Arizona republican., 1908-05-03
.WAIER WILL COST
 MORE THAN WINE
New Works s3oo,ooo,ooo Bill for Its Additional Supply Makes the Liquid More Expensive in Metropolis Than Anywhere Else in World.

] New York. April 27. Especial cores pondent of The Republican, Common drinking water bids fair to become more expensive than champagne in | New York. if the cost of the CatsfEill water supply scheme continues To grow As originally figured the evA pense of the plan for supplying water 1 to the city was S33000OOO. Last fall it had reached a total of S162. .000,000 and now it mas passed the $500. 900 mark, with no apparent end in sight. 1 That the construction of this new water system will far exceed the cost
 of the Panama canal cannot be doubt ed and the water furnished by it will
 be the most expensive drank in any city in the world. The whole affair
 bids fair to become one of the greatest scandals in the record of the city It is reported that advance tips were giy- en to real estate agents which enabled
 them to acquire land at SIS an acre and sell it to the city for $50. Al ready 36 commissioners counsel and experts are drawing $50 a day for q five hour day of S1S,250 a year apiece.
 total of S657O0 a year in salaries for one small class of employees As things stand now the estimated cost of this gigantic water scheme would con- struct all the subways six times over.
 or build a railroad clear across the United States and more than half back again. To pay interest on the bonds
 and the sinking fund the city will need SIS, 000, 900 every year. which means an | increased tax for every workingman
 living in New York of more than $21 annually The fact has now been brought to light that the city was re-
 gently offered an opportunity which
 was turned down, to contract for 200,-
 000.000 gallons Of water a day at a
 price of s5,100,O00 a year. To secure that supply now it is going to pay more than three times that sum every year. In view of these facts re- gently brought out it IS plain that no
 city will dispute New York's title to
 the most expensive water on earth
 All that remains to be seen is what
 the average citizen will drink when
 this new system is inaugura ted.
 Snow is one or Father Knhcker-
 lockers most expensive commodities
 and at the same time the one for
 which he has the least use Every
 inch of the beautiful white" that falls cost the city during the past year more
 than S17,000. As the fall during the
 past winter was g inches, a compara-
 lively small amount, the city had to
 pay for cleaning it away the sum of
 $551 .304. This amount, large as it is.
 represents a great saving over former years. During the winter of 1906-07 the snowfall was 52 inches. The cost
 of removing it that year was s47.500 an inch. or S2,470,5OO in all In other words snow cost the city about three times as much two winters ago as last winter for every inch that fell. or a difference of S40,000. For the total of
 $4.40G,G00, the largest on the records of the city. Tn that year. however, the snowfall was extremely large.
 Figured on the basis of cleaning q mile Of street of each inch of show,
 the cost during the last winter Was
 only $62.S7. During the winter before
 it was $173.94. and in 19O5-06 it was
 S1S2,3S. For the handling of more
 than three quarters of the snowfall it
 was necessary to hire outside help
 since the city's street cleaning de- partment is equal to caring for only
 twenty-five per cent of the whole.