The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1909-10-09
me Bulletin II on sale at the FOL.
in~'ng places:
coieman's, 214 Eighth street.
Halliday House News Stand.
Blue Front Restaurant.
CAITO WATER RATES.


The city council Of Cairo Tuesday
night took an Important step IN the
direction OF ascertaining whether or
not the Cairo Water Co. is complying
with it's franchise ordinance in the
matter OF rates to private cansnm eFs.
There has been steadily growing
feeling among the people that the
company Is not doing this. and Is
overcharging them considerably. The
ordinance declares III section that
tie company ~may charge and collect
as their annual water rates tariff
of prices equal to. but not exceeding
the average rates charged by the
cities OF Kansas CITY. st Louis,
Louisville, Nashville and Cincinnati.
These cities we're named by the
trainers Of the ordinance because an
are situated on rivers and the eondi-
tions for obtaining and supplying the
water are about the same as they are
at Cairo
The resolution adopted by the city
council Tuesday night directs the
committee named therein 10 ascertain
what are the rates charged IN these
cities at the present time and 70
make comparison OF them with the
rates charged in Cairo.
This action Of the city council Is
timely and eminently proper. 1t IS
not fight on the mayor, nor On the
superintendent of the water com
pany. nor on the water company it,
self but an attempt to learn whether
or not the people Of Cairo are being
Justly dealt with; and If there is any
politics in the movement (as some
have suggested) it is very good poll
tics the kind of politics that repre-
sentatives of the people ought to play
at all times and in all things
That the complaints OF the people
are not without good foundation was
shown in table OF figures published
by The Bulletin last year, in which
the rates charged for various kinds
of water service in the cities above
named were set fortl. These figures
indicated that even the official or
soscalled published rates" of the
Cairo Water %. were in excess Of
the rates authorized to be charged by
Ordinance No. 1873 from which the
section above quoted Is taken; and
there is reason to believe that the
rates actually cha .ed to the peop,e
0f Cairo, exceed in many cases,
even the official" or so-cailed pub
q lished rates.
Away back in 1896 the Cairo Water
CO. had a booklet printed containing
rules relating to oil manner OF things
and W Itch were Is Govern the install
ment OF water service, the use OF
water. etc. also giving table OF
rates to be charged. These booklets
we're never my1h i. circulation and
very few Of them are now in exist
e.ce. According to one Of these
booklets the charges for. service IN
Cairo shoa'd lie as follows for resi-
dence purposes.
Six-room house ...............$ Got
Bath thot and cold .......... 80,
Mater closet ,....,........... %,
Sprinkling street so feet ..... 500
------
Total ....... ...t...... SCI .Oc
The table OF figrres given In The
Enlletin some time ago as stated, was
from paper read by Dow R. Gwynr
before the American Water, Works
convention, In which he gave data
from SIS cities in the United States
Tha reports from Cairo given in that
table 81 figures by Mr. Gwynn cor