Norwich bulletin., 1919-08-09
NEW L0ND0N'S WAIER SIIuATl0N
(specta1 to me Bulletfn.)

 New London. Aug. S.-There is at least one resident of New London, l and no doubt there are many moro who arc wondering how. ii. ne deuce 1 two Of the prominent res .dcrts of | We steriy. oDe leading bailxssr erd tha other 6 leading business man, 1 harper. ing to know that New Londtn was contemplating increasing the and bought Miller,s pond simply as a matter of speculation, believing that the city would eventually purchase the property at price that would net the purchasers not less than $4e,o0o
 and possibly half as much more. It | is a safe bet that some resident of New London, but more likely some bright business man of Groton. put | the Westerly gentlemen wise to the proposition Be that as it may. the !! Westerly men sent their attorney to make the purchase and the work was livery satisfactorily accomplished for his clients. So far so good.
 The next move was to get the city interested in the purchase of Miller pond. The chamber of commerce was selected as the channel A commit tee of that body made examination and the project as a matter of course
 was promulgated in the newspape and as a result there was just a lit tie newspaper controversy between
 the chairman of that committee and |
 The board of water commissioners and the superintendent who have made exhaustive study of the situa-
 ton had favored plan of adding to
 the supply of water that did not in
 cIIfde Miller pond. but rather a wa
 tershed that has been designated as Bogue brook. as connection with Lake Konofnoc could be made by pipe line and gravitation, while pumping sta- ton would have to be maintained in the Miller pond case. The water
 board insisted that the plan they pro- posed for the best interest of an con- cerned and -was against tke purchase of Miller pond.
 Right here is where the chairman oi the chamber of commerce commit . tee stepped in. and from a motive best known to him and those back of him, started propag ganda that has for it's purpose the purchase of Miller pond. First. the water board was dIs-1 credited by sta dement's to the effe.,t that it was about time it's wings were clipped, it's authority curtailed. and it's judgment on the special matters in which it's members are trained be ig- nored, and that the matter of adding to the source of water supply be de- cided by the intelligent members of the court of common council thoughi it is conceded all are not authority on water supply.
 The representative of the chamber of commerce, who may possibly also be a sort of agent for the new own CTS of the pond, sent a letter to each member of the court of common council urging that body to take a stand against the proposition of the water board and favor the Miller pond plan. This resulted in deferred action and the appointment of com \ mittee of the council to investigate and report. At the council meeting this month the; committee succeeded t. - <I5<.: the committee to engage an engineer to assist them in reaching a conclu- sion.
 They did not want the engineer of the water board who has beRn in charge of the system since it's incep ton, nor did they want the board to- name some other engineer. No; they wanted zan engineer of their cause; like unto the expert witness on the witness stand who would act in the interest Of the side he was call ed to favor.
 1t is respectfully suggested to the committee that the engineer to be en- ter Of water supply. one who has practical experience in that line. one who would be absolutely impartial if such a thing be possible. The com mittee at the same time ought to prac- tice a little economy in this line and not get an expert engineer far distant from New London. whose travelling and other expenses would dig deep into the people 'smoney. There Is al man over in Wssterly, the home town of the owners of Miller pond. that could fill the bill almost to perfection, l could he be induced to act He is l busy just at this time supervising the i construction of a sewer system of his l own blaming but he might get a day off now and then to help the commit l tee reach a satisfactory conclusion.
 His name is Thomas Mckenzie, his | address Westerly R. l.. and he. like 1 Richards of New Lon don, has been in charge of the West | erly water works since it came into | existence, and knows his business from the beginning to the end. He is a practical and studious civil en- yineer with water works as a special ty. and keeps posted right up to the minute with all that pertains to his business. Under. his investigation the would get what they call square Geal. as MT. Mckenzie is the kind of a gentleman that would play