Evening journal., 1908-04-21

lgUlf
There was such an entry made"
''Then you got check from the Land
2 lith improvement Company in January
1907 for the 1907 water ratesr'
"Yes"
when was it finally paidY'
part in October. part in December, and
part in January. 1905"
did any Of the commissioners order
You TO shut off the water II the bill vas
not paidg'
CAN the commissioners agreed that
five days notice should be given"
"Was the water shut ofg'
TT was not. All the commissioners
agreed it would be bad to shut off the
water there"
ibid you have a conversation with
Theodore A. Leisen. who is an officer Of
, this department and also an officer Of
} the Landlith Improvement Company
about the bill of that company
Mr.. Grohe said he did. and urged pay
ment Of the bill. but Mr.. Leisen said It
was cut Of his province. Mr.. Grohe said
other delinquents had their water shut off
City Solicitor Townsend then returned
to his original line Of questioning. Mr..
Grohe said no amount is charged or as
sessed In water rates at the beginning Of
each year, except in the individual bills.
There is no total made at the beginning
Of the year.
Suppose there was a failure to make
out $4,000 or 10000 of bills for water
rents. Is there any place to show thatY'
mo. sir"
Mr.. Grohe said that while no summary
Of rebates discounts. etc. is kept 1t isl
: possible from the accounts to ascertain
those figures by work.
Mr.. Grohe said the. total receipts for
1906 were 500. Is. He said the figures IN
Engineer I.eisen's report had been
changed but both now tally. Mr.. Grohe
said he had no actual knowledge Of the
: amount actually earned by the Water De-
} partment.
"Then your figures Of the receipts for
1906 depend upon the honesty of the en-
: ployes Of the Department.
YES sir"
Mr.. Grohe said he made up certain ac-
counts from entries made on the bills for
expenditures made by Chief Engineer
Leisen.
r do you know whether the Chief En-
gineer keeps a private record separating
any Of the expenditures for pumping or
machinery for his guidanceY'
p mo. sir. 1 have never seen such a
= record"
: HAS the present chief engineer He'd
such a report for the years 1904. 1905 or
l9OsT'
= mo. sir"
: rs not the cost book the record de-
signed to show the expenses Of opera
) tionY'
Eyes. sir"
You don't know why it doesn't appear
on the booky"~
mo. sir"
Don't you think IT should appear on
! the bookr'
Il have insisted for years there should
be a general fuel account"
Then you think the taxpayers are en-
titled to such informationY'
Il do sir" Mr. Grohe added that he
didn't know how the taxpayers were to
: know whether there was exit avagance IL
the items don't appear on the records.
Books Should be Seen.
Don't you think the books should be
: accessible to the general public or set
= forth in the annual report showing epe-
cihcally just what is charged to distribu-
tiong'
= certainly do"
When bills are drawn for payment bills
are now approved by the chief engineer.
city auditor, president and secretary of
{ the board. Prior to Mr.. Rice becoming
city auditor they were approved only by
the chief engineer and city auditor.
Mr.. Grohe said he had no total Of she
discounts allowed for 1903, 1904. 1905 1906 or
rrF- -
5 water department to lose was Ss5.
do you ever know Of any water rates
abatedY'
'Tf you mean refunded. yes, in a few
% Instances"
It never knew of but one instance where
r a poverty plea was made that the owner
was exempted" continued Mr.. Grohe.
d "As to the widows and orphans story,
q we have gone down in our own pockets
;, and made up money to prevent water be-
t ing shut off,"
{. ''Wh0 do you mean by weT'
$ "Employes OF this department One Of
the commissioners helped us once and
/ was willing to do SO again, but we said
IS ne"
Engineer Leissn on Stand.
Chief Engineer Theodore A Lessen
was called at LAS o'clock to give testi-
monv. Mr.. Grohe showed evidence of
% fatigue under his examination and
was excused from testifying further
during the day. Engineer Leisen at
II firmed when Mayor Wilson qualified
IT him at the outset
l. Engineer Leisen said he never made
" any recommendation to the board as
to the lowering or raising fiat or meter
rates. but he had made recommends
n tions as to discounts in January The
= board generally had acted inaccordance
: with his recommendation as to dis
s counts. He said he went to the
: registrar for information as to revenues
}, of the department and also on the
registrars records for figures as 10
h operating expenses. He said he had
n been furnished with comparative state-
ments Of revenue and expense either by
!. Mr.. Grohe or by he and Mr.. Grohe go
, ing over the matter. In making such
a statement Mr.. Leisen said he based
:. his estimated revenues on the revenues
n of the preceding year or years.
''Can YOU produce and give TO us any
statement of estimate of the revenues