have no money, the company advancing the same would require at least twenty year franchise. The charges for fire plugs would have 10 be S2 per month per plug. To give the town proper fire protection would require at least p fire plugs, which would mean a monthly eX pense to the town of $50. Continue this for ten years. adding your interest, and the town would have paid the proposed original outlay $6,000, for fire protection alone, not counting the water rates paid by consuMcrs for domestic purposes, which no doubt would be triple, and may be four times that amount. It can readily be seen how valuable such a franchise would be to the capitalist. No doubt We need fire protection, and we need it badly; but can we afford to be paying such price? l guess not. We succeeded in saving enough money in two years to build and equip $4,000 school house. Why can We not save S6,000 in three years to put in water works? Respectfully,
 PETER c. JENSEN.
 The SENTINEL is pleased to see this question taken up and discus sed with such consideration by our mayor, as it shows him to be care ful, painstaking business man; and as the question of granting iran chise is a serious one. it should be carefully inquired into. The SEN TISEL would not for a moment con- sider the proposition of granting a perpetual franchise, nor for ten years, nor for any given number of years, but would so provide that at any time the town desired, it could purchase the plant al it's appraised value and paying a reasonable per cent. of interest on the money in- vested. We think MT. Jensen mis- taken on some of his statements. He says "the demand for water for domestic purposes is at present very limited; the larger consumers are privately supplied and the rest use well water" Those supplied privately get their water from Mr, Jensen's reservoir and the mill pond; and as this is all surface, contaminated with all the filth the soil is heir to, it is not a very in- viting beverage, as people general ly do not care to fill their systems with malaria. There is ONE well in town; the balance of the water for domestic purposes comes from the besmeared roofs of houses, and for fire purposes there is none when the tide is out. MT. Jensen wants 25 fire plugs. The town does not require the half of it. Ten plugs would furnish all the fire protection needed for years. That is the SENTINEL's idea; that is the reason we like to see the ques- tion discussed; and that's the req son we invite correspondence on the subject.