The San Francisco call., 1907-06-08
SPRING VALLEY MAY De
GIVEN INCREASED RATE
Committee to Recommend
That City Should Make
Larger Allowance
FOR FIRE PROTECTION
Urgent Need of Immediate
Action Is Pointed Out
by the Members
FOR FIRE PROTECTION

Some suggestion will be made to
the supervisors by the federated water
com mittee of citizens next Monday
which, judging from privately ex-
pressed views Of members of the COM
mittee, will favor a larger allowance
to the Spring Valley water company
to insure sufficient water supply for
protection against fire. Some MEM
bers of the COMMITTEES accept the rep
reservations of the Spring Valley wa
ter company as contained In the recent
communication from Captain Payson as
being correct. Directors of the Spring
Valley company do not hesitate to say
that unless the water rate is sufficient
to warrant the company in continuing
the construction OF it's 80 inch pipe
through San Mateo county the con-
etfuction will not be prosecuted and
the result would be that the Western
addition of San Francisco would be
without water for some months.
Committee members, while not ready
to accept this extreme view of the
situation, are still inclined to believe
that 1t is true that the water company
maintains with difficulty the proper
water pressure for fire uses now and
that later in the season after several
dry months there will be danger unless
something is done to insure enough
| water. There Is sufficient water In
the reservoirs, SO ii has been repre-
scented to the committee, but that does
not signify much If it is not brought
into the city and At once.
Another view Of the case as held by
certain of the representatives Oh the
Spring Valley management is that
there will be absolutely no assessment
OF the stock holders Of the Spring
Valley at this time. The stock holders,
SO 1t is set forth, have not had a dollar
of income for three years, simply be-
cause assessments took all the divi-
dends for that period. Therefore an
other assessment u IL not be author
ICED now.
One member of the federated COM
mittee said yesterday:
Il have no desire to alarm any one.
but 1T is better that the facts should
be known than that the public should
meet with conditions relating to the
water supply that would be most un-
fortunate. The loss by fire in this city
last year was s3o0,0oo.o00. Insurance
companies are limiting their block
hazards and insurance is not easy to
get In all cases. More trouble will
surely result If it is made clear that
there will not be enough water this
summer and fall to safeguard against
FIRE. II the insurance companies
should absolutely decline to place new
insurance in San Francisco under the
conditions that would seem to be prob
able unless something is done no out
slider would invest any money in San
Francisco
Committee members say that It will
be impossible tdAprovide a salt water
system In the present dry season. The
cost. roughly estimated at $4,000. 900,
OF salt water plant might possibly
be raised through the agency of an
association of moneyed men who could
construct the works with the proyiso
that the city might take the system at
any time on payment of the actual
cost Of construction and the payment
OF per cont interest on the invest
ncnt. But, 1t 10 said, II the pipe for
Ysuch q system were actually here at
this time the system could not be con-
structed In time to be of use while the
dry months OF 1907 are at hand
Taking these statements and what
they indicate into account It follows
naturally that the federated COMMITTEES