The Jersey City news., 1906-08-06

4 4
the correction or amelioration of con
ditions which have long appealed to th'
public and yourselves. Men engaged b.
the day are now paid only when servic,
is actually rendered. Construct on il
now separate from maintenance so tha
at the end of given period it can b.
told how much we have added TO tn,
capital value ef our plant and how mucl
maintenance costs US.
The question of removingsuppi from
pipe yard, when they are unsatisfactory
ly protected, to the Wayne Street stable
| which affords better facilities, was taken
up, but its settlement has been held in
abeyanee until it is definitely known
| whether the stable is to be utilized fol
other municipal purposes.
The correction of arrearages of water
| rentals, at my direction, now being pro-
| ceeded with, and it is expected that by
| November first, prox., they will have
practically ceased to exist
f The free use of water by the schools
and charities, cts, and our inability 10
more than guess as TO the volume Sc
consumed, has also been taken up,
though conclusion has not yet been reach
ed. The legality of this gratuity is ques-
tionable, and | have indited circular
letter to be sent to the various benefi-
ciafies, requesting that pending a settle
ment of our legal ability to furnish water
/ WtlHpui COST, meter snail De lLSIalpu
Z, at their expense, whereby we can at
| least know the quantity we give away.
If it is subsequently ascertained that we
/ are doing something without warrant of
law, the cost of water installation should
| be made good to the consumer.
| The investigation of the supplying of
| water through meter to our large consum-
CTS, and heretofore referred to, produced
| such startling results and was of such
| Importance, that to the partial exclusion
| of many other matters, much fine was,
| and is, being devoted to the snbject
1t will be remembered that during the
| past eighteen months. The department
| has, at cost of more than one hundren
and twenty-seven thousand dollars (S12T,-
0o0) been engaged in laying two new
1 water mann systems one for increasing
| the supply and pressure in the upper
Hudson City section, which system is
now completed and in use; the other for
same purpose to benefit the lower city
and Lafayette section, which is expected
| to be completed and in use within cou-
| PIE of weeks. The cost of these two sys
| tens being borne, not by Water Account,
| but beng paid for out of fund provided
/ hy general bond isue and the actual
work being done by contract outside of
| the department, it was reasonable 10
| expect that our own force had been.
| meanwhile, engaged in laying tna+ lesser
quantity of pipe required to keep pace
| With our natural requirements, and while
| the pay rolls during the period noted will
| indicate a very substantial expenditure
sufficiently substantial to warrant belief
| that the necessities of service had been
provided for, it would now appear that
such belief was not well founded
/ 1t was likewise reasonable to expect
| that, anticipating the completion Of the
two main systems heretofore noted, pro-
per care would have been taken to pro
vide against that waste which such com
| pletion foreshadowed This has not been
| done
1t Is confidently predicted that
| when water is turned into the so-called
| Newark Avenue main system. our CON
sumption will indicate an immediate in
crease of three to five million gallons
| daiy' for which We will have to pay (if
| the Water Company's insistment is
maintained by the Courts thirty-five dol
lars tS3ol per million, or a total of from
one hundred and five dollars (S1O5) to
| one hundred and seventy-five ($175) per
day III excess of what we are now charg-
| ed with while the return to the city
| would be perhaps but ten 40 per cent?
| OF the amount where waste now ex sfs
| there would be increased waste by reason
OF the increased pressure nor s this all,
our daily output would aggregate rather
more than forty million gallons. which is
| n 1t only tremendous and almost anpar-
alleled per capita consumption, but repr..-
sents more than four-fifths of the entire
capacity of our new works
| with the object of at least partial
| correction of water waste, | have direct
| ed that house to house canvass be
made OF the entire city, in order to de-
| tect leaky service pipes and fixtures. and
have them repaired and kept in order by
| the owner, with the alternative of shut
| ting eff the supply.
| This action will result in the continual
| engagement OF some employees whose ser
vices would have, otherwise, been sllper-
| huous. but even the initial and dire t
money-saving to the department should,
| at LEAST treble the cost of inspection.
Ii retrenchment is necessary. if econo-
mics are required (and the language of
| the resolution designat ting me as Execu-
! tive Head of this department either
| means that or it means nothing) then |
| would tail in my duty to yOu, and like
wise in the duty which I owe to the pub
| iic and to myself if / neglected to direct
your attention to the necessity for q
curtaiiment in the number of employees
now indicated on the various pay-rolls
II the department. / can but suggest
| It IS Tor you to give those suggestions
That vitality which will emphasize them
| ina thus assure me that the respons bill
ty which, without my solicitation, Won
nave vested in me. is a responsibility moi
shifted. but shared
l would first suggest that all pipe Law
ing be done by contract. 1t can be done
much more eXpeditiously, and Mt a dis
tihct saving. | am further prepared tS
now indicate TO you what reductions can
III my Judgment, be made in the various
pay-rolhs of the department at the pres
ent TIME and in the near future, whereby
can be saved to the department annually
between twenty and twenty-five thou
sand dollars
In rendering account of my steward
snip, | have refrained from recount;ns
the many obstacles which have injected
themselves to retard progress, and Tho
petty annoyanees which had to be Du
rs de- -
The past month has been one of hard
earnest and consc 'entiGus work to brin.
about a better condition Of things, i,
the doing OF which no thought has beer
given to self. No question of politics no,
personal feeling has been permitted +,
nave weight in arriving at decisions.
| AS to the general result, while pro<res
| mas undoubtedly been made it's measur,
> nor satisfactory to me, nor car I b.
satiShed until as the result of the find
| shgs, correetlves are instituted and til.
resultant benefit begins to make itsel
apparent
There ex xsts. at least, one other cans
OF satisfaction with me- namely. tha
s4ice the first day of May, part of M
salary has been paid out of water nc
count. 1t was so ordered nv Won nrio
l tc my VI usr 1,aaIo f-S