Evening journal., 1908-06-17
SCORES THE WATER
BOARD SYSTEM
Politics and InexperieHCe
Work HayCC. Mr.. Van
Trump Charges
TELLS OF CONDITIONS
IN THE DEPARTMENT

M HE ULkRh HiLN
Politics and inexperienoe have
wrought havoc with the Water Depart
ment The combination has coat the
taxpayers Of Wilmington several tllou-
sand dollars and they have nothing tc
show for the expenditure today" re.
marked James c. Van Tramp, former
superintendent Of the department yes
terday afternoon while discussing af-
fairs leading up TO his Dismissal Mr.
Van Trump said that he had been
nj. sted by Messrs. Ford and Shaw be-
cause he had talked about alleged ak
travae. .qnces in the management of the
departm. .Snt and expressed the hope
that he would yet be indicated despite
the Shaw Ford combine.
This trouble had its inception four
years ago when Peter j. Ford entered
the departm ei.'t and proceeded to make
the body a polA. .tical machine" he said,
Until that time l. ne water Department
was profitable, ecI 'nomical and well
managed. Nearly tn. "ee-quarters Of a
million dollars had bAe returned to
the city in surplus, BET terments mad
been made in the service ar through
out the country the service waA' referred
to as one of the best. But with the
advent of Mr.. Ford all this was chang
ed. That official appointed John T.
Dickey to responsible position in thS
department but the appointment Great
ed so much unfavorable comment that
another man was subsequently ap-
fn mn
working, as well as the clerical force
was doubled, overcrowding the depart
ment and increasing the expenses. As
there was some reflection on me at
the time, which was before Mr.. Knox
came into Office, / suggested to Mr.
S,1aw that / resign He told me to
rem Qin and he would see that the
which had been done me would
be righ ted when the opportunity came.
In some manner he tied UP with Mr.
Ford and Mr., Leisen and placed him
self in an unfortunate position by doing
work and furnishing material for tho
NNw he says it was for
the benefit of the city.
Wouldn't Discharge Ford Employees.
After the appointm ent of Mr.. Knox
that official made efforts to straighten
out some differences in the depart
ment notably Mr. Ford's appoint
ments, but Mr.. Knox and Mr.. Shaw
could not agree in the matter Open
criticism of the management OF the
plumbing department was made by
Mr. Ford at the time whereupon I re-
marked TO Mr. Knox, in the presence ]
Of Mr.. Shaw, that I was tired of bear
ing the odium of all the mismanage- |
to settle the matter there and then |
told them too many men we're being 1
employed and that IL was up TO them |
to get rid Of some of them. Mr.. Shaw
wanted TO know whose services could |
be dispensed with and when ] told |
him that four men who had Just been !
employed by Mr.. Ford were not needed !
Mr. Shaw would not agree to their |
dismissal. Neither would he agree t. |
discharging two men he had placed in |
the departn So nothing was done |
Meanwhile the Knox-Shaw friction |
continued. Mr.. Shaw invited me to his
home to talk over the matter but / told |
him the matter should not be settled !
In that way as the commissioners had
the responsibility of the conduct Of
the department on their shoulders and
they alone should settle the differences.
Mr. Shaw objected to this. He de-
clared that he had a club to swing
and that it would cause trouble for
some one II the matter was agitated
further. I presume that the matter
had reference to the Investigation which
followed
Talked For citys Good.
They say talked too much. about
the department affairs. In reply TO
that staten ent I will say that 1 am too
Independent to. permit the remark to 20
unanswered, particularly when my talk
was prompted by the glaring defects
which l saw in the system. I consider
that the chief engineer. was lacking In
Judgment in many matters which he
undertook"
That work might be given at the
expense of the city, Mr. Van Trump
declared the valuable filtration plant
at Sixteenth and King streets had been
completely destroyed instead of being
improved and made use of; that thous-
ands Of dollars had been spent by the
department for steel pipe at a time
when such pipe was known to be of
shorter life than iron pipe; and thar
much of the pipe so purchased was un-
suited for the purposes to which II
was put because of its excessive sizs
Mr.. Van Trump added that the pres
ent water system is defective in that
the Porter .reservoir is not sufficiently
large to permit the storage Of sufficient
water during periods Of turbidity
which, he explained. is the period. dur
ing which water is allowed to settle
before pumping is resumed.
Mr.. Van Trump said the present
meter system was recommended by Mr.
Grohe and installed despite protests
made at the time against it's introduce
ton. He believed, however. that tho
system had proved it's worth as a pre-.
ventative Of waste. Mr.. Van TRUMP
concluded by renarkiilg that the man.
agement of the department by the latc
Mr.. Porter, as weI s by Mr.. Grohe.
was efficient in every particular