New-York tribune., 1910-09-20
WATER SITUATION ACUTE
Schools Closed and Factory in
Hastings Shuts Down.
FiREMEN LET HOUSE BURN
New York City and Towns Near
Famine Area Agree to Fur
nish Relief.
FlREMEN LET HOUSE BUR

Dobbs Ferry and Hastings. and to some
extent North Tarrytown, a few miles up the
Hudson from New York. are in the grip of
water famine. The schools in Dobbs Fer
~ and Hastings have been closed, a factory
has been forced To shut down. and a house
in North Tarrytovn was allowed to burn
To the ground because the ffremen did not
dare exhaust the water supply in an effort
to save portion Of the structure.
Partial relief has been provided by Tar
rytown. hut il will he fully a week before
the residents Of the villages can hope for
anything like an adequate supply. Dwellers
in mansions situated on the hills above the
villages are absolutely deprived Of water
for domestic purposes. and even when the
villages themselves get water it will be
difficult TO supply the outlying residences
John u. Rockefeller, who lives in the
PoCanticO Hills. however. is one of the
fortunate ones. Last year he was the vic
tim of a water famine. hut this year he has
made provision. and he has offered to let
North Tarrytown have some, and the Briar
cliff supply has also been placed at the dis
posaI Of the village by Walter w Law.
These offers have not been accepted. how
ever. as the arrangements made with Tarry-
town for temporary partial relief and with
viii he more expeditions than would a con-
nection with the Rockefeller or Briarclif
supplies.
Pocantico Lake is dry. and this has rem
cered the Consolidated Water Company
powerless TO carry out its contracts witt
the three villages affected. The company
appealed TO Tarrvtown's Water Commis-
Si0ner and he agreed to let the company
have a million gallons a day for a stated
Period. Tarrytown has a sufficient supply
for six months to Comea but the residents
Of the town are afraid to let their surplus
water run down. as they may then get into
the same trouble as the three villages now
suffering Work on connections with the
Tarrytown supply was begun on Sunday
night, and Yesterday some relief was OBJ
tanned.
fire which started yesterday in an un-
occupied house on the Phillips Manor prop
ert.. however. emphasized the famine. The
frenen found the building blazing when
they arrived. and decided that it would he
impossible TO save it. Rather than risk
exhausting the water supply by trying to
keep the blaze down. they let the house
burn. taking the risk that the fire might
spread
All those in the three villages are living
would mean the destruction Of all the prop
ertv. Their only hone is that if a fire does
start it may be arrested in the incipien5
stage with chemicals, and every volunteer
fireman is sleeping with one eye open these
nights.
The Board Of Education in Dobbs Ferry
Yesterday ordered the closing of the schools
as there v-a7 no water to flush the closets
The National Conduit Companys factory
in Hastings. which uses seven hundred
thousand gallons of water. was also forced
TO close down. and it will be som- time be-
fore it can reopen.
The Consolidated Water Company ap-
pealed TO the city Of New York, and oo-
tained permission to tap the Croton aque-
duct This permission has repeatedly been
refused. but the situation now eKlsuns Is
so unusual that the city was, in sense
forced TO afford some relief Tarrytown peo-
pie are willing that North TarrytoWn
should get water hut they argue that New
York's supply can he tapped 10 furnish
water 10 Dohbs Ferry and Hastings
To do the tapping II will be necessary TO
install a new pump and boiler. as old NO
shaft Of the Croton Aqueduct is i4o feet
below the company's pumping station The
machinery has been bought. and is on the
way from Jersey city. but II viii be
week before il can be put in operation to
supply TWO million gallons day. which IS
the amount Of water the city has agreed to
supply
In the mean time the company has pumped
ali available water, a weeks supply, into
its reservoir, and is holding il for North
Tarrytown while the million gallons OBJ
tained from Tarrytown is being used in the
other villages All day yesterday those on
the main street Of Dobbs Ferry got water. |
but those on the outskirts of the town |
were sending out &c. @ D. messages. and |
the only response was the sending Of a few |
spTinkling cart loads out for distribution /
while few barrels were also carried ont |
TO the dweIlers in the mansions on the hills /
The unusual drouth i'm July and August |
Is given as the cause for the shortage |
While there has been some rain in Sep /
ternber. ii has not been sufficient 10 relieve |
the situation.