The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-09-21
OPPOSE PLAN TO
USE WELL WATER
Citizens Express Views at Meeting Of
Special Council Committee.
PLAN CALLED NO REMEDY
WOULD BE EXPENSIVE AND TOO
LONG DELAYED.

Taking into consideration the limited
attendance, "a truly remarkable flood of
words was produced at the meeting of
the city council special water commit
tee and the committee representing Sat
urday nights mass meeting at the Com
merciai club. From o'clock until
nearly II o'clock the talk continued
without cessation. and much of it ap-
peared TO be some distance from the
point. The citizens committee pre-
scented no definite plan or-request to the
council committee.
No definite action was taken until
about one minute before the meeting
ended, when a motion offered by Coun-
Gilman Wells was put and carried. IL
provides that the special water commit
tee shall ask Mayor Richard p. Morris
/ TO name five citizens TO cooperate with
the committee TO act on the proposition
TO pump water from the Liberty park
wells as an emergency measure.
The meeting was held Ostensibly TO
discuss the possibility Of carrying OUT
the resolutions adopted by the. Com
mercial club mass meeting, but the talk
rambled from the rights of man 10
what sulphuretted hydrogen indicates.
5. c. Ewing opened the talk as a rep
resentative of the citizens urging that
the well water was all right md should
! be utilized. DR.. c. f. Wilcox, city
health commissioner, in answer to Mr..
! Ewing's citation Of analyses by Her
man Harms, city chemist, and DR.. j.
T. Kingsbury, president of the Univer-
sity of Utah. said the question of the
purity of the wells could not be fully
answered by chemical tests. Statistics
prove that typhoid is unusually preva-
lent among users of water from flow
ing wells, he said.
Engineer Bacon Explains.
George NJ. Bacon of the city engineer
/ ing department explained the purpose
1 of the experiments being conducted in
/ Emigration canyon. Mr.. Bacon has
/ done this so often that the recital would
/ be purely mechanical in a man less
| earnest than he, but he patiently went
! over the whole affair more than once
/ last night courteously answering ques-
/ lions that have been answered in COM
mittee meetings and in the newspapers
/ many times during the past few weeks.
! George W. Meyer argued that money
/ was being spent on experiments in En-
/ igFatiOn canyon, but that apprOpria-
/ tons TO develop and utilize a known
supply in Liberty park We're refused.
Mr.. Meyer received much attention
I during the rest of the evening. Coun-
| Gilman Wells first answered him by
saying that an ample supply would be
on hand next year and that as the only
issue at present was contained in the
! proposition of securing temporary re-
/ lief the council would not approve any
plan without being convinced that it
was a feasible one and could be carried
out at moderate cost in time to secure
the needed relief.
Mr. Meyer said the citizens commit
tee was in the attitude of an attorney
who was trying a case before a judge
whom he knew was against him, and
would decide against him. He said he
knew the committee vas opposed to
utilizing the wells.
Views Of Citizens.
Upon invitation of Chairman F. ].
/ Hewlett, John Dern, j. D. Wood and
Colonel Z. A. Wall expressed their
views. Mr.. DeTn spoke first and said
that while he had voted against the
water bonds, believing the city should
own its water supply outright he hoped
the plan would work out all right. He
said he was opposed to any plan 10
attempt TO install a pumping plant al
/ once, as was suggested by Mr. Ewing.
Mr.. Dern said a suitable plant could
not be installed in less than thirty days
and by that time the emergency for
J this year would be past and the in
/ creased water supply next year would
be available before any shortage would
be felt Colonel Wall and Mr. Wood
took the same view. Colonel Wall ad-
vOcated driving a tunnel with a cross
/ cut as part of the development work in
Emigration canyon.
Mr. Wood said he had signed the call
/ for the mass meeting upon telephone
! request but had not attended the meet
| ing because of illness. He said he
/ signed the call because he was anxious
| TO hear all sides of the matter. Mr..
/ Wood EXPRESSED himself as strongly
/ opposed to installing pumping plant
| at this time for the reasons given by
( Mr. Dern and Colonel Wall that il
! would be too late 10 do any good.
/ He urged that the council give much
/ thought to devising plans TO utilize the
canal water permanently for sprinklins
and irrigating lawns.
Doremus Takes Same Stand.
4. f. Doreuus was the last speaker
! of the evening. He beg9L by regret
| ting that the advocates of the pump
/ ing plant had no plan to suggest for
/ utilizing the wells. lie said the prop
( osition would have been much simpli-
Z fed If il were known just what the cit
/ liens committee wanted. He viewed
/ the proposition just as MessTs. Dern.
Wood and Wall. and endorsed what
/ they said. He said he believed il was
1 too late to talk about getting plant in
! operation i'm time 10 do any good this
/ year, and favored dropping ali side is
! sues and concentrating on the Big Cot
! tonwood project.
J Almost all the members of the coun-
/ ell were present and spoke a few words
: from time 10 time. but the bulk Of the
/ evening was given To the members Of
/ the citizens committee and other in
! terested citizens who were present.
Other Committee Work.
The sprinkling committee decided to
/ recommend that the drivers of the
! sprinkling carts be allowed half pay for
/ the days on which they reported for
/ duty and were not sent out The
amount Of their pay under this arrange
ment will be about S1.S00.
The streets committee viii recon-
mend an appropriation of $4,000 TO de-
4 fray partially the cost Of changing the
/ North Temple street aqueduct from
| wood to rock and cement. The flume
! extends from Fifth West street TO
! Ninth West street. The entire cost of
] - fa cd a.