New-York tribune., 1906-06-06
GETTING CITY WATER.
CORD MEYER ADMITS 1T.
Com pany GiUing as Much as 1t
Receives, He Says.

| Cord Meyer president of the Citizens Water
| Company Of Queens. which company is charged
by Commissioner Ellison with profting the
extent of at least S1v day by water flowing
| from the city's mains into the mains of the Cit-
gems company at Stanhope street and st. Mich
| olas avenue. Brooklyn. met Commissioner Eli
! son and other officials of the Water Department
yesterday the Of the controversy. with
| the open ditch between Them and with meters
and other scientific appliances all sides.
Chief Engineer de Varona. of the Water De-
| partment, demonstrated TO Mr., Meyer that there
was a live" connection between the mains of
the Citizens company and the mains of the
city. Mr.. Meyer was forced to admit that the
connection existed but contended that it
made by the city
commissioner Ellison said that it had been
proved beyond doubt that the Citizens company
was using the citys water. He announced later
that there were several other connections which
he will investigate within a few days Who is
responsible for the connections has not yet been
brought out in the controversy. After the ex-
animation Mr.. Meyer said:
The excavation which was made TODAY in
Stanhope street disclosed a connection between
the citys main and the pipe the Citizens COM
Pdhy' ana II also disclosed the severance of the
connection between the Wyckoff Heights Com
PaIly pipe and the citys main, which, as 1
stated oeIore was severed and the pipe plugged
prior TO 1900. proving positively as | asserted
yesterday, that the connection that exists TODAY
existed only from the time of laying the CYPRESS
avenue main in October 1901 The present CON
necuon with the city'S main made not by
the Citizens company, but by the city and for
Its own purposes-thaJ is. to supply water to
the residents of Stanhope street between ST
Nicholas and Cypress avenues a district not
feachec by the Citizens company previous TO
the laying of the main in Cypress avenue in Oc-
Iober. lSO4. which main laid under permit
from the city and in the presence of a city in
spectoT. From these inhabitants the city has
collected water rates since the connection was
september tha
city is still collecting such rates
Inc permit 10 open the city's main was a mat
ter OF record in its department. and il profited
thereoy IN the sale of water. and having been
mus guilty of wrong, if wrong there be, IL
now nov, comes comes with very bad grace TO assert that
the CITIZENS company is a wrongdOer Physical
examination has disclosed that under this con-
dltion thus created by the city, it sometimes
pronts by water running from the Citizens COM
pany into the city main, and sometimes loses
when the pressure is the other way The city's
chief engineer. Mr.. De Verona admitted to-day
that the records of the citys ptOmeter showed
that the city received water from the Citizens
company on Sunday and every night. 1t would
be most difficult to tell which has profited the
most, the city or the Citizens company.
When seen after the tests Commissioner Eli
son said that he believed he had shown that the
main in Stanhope street a live one and
was part of the distributing system of the Citi-
zens' Water Supply Company, and also that the
city was losing about 10000 gallons daily. The
main. he said. would be Immediately cut off
that several similar connections between the
city's mains and those of the company ex-
listed. Two of these places will be opened i'm
mediately he said. The other viii he investi-
gated as soon as possible Continuing he said:
Whether the Citizens Water Company put in
the main or whether the water purveyor of
Brooklyn was by some means induced to make
connection, care very little 1t is almost suffi-
cient for me to know that the connection is now
there and that the city is losing water, from
which il follows that that connection and all
others that may be found should and will be
removed.
l want also TO say in justice to Mr. Never
that have had no thought of his personal COM
phcity In this matter, and there is nothing in
the typewriter statement that / gave to the
press that will warrant him i'm thinking that |
have charged him any else with larceny.
All that has transpired may have been without
the knowledge or Mr.. Meyer, and | sincerely
hope and believe that that has been the case
The admission made, if made. by Chief Engi-
neer DE Narona 10 the effect that there were
times when the pressure of the Citizens com
pany was greater than that of the city is un-
doubtedly true The whole matter rested in
the hands OF the company. If il saw fit II could
force its pressure to a point where IL would give
water 10 the city How often it exercised this
tell what motives prompted 1t TO do so The
1act remains. however. that upon the whole the
city pressure outweghed that of the water com
pdny IL Is also true, stated by Mr. Never
that II would be difficult TO tell exactly the de-
gree mat the company profted by the connec-
ton, or whether the city was the gamer am
unwilling that conditions exist which would leave
the water supply In the hands Of a private COR
poiation that sells all of its surplus water to the
CITY, ana especially as in this case where there
was no meter 10 measure the supply
A system such as is the Citizens companv's
controlled entirely by its pumping capacity and
Its pressure, had tho city entirely az itc r1arcI,
and If II has not taken advantage of its oppor-
tunities during all of these years I am extreme
ly pleased TO hear it.
George Diemer. of No. 80 Ellery street Brook
lyn. brother of Alderman Diemer and for
merly a partner of s. Pfadenhauer, whose name
figured prominently in Mr.. Meyers statement
on Monday. said yesterday:
did the work of connecting the six-inch main
In StanhOpe street with the city main in ST
Nicholas avenue, for two builders named Van
row of houses in Stanhope street. between 81
Nicholas and Cypress avenues Naturally they
had TO arrange for a water supply for these
houses AS understood the matter Cord Never
gave this block of six-inch pipe. which was not
that time in in his system. to Van Nos
trand and Everett They arranged with me TO
have connection made with the city water
main in St Nicholas avenue, and TO have the
connection with the Meyer system at Cypress
avenue broken.
Permission had to he gained from the citv for
this work and called in city employees TO
help do it. Our firm did the plumbing and
the city employees the rest of the work That is
the explanation of the fact that the city sent us
a bill for the work of its employees. We owed
the city the money. They did not II To us
The newspapers have put the wrong interpre-
tation the bill
end of the block and put the caps on both ends
of the pipe. l know personally that this brea k
was made at that time. All of my connection
with the affair plumber and was in
1898 when / did this work. / do know
whether any connection with the Meyer sys-
TEN has been made since that time or not
SHEARS HIS WEAPON.